AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 4, 2026

Gavin Williams

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. How are you feeling going into this one and the chance to get you guys back in the series?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: Yeah. Feeling good. Body feels good. Just getting off the mound a lot this week, just keeping in touch with the body.

Q. And same game action on Wednesday, pretty high pitch count. Can that help replicate the lack of actual intensity of the game?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: Yeah. Absolutely. Throwing our guys, getting them help as well. It definitely helps me out a good amount, too.

Just having the pitch count up, acting like we're in a game, it definitely helps out a lot.

Q. What would you say the mood in the clubhouse is after Game 1?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: I mean, it's just one game. It's a five-game series for a reason, but nothing too crazy. I mean, we all know what our job is, and we know what we have to do.

Q. Pitching against a guy like Mune, what goes into that? He's got like a higher strike out rate, but obviously we saw yesterday, one mistake and he can do something like that?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: Yeah. He's a good hitter. Can't be too predictable. You gotta mix it up a lot, and you gotta throw different locations with him. I mean, he's got me this year, and you just can't be too predictable with him.

Q. A couple of at-bats facing the White Sox this year, the Vargas at-bat obviously was one that was special circumstances with the rain coming and all that, but I want to go back to the Tristan Peters at-bat, 8-pitch at-bat.

You said immediately after the game, you executed. You were doing what you needed to do. There's nothing you'd change be about the way you went about that at-bat, is there?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: Probably walk him a little bit earlier. No, I'm kidding. No. There's nothing I would change on that. He was just fouling off good pitches. And then he took some good ones as well, but nothing I would change in that at-bat.

Q. Is there anything you can take from it, though, that helps you as you go into this start, if he's in the lineup and you face him again be?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: Hopefully get him out in three pitches, not let him foul off everything. Probably, honestly, I don't even know. I'd have to go in the game and see what he's doing, see what his approach is to figure it out.

Q. What have you learned pitching in this environment the last couple of years?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: I'd say it's fun. Pitching in Cleveland, pitching for our fans, it's awesome. They bring the energy, and I just need to go out there and execute in every situation.

Q. Do you hear the noise and the atmosphere? Do you allow yourself to take it in or are you in a zone?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: I'd say I'm in a zone. I try to tune out everything. Just controlling what I can control is the biggest thing.

Q. Is there anything different with the slider this year just seeing how frequently you used it and how much more you used it than last year? What did that pitch do for you?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: I think I was just more comfortable with it. I know last year I just learned the spike. So I wasn't that comfortable with it. I knew I had to throw it just to show it and through the off season and the season, I got more comfortable with it. So I was able to use it more.

Q. How does it work with the (indiscernible)?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: Yeah. The secret is just a show pitch really. I know I use it a lot, but just trying to get 'em off something different. I don't really have anything that goes arm side other than the sinker. So just trying to use that as a show pitch.

Q. You were in the bullpen in 2024, and then I think you did start one game during that run. How are you a different pitcher from then and how do you view yourself differently from your 2024 playoff experience through now?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: Yeah. '24, I think just that whole season is not what I expected. I know I had a little elbow issue, coming back from that, but I needed to go do a lot more than what I was doing. So I felt like I was just in my head the whole season. Just one start carried over to the other, and it wasn't really what I thought it was going to be.

But it was a big learning curve, from pitch design to the mentality to everything else in between.

Q. (Inaudible)?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: I got a couple of smiles from Nate Lowe. I'd say Nate is pretty awesome to throw to. Just going back from when he was in Cincinnati, he hit like a little blooper to the left field, and you could just hear him running down the line saying get down, help me out or something like that. So it's pretty fun throwing to Nate.

Q. Gavin, would you rather pitched Game 1 or Game 2, and how did you handle that decision when Parker got the Game 1 start?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: It doesn't matter to me. I'd throw out of the pen if I had to. I think the biggest thing is I want to help the team win games.

So whatever role it was, Game 1, Game 2, could be Game 5 if I needed to be. Doesn't matter. I just want to be in there and help the team win.

Q. Do you feel a little extra pressure here now, you're down 0-1 in this series and you got the ball in Game 2?

GAVIN WILLIAMS: No. It's just another game. Just going to go out there and try and do what I know I can do and execute and try to help the team win.