AL DIVISION SERIES: WHITE SOX VS GUARDIANS

October 9, 2026

Will Venable

Progressive Field

Chicago White Sox

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. The sustainability for both you and for Stephen using 14 pitchers for you, 15 for him the last two days, I mean, how realistic is it to be able to feel good about who's going out there having used these guys to this degree?

Is there a different feeling about this for you than any other time during the last two seasons of managing?

WILL VENABLE: I mean, it's a different season. I mean, a different feeling because it's a different scenario, obviously, in these playoffs. And there's a lot of different demands that are put on all of us and certainly these pitchers and how we've been using them, obviously asking a lot.

At the end of the day, Game 5 deciding game here of a series, it's going to be all hands on deck. You kind of throw out the window, you know, previous usage. You obviously want to be in tune with the guys and how they're feeling, but I think Stephen would say the same thing. You know, we're going for it here, obviously. And so that is going to take a different level of preparedness and preparation and really just guts and heart.

Q. Knowing that they are all going to say, I'm in no matter what you need me for, how do you still stay protective of them in these bizarre and different situations?

WILL VENABLE: We're not totally throwing our process out the window. We do have to be mindful of what has happened in the past, but there might not be tomorrow. And so those inputs kind of go out the window a little bit because you're doing everything you can to win the game.

Q. Will, obviously as you mentioned with the playoff setting, people are going to be pushing themselves to levels that they haven't before, and that's part of it.

But as the series has progressed with guys you've asked a lot of like Hagen and Grant, whether it's usage or just familiarity with the opposition, is there anything you put your finger on as far as getting diminishing returns from them or struggles to be as effective as they were early in the series as it goes on?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. Both of those things you mentioned. I think there are obviously usage factors and overexposing them to certain hitters are real things. We also have limited choices. There's only so many guys on our roster. They've seen all our pitchers throughout the year, so you're really trying to do your best to manage those thoughts, but at the end of the day, we got outs to get and we gotta go with the guys you think would be the best chance to do it.

Q. As the season at large, you know, homers can be fickle, but that's obviously been a big part of your offense this season. At least so far they've out-homered. You've had two Vargases and in the ninth being the second.

What have you seen they've done or is the chase issues you saw in game three that's maybe reduced your guys' ability to get to your power as much as you have in the best parts of your season?

WILL VENABLE: I think that we're facing really good pitchers, number one. And whatever we want to say about some of the chase that we've seen, I think at the end of the day, we're facing really good pitchers that are executing well, making it really hard for us like they have all year.

You gotta give those guys some credit. I think our hitters, you see some guys that are still in really good spots. We've had some good at-bats. Just not to happen like the slug we've seen throughout the year, but in the playoffs, things are different.

And for us, it's just been less of that, and we gotta find different ways. I think we've done a really good job -- yesterday was a great example of really grinding. We're grinding offensively to do whatever we can to score runs, whether that's via the homer or not.

Obviously slug has been part of our identity and something that we've done in the postseason, and I think that you have to find different ways. Pitchers are so good that you hope that you can get a guy on and hit one out of the ballpark. Hopefully that happens for us on Game 5.

Q. Will, a lot of your players talked last night about how it almost seemed kind of inevitable that with the battles you guys and Cleveland have had all year that it was going to come down to this.

You talked a little bit in the pregame yesterday, but obviously you would have liked to have won Wednesday or Thursday, but it almost seemed kind of destined with the rivalry with the way you guys have played all year?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. It really did. We would obviously have loved to win Game 3 or 4. There's been a couple of times that Vogter and I have just looked at each other and laughed because this is just how it goes with these two clubs.

And I think it's a special thing. If you look at just the story of the battle that we've had with these guys throughout this season coming down to that last weekend for the division and then here we are with a Game 5 for a chance to go to the CS, I think it's fitting two really good clubs that are both just very competitive, really talented, and the heart and soul of the club and identity of the club comes through, and I think it's been cool to watch that play out in competition throughout the year.

Q. What's the demeanor of the team? You flew with them last night. The same as always, trying bounce back when things go astray this year?

WILL VENABLE: We're actually still in Chicago, but we'll fly out here in a little bit after a little bit of a workout here.

But good, I think we've obviously disappointed that we weren't able to win a game. But we have to win a game, and that's I think understood with this group that we have to go out and do whatever we have to do. These guys have bounced back every single time that we've had tough stretches or a tough game. This is no different, and everything is on the line. I think we're excited. We've been in the environment there in Cleveland before, but we're excited to get there and go to work.

Q. What did you like the most about Sean's outing there in Game 2 and what are going to be a couple of keys for him in Game 5?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. I liked the fastball, number one. I think he was really dominant with the forcing fastball right in the zone. He was attacking guys working with the slider and the curve ball off of that. I think we've seen Burkey at his best when he's just aggressive with the heater in the zone, and that's something that we'll be looking for here.

