AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 8, 2026

Will Venable

Rate Field

Chicago White Sox

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Tristan was just complimenting your steadiness through the season and the ups and downs. What have you seen from this group that you know they need in moments like this when they're trying to bounce back?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah, I mean, I think the emotions of the season, the ups and downs of games this season, obviously, you know, leadership, not just myself but the veterans in the room, to be steady and help us navigate choppy waters is what this is all about.

I think the special thing about our group is we've seen them, just whether it's because of the leadership or because of who they are, they've responded to the ups and downs of the season really well. That includes really tough spots we've been in and really good runs we've been in where they do a good job of dissociating with whatever happens yesterday and today's a new day. And there's excitement about whatever today brings.

Q. Will, we've not seen a lineup yet. How similar or different is it to how you faced Messick in Game 1? How much of a different look do you want to give him as he probably prepares for a different look against you all?

WILL VENABLE: I believe it's the same exact lineup.

Q. Will, as this series goes on, how are you balancing using your best arms versus not wanting to overexpose pitchers to the same team in a short amount of time?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah, I mean, we're just doing whatever we can to get outs. The inputs that we're kind of calculating in how we go through this, certainly exposing our same pitchers to the same hitters is something we're thinking about.

At the same time, we're putting our best foot forward and putting the guys in there that we think give us the best chance. So they're going to see these guys multiple times and that extends to the regular season too. I mean, we've faced these guys a ton of times both ways.

So obviously, you don't want to overexpose your guys to a particular hitter, but that kind of goes out the window here as we're trying to do everything we can to get outs.

Q. Will, how much is yesterday's game a tutorial for today's game for you guys? Or how much is it important to just let a lot of it go, and today's preparation, different pitcher, your team's bounced back so many times from losses?

WILL VENABLE: I think that yesterday is a very good tutorial for today, and I think it's really just the environment. We talked about it yesterday, that we knew this was going to be a juiced-up environment, and I thought it impacted us. I thought you saw us chase a lot more.

I think it was one of our highest chase rates of the year, and so I think, yeah, I think we were a little sped up yesterday, so I think we get to hit the reset button on understanding the environment a little bit better; Messick, a guy we just faced, we know him well. So at this point, there's not going to be any secrets, especially as far as the environment goes, having experienced it yesterday.

Q. How much more urgency will you maybe manage today's game with, if any? Yesterday, obviously, you had another game today. Now you have an off day and one less game of cushion in the series as well.

WILL VENABLE: How much more urgency?

Q. When it comes to using pitchers, stuff like that.

WILL VENABLE: The urgency is 10 out of 10. Like yesterday too. I mean, we understand how capable this Guardians team is. They probably are at their best in the toughest spots, which obviously they're in. So, yeah, I mean, as whatever level of decibel of urgency is the maximum, that's where we're at.

Q. Will, what stood out to you about Hagen yesterday, and what are going to be a couple cues for him this afternoon or evening?

WILL VENABLE: I thought Hagen was good. The walk there, obviously, wasn't great and we talked about how free passes were going to impact this series. Got away with it the first couple games. Obviously didn't yesterday.

The Adell bat, I thought Adell did a good job of covering the heater going the other way. I thought Hagen looked good. I thought the stuff looked good. Just maybe a little bit of execution there that put him in a little bit of a tough spot. He's our guy. We've leaned on him the entire postseason. Excited he's taking the ball to give us a start today.

Q. Will, how would you just kind of describe this battle with Cleveland all year? I think it's 16 games; maybe one run separates you guys. Almost every game has been down to, like, one pitch or one at-bat to decide it.

WILL VENABLE: It's been incredible. I think we're very different teams, but I think the way that these clubs are built as far as the character of each team, I think it's very clear that you got a bunch of good guys on both sides that go out and play the game the right way. They're very talented players. They play very hard.

