AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES VS RAYS

October 7, 2026

Liam Hicks

Yankee Stadium

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Liam, could you just kind of run through what this year has been like since the day of the trade to sitting here playing in the ALDS Yankee stadium for you and kind of everything in between?

LIAM HICKS: Yeah. It's been great. Pretty much exactly how you would have drawn it up as far as once I got traded. I knew that this team was at the top of the division.

So being able to see the playoffs in sight, but then actually being able to go out, execute, help the team win now here, it's been great. The guys in the clubhouse have been super welcoming. So that's been even better is being able to be with these guys.

Q. Liam, could you just talk about the adjustment to becoming an every day catcher again, particularly with a new team in the middle of the season, and how you feel like your defense has progressed since you joined the Rays?

LIAM HICKS: Yeah, I think definitely a little bit of an adjustment, but luckily my goal has always been to be an every day catcher. Even when I wasn't catching as much in Miami every day, still trying to get in as much work as I could, doing early work, all that stuff.

So getting over here, yeah, I think just being able to play more, play consistently. I think a lot of players will say like the more they get to play, the more comfortable they get. You get in those situations, blocking, throwing where you get more opportunities.

So I think as I've gotten to play more and be behind the plate, that's definitely helped a lot.

Q. Liam, to follow up on that, having played so much and more than you have, how much did the five days before the division series started help you, and then also having game day off in both of these sequences? Did it help you more like physically or mentally at this point of the year?

LIAM HICKS: Probably both. Yeah. Definitely having the week break was great, definitely. I mean, yeah, for position players, I think everyone is going through things at this time of the year. And then for the pitchers as well, I think it's really good to be able to set up the rotation and bullpen however you like.

And then, yeah, having a day off in between has definitely been good as well. After these games, how draining they are, not just physically, but mentally as well, you're not getting the best sleep the night after the game that night. So having the off day the next day has been really nice to not worry about getting as much sleep. You know, you got the next day to kind of catch up as well.

Q. The difficulty of getting back into being an every day catcher is one thing physically, but you also had to go to a new team and learn a new pitching staff on top of that.

What are the challenges to getting adjusted to a new pitching staff on the fly, during a pennant race while also getting back into catching every day, and how have you adjusted? What has that process been like?

LIAM HICKS: Yeah. To add onto that, we weren't even calling pitches in Miami. So made it even a little tougher. But I mean, the staff and the players have been great here.

Yeah, coming over, that was definitely something I had on my mind. I hadn't called pitches the whole year. I was wondering how that was going to go, whether it would be easy to get right back into it.

The communication with the pitching coaches here with the pitchers, we have a lot of veteran pitchers on our team that have really good ideas of how they like to attack, what they like to do.

So just talking with them between starts, during starts, catching some bullpens like when I first got over here, definitely -- maybe the first couple of games were a little shaky, but I think as I've gotten to catch them more, now it's kind of second nature. You're on the same page for the majority of the game.

Q. Was there a moment when it clicked, when you realized, okay, I've got this, I'm back?

LIAM HICKS: I don't know if it was exactly like a moment that it clicked, but I think just after catching each one of these pitchers one time, you kind of have a good idea of how they like to work.

There have been times now where some of these pitchers have called a pitch. They carry the pitch comps, and they trust me enough to override and be like, no, I think this is what we should throw. And just gaining their trust I think is the biggest thing, like hearing them talk about me as a catcher has been really nice to hear. It's kind of reassuring to know that we're all on the same page.

Q. What makes Kyle Snyder good at what he does, and what is your relationship like with him?

LIAM HICKS: Yeah. I mean, yeah, coming over here, I had heard a lot about him just from former teammates as well talking about how good he was at his job.

And I mean, I'm not a pitcher, so I can't speak firsthand on how he's helped me. But I think he just does a really good job with communication. He keeps it really simple.

I think he doesn't bombard you with like a ton of information. He keeps everything simple. Between innings, I'm going to talk to him and he's not going to fill my brain up with a bunch of stuff. He's not going to get in my ear right before I'm going up to the plate. He's going to wait until I've done my at bat and come over and have a few quick points that he wants me to remember.