He will start the game tomorrow for us, which we're really excited about. And, yeah, just excited and looking forward to watching him in that environment. This is a guy that for me is built for these types of moments, and certainly the stuff that he has and the aggressive way that he pitches and that he'll pitch tomorrow, we're excited to see.

Q. What's the thought behind using Sean as a traditional starter versus going with an opener?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. We talked a little bit about some of the exposure to different parts of the lineup that are a factor. Just kind of looking at who we have and who we're going to use tomorrow and how we can transition from one guy to the other.

Obviously Sean is someone that's going to play a big role in tomorrow's game as the bulk guy. So, yeah, as we kind of evaluated the set of guys that we have and that we'll use tomorrow, it made sense to start Burkey.

Q. And beyond just his ability, what do you appreciate about his presence on the mound and how have you maybe seen that grow over the course of this year?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. Really seen the confidence grow. I think it's how he finishes his pitches, how he walks around the mound after he gets an out. This guy is just a confident guy, but you see it on the mound. And I think really seen that develop and grow this year.

I think he also has increased his understanding of who he is and which we've seen games where maybe he doesn't have his best fast ball, but he's got the curve ball, and he leans on the curve ball, and he just finds what works.

He's just a guy that's got the right mentality to go out there and compete and figure out a way to get it done.

Q. Will, José Ramírez has really warmed up the past couple of games. Did you kind of see signs of that in the September series or the first couple of games in Cleveland?

WILL VENABLE: No. I mean, I think obviously I just always expect José Ramírez to play really well. He's such a good player, and I know there were some spots there. And obviously with the injury, he's working back from that.

I think that there's always indicators for him that are hard-hit balls that you see, and maybe there was a couple there early that were caught, and now he's hitting them over the fence and hitting them where we're not catching them.

Really, with Ramírez to me, it's not even about what he does at the plate. It's everything that he does, and obviously when he's hitting as well, he's as dangerous of player as there is.

Q. And with their pitchers, Williams obviously going last night. But they could go with Foster, Griffin or it's pretty wide open at this point. What's the approach if it is Griffin tomorrow?

WILL VENABLE: I mean, we'll see who they announce as a starter, number one. I'm not sure if they've done that even. But, yeah, we'll read and react. I know that we've obviously seen Gavin Williams a bunch of times, obviously assuming that he'll be part of the calculus tomorrow.

Griffin is somebody that's had success against us. So we'll see who they start and put together something that kind of can help us hopefully position ourselves to solve for anything else they throw at us.

Q. Will, a lot of times in these elimination games, there's a benefit to having a veteran laden team that's kind of been in situations like this before, but what is the benefit of having a young club that's kind of had its backs against the wall mentality for the last four to six weeks that you've overseen?

WILL VENABLE: I think their energy and enthusiasm for an opportunity to play a baseball game has really remained constant regardless of the situations that we've been in, regardless of the environment.

They always get to themselves, and I think that's a really impressive characteristic of a young group that regardless of the constraints, the environment, whatever it is, they are playing like themselves. They're playing for each other, and that gives me confidence that this will be no different tomorrow.

Q. I'm curious, I saw Sean Burke go out to the bullpen. What was kind of the plan with that last night?

WILL VENABLE: If we had tied, he was going to go in the game.

Q. Do you know when?

WILL VENABLE: In the ninth inning. Like as we got base runners up and we got guys on base in that ninth inning, if we had tied the game, he was going in the game.

Q. And finally, just like we've talked in the past about the team being comfortable playing from behind, and obviously maybe that dynamic wasn't something you were trying to embrace at home, but is there a sense of maybe that being back in play in this situation?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. I think so. And I think when we're talking about the spirit of our ball club, the spirit of the Guardians, I mean, it's the same type of deal. We go up 2-0. The Guardians, you know you're going to get the best version of them with their backs up against the wall, and we feel like we're the same type of club, and we're both in the same situation now.

So it'll be a great game, but I think definitely as we've talked about before, being in a position in which your backs are against the wall and you're back into a little bit of the underdog position suits us well.

Q. Let me ask you about Murakami. Obviously he had a very difficult September, but so far this postseason, he's been mostly consistent. So what do you think of him so far in this postseason, and now obviously tomorrow is a big game, and what do you expect from him?

WILL VENABLE: Yeah. Mune has been great this postseason. He really has. And like you mentioned, that there were some struggles there later in the year that he worked through, and that's part of getting through Major League season. That's a really long year. You deal with injuries. You deal with certain types of fatigue, different swing adjustments that you go in and out of.

The one thing that's remained constant with Mune is he has an incredibly positive attitude, and he comes to work really working hard trying to fine tune his craft to make sure he is in a good spot both offensively and defensively.

So I think that we're just seeing a guy who is a big-time player that has locked it all in and is in a really good spot. I mean, I don't know if it's true, I feel like he's gotten a hit and an RBI in every one of these games, having really good at-bats.

I thought yesterday was extremely impressive with the defense that he played. He had some really, really good plays that were tough plays over there yesterday. So he's in a good spot, and I expect him to do the same thing in Game 5.