It's been fun to watch. I mean, it's tough and obviously they're very competitive, but we're very competitive, and it's been a great battle. But it has been fun to watch, and I think it's cool that it's coming down to this series here where we have an opportunity to continue that battle. Someone's going to leave here having won that battle, but I think you look at the course of this year and really the season of the battle between us, there's some cool stuff that really has been fun to watch.

Q. Will, I'm sorry to spring this on you because I imagine you haven't seen it. Major League Baseball is proposing shortening the regular season to 154 games beginning in 2029, while making the Division Series best of seven and adding more off days in the postseason to provide more leeway for teams to use their best pitchers and everything like that. At first blush, when you hear a proposal like that, do you think that's something that's workable? What are your thoughts on something like that?

WILL VENABLE: I mean, respectfully, like, I could not care less in this moment right now. So occupied with thinking about our game planning and the Guardians. And, yeah, I wouldn't have an answer for you. I haven't thought about it.

Q. Will, there were so many turning points in the game yesterday. Seemed like the last one came in the 8th with Ramírez up and first base open. It almost worked for you guys. You decided to pitch to him and he gets the triple. Was there a discussion about maybe walking him? I know DeLauter was a lefty behind him, but what was the decision behind saying we're trying to get Ramírez out here?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah, so that was definitely a talking point. The match-up against DeLauter was way worse for us. Like not even close. Like it was a way worse match-up for us so we decided to pitch to Ramírez.

Q. You mentioned feeling like they were sped up yesterday. Was that something that you anticipated at all with the atmosphere, knowing it was going to be? Or is it something that unfolded over the course of the game? How do you address that, if at all, with the players?

WILL VENABLE: I think it was one of those things that, yeah, you knew it was going to be charged up. This group has always responded well to different atmospheres, whether that's on the road or here. We've had so many special nights. We've talked about it all year, Friday nights at the Rate and how special they've been and how charged up they've been.

It was different yesterday. I'm not sure that there was anything that myself or Sho or anybody else could have said to prepare them for that. They had to experience it for themselves.

So we have that experience in our back pocket now, and we'll talk about it with the guys today and just make sure that we're in a better spot to harness it a little bit better and make sure that we're, yeah, just mellowing out a little bit and playing our game, making sure that we get Messick in the zone and be ready to go.

Q. Where's Grant Taylor these days? Is he good for 9 outs, 12 outs, 15 outs? After a couple days off, where do you see him?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah, he'll go out and throw again today. We'll see and get a little bit of an idea of kind of what his capacity is. I don't want to make any predictions on what that might be. I would guess it would be at least a one-plus. With how he's been used typically and with the rest in between, you would anticipate that he would be at least four outs.

But, again, done want to put that out there without having him have thrown and get a really good sense for how he feels.

Q. I guess just kind of based off that, especially coming off of a game yesterday, do you need to kind of bulk guide to navigate this game? Is there a role for that that needs to be filled with a starter like Erick Fedde or someone who has more experience in three, four innings to cover the length that you need as the series gets deeper on?

WILL VENABLE: Yes, we do. I think Fedde is a great game. Fedde is a guy who will be part of that; Kay, although we've been using him in shorter stints and more frequently, will be part of it as well. In those middle innings, those are two names that you'll likely see.

Q. You mentioned DeLauter being a terrible match-up. Just knowing what José can do, how uneasy is that moment, making that decision, where you have to face a potential Hall-of-Famer?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah, I mean, you do what you can. You've got a choice, and you're evaluating, obviously, José Ramírez, who you have as much respect for as anybody in this league. You know what he's capable of doing. He's not just a good player but is a guy that in those moments you know is going to step up and be at his best.

You've got a really good hitter behind him as well who has done well against us. So, yeah, you're making a choice. Neither one is good. You wish you didn't have to pitch to either one of them. But, yeah, you've got to do the best you can to make a choice.

As we've gone through our process in looking at the objective information and layering on what you see with your eyes, some other subjective inputs, that was really an easy decision yesterday.

THE MODERATOR: Will, thanks for coming in.

WILL VENABLE: Thanks, guys.