So it's really fun picking his brain. That's something that I've really enjoyed doing and talking pitching with him I think has made me a much better catcher.

Q. Coming over midseason, what were your initial impressions of Nick Martinez as a teammate and what do you think has made him such an effective leader for this group?

LIAM HICKS: Yeah. First impression was going over, getting traded on the road. And first city we have an off day, and he takes the whole team out to dinner, which is something that I hadn't really done too much in my career.

We go out for some team dinners with just a few guys, but it's kind of cool to see how this group kind of invites the whole team when we have an off day in the city. He's the guy that's organizing it.

He's just an amazing leader. He's someone that you can depend on. I feel like I could go to him with anything. He's kind of like an older brother type guy. But he's just such a good leader, such a good person, and he's always got a smile on his face. So I think his attitude is really contagious with the group.

Q. Question about controlling New York's running game on the bases, they made two changes to their starting lineup, while Chisholm is not starting now, you add Volpe and Caballero. So that's two base stealing threats.

How do you see the challenge of controlling the running game different in this game than it was in the first two?

LIAM HICKS: I mean, yeah, it's always a challenge. They're definitely good players. They're looking to steal bases. When we played them last series, they definitely took their opportunities.

But yeah, hopefully just do a good job and continue to do a good job of not letting them get on base. I think the easiest way you can control the running game is to not let them get on base. If they do, you just keep mixing up the looks. Hopefully just making sure they don't get on and don't give them that opportunity.

Q. Is your approach on ABS any different in the postseason than it was during the regular season?

LIAM HICKS: I'd say I don't know if it's so much -- I don't know if it's changed much, but maybe a little more cautious. Like there have been a couple of times throughout the series where there has been no one on, a ball that I'm like pretty sure is a strike, but he called it a ball where it's like I just don't feel like it's worth it to use that in that situation. I think both games so far we've had both challenges in the ninth inning.

I think it's an advantage to have it later in the game, but I wouldn't say there's been -- we haven't really talked. They haven't like informed me to do something different. So I think it's more just in the back of your head, you're like you want to save these for a meaningful situation.

Q. Just going back to the pitch calling, did that feel more normal when you got back to doing it here than it was maybe in the situation that Miami was experimenting with?

LIAM HICKS: Yeah. Definitely, I think -- yeah. Like I think once I caught every pitcher at least one time, it was kind of back, good rhythm into it.

And I mean, credit to the pitching staff as well. They've done a really good job of helping me with that transition. You get in a big situation, you haven't caught these guys too much, it's hard to know exactly what to call, but they've done a really good job.

Q. I think a couple of veteran pitchers said there were a couple of times where you've called them off.

LIAM HICKS: Yeah. A couple of times where -- I mean, yeah, and credit to them for, you know, having the trust in me to know in those situations I really had a feeling about a pitch and really thought that that was the right pitch. And luckily it worked out. I don't know how their reaction would have been if it didn't work out, but hopefully that doesn't happen.

Q. Liam, you caught a lot of changeups this year. And every Rays pitcher seems to have one. How is Nick's different than say Drew's in Game 1 or Freddy in Game 2?

Boone was saying his is kind of a unique changeup. What's it like to catch his changeup?

LIAM HICKS: Yeah. It's definitely a lot different. Ras's would be 90, 89, 91. Freddy is also pretty firm. Nick's is more like a speed change. Like definitely more movement than Freddy or Rasmussen, but it's really effective as well.

It gets them off the other pitches he's got. And I'd say he's really good at like pronating the ball. He definitely has a lot of that side spin whereas Ras's is more like splitter-ish.

Q. You've batted a lot of different places in the order during the season. How does that impact your offensive approach and has your offensive game kind of transformed at all since you got traded?

LIAM HICKS: I try not to really think about it too much. I try not to fall in love with one spot in the order. Obviously, yeah, got to hit fourth quite a bit here, which is great because you know you're going to have guys on base with Yandy, Jonny and Cami ahead of you. Anywhere in the lineup, you're going to get opportunities with guys on.

I mean, yeah, I watched another game yesterday. They moved Shohei down to five, and he's still getting on with guys on base. So I think you're still going to have those opportunities to impact the game no matter what.