AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS RAYS

October 11, 2026

Kevin Cash

Tropicana Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Can you give us your starter for Game 1, and what went into that decision?

KEVIN CASH: Rass will start. I think pretty obvious, easy choice for us. Hopefully he can go and come close to doing what he did in Game 1 of the DS. That would be great. I know he's excited to go. I know the guys are excited to play behind him.

Q. More on Rass. You said the change-up was such a big pitch for him against the Yankees last time out. Considering he didn't really throw that this time last year, just what does that say about his kind of development and evolution here?

KEVIN CASH: Yeah, I feel like every season he's evolved as a pitcher of getting better with of adding a pitch or whether it's the cutter or the four-seamer.

I think when we got him from Milwaukee and he was in the relief mode, it was very much sinker slider for the most part. So to know that he's come this far having been so successful in adding a pitch, whether it was a four-seam with carry the change-up, the bigger breaking ball, and then the cut fastball, it just shows how open and willing he is to continue to improve and understand that hitters are really talented in today's game, and they can make adjustments.

So it's kind of on him and all pitchers to continue to find ways to make adjustment. He's done it as good as anybody.

Q. With Cleveland, you mentioned the other day, you always play them tight, they always play you tight. Just what do you expect out of that match-up?

KEVIN CASH: Yeah, a very good team that's coming in with a lot of momentum right now. That was really remarkable and impressive what they did, going down 0-2 and then coming back. And I watched Game 2 yesterday, the energy looked incredible.

What Gavin Williams did and then obviously Jose Ramirez, just a ton of respect for that organization, whether from Stephen Vogt to Chris Antonetti, Mike Chernoff and all of those players, they play a very solid brand of baseball.

Q. This is a second time that we got to revisit the rest-versus-rust discussion for you guys on this postseason run. So what have these couple of days looked like for you guys in terms of the scrimmages and just what you're doing to keep them in that mode?

KEVIN CASH: Yeah, I like the fact that it was a little bit shorter rest. It was long heading in from the wild card to the DS. We were able to work a five-and-a-half, six-inning scrimmage yesterday. Got all of our relievers throwing an inning.

We've rolled out two lineups to play. We had the stadium-noise crowd effect. We had the walkout songs coming up. We even had the ABS and pulled some umpires over. So you try to replicate it.

I know it's not that, but I do think it's good that we're playing tomorrow because I would image any more time off and then you start to get antsy.

But it was important to get our pitchers in there, definitely our bullpen to get them facing some hitters. We'll have some more guys facing hitters today from our alt site to let our bats have some timing. But it was important to get them in there because between -- I know Baker was used a lot, Kelly came in to get some big outs and Booser -- and then the rest, it was Ian and Griff to come in there and fill a void.

Q. Are there any injury-ailment situations that we should be aware of? The second is, tell me about watching the game last night. Where did you watch it? What was that like?

KEVIN CASH: There are no injuries, so I'm thankful for that. It was a great day of college football yesterday. So I was kind of flipping back and forth between the Bama-Georgia game and the Cleveland game.

I mean, watching that game in Cleveland, I was certainly amazed at Gavin Williams's performance and the power that he showed and the strike throwing. I mean he limited and got a ton of strikeouts inside the strike zone. That just speaks to how good his stuff was.

Q. Just on Caminero, what has impressed you the most maybe just defensively after maybe the first two months of the season for him?

KEVIN CASH: Just the confidence that he has in himself and the consistent work that he puts in. The first road trip and probably the first month overall was not his best month, and it was very similar to the 2025 season.

But Kenny, for as talented he is, he's that much more motivated to be great on both sides of the ball. He puts the work in just like Wellsy does on defense and just like Richie does. And it speaks volumes to him and recognizing that that first road trip, there were some glaring things that showed up that he was not in tune. And you can point to different things -- WBC, lack of reps in Spring Training -- whatever it was, he didn't make an excuse. He just went to work, him and Brady Williams, and got it ironed out real quick.

Q. On the pitching side, after Rasmussen, are you ready to divulge anything after that, or are you going to wait to see how it plays out?

KEVIN CASH: Yeah, I mean, we'll probably have something tomorrow.

Q. With your past connections to Cleveland, as you look at the two organizations and the way you guys go about it, do you see a mirror? Do you see some differences between how these two teams approach sort of building clubs, managing players, et cetera?

KEVIN CASH: First of all, I'm incredibly grateful, appreciative to everybody over there. That is as solid as a group, and the help that they've provided me in my two years -- certainly Tito was there, but Chris and Cherny, they're first-class individuals and they run a first-class organization.

I do think there's more similarities than not. Most clubs that we're talking about are opposing, I feel Cleveland does mirror us or we mirror them. And I say that with the utmost respect to them, the way they develop pitching, the way they think about the game.

As far as developing, acquiring, there's a lot of similarities. And know that we are facing an extremely talented opponent top to bottom of that roster.

Q. Years past, we've talked about how offense has been the element of this team that's maybe been the toughest year to year to stay consistent with. This year's group, the profiles you have, what has clicked for you guys on the offensive side, beyond obviously the year the top three guys are having?

KEVIN CASH: The contact, I think, plays a large part of that. You have Yandy, Aranda and Cami early on. And then 4, 5, 6, down, it was just a consistent approach of contact and putting pressure on the defense.

You mirror that with some team speed, and then how Victor Mesa Jr. came on once he got some opportunities and consistent playing time. And Liam Hicks, the acquisition of Liam Hicks, those two guys really lengthened out our offense.

Q. Do you have an update on Shane McClanahan? Is he an option for the ALCS?

KEVIN CASH: Yeah, the update is Shane is done for the season. He's a healthy pitcher. We are incredibly appreciative and grateful for the contributions that he gave us to get us to this point.

Felt like, with the body of work that he put in -- and I give him a ton of credit; I don't think any of us could have envisioned that he was going to get to that 120-inning mark and do it in a pretty dominant fashion. I mean, I think he's gotta be up there for Comeback Player of the Year with the time that he missed.

But felt it made the most sense that his season is over. He's going to go into the season as a healthy pitcher. Right now, he's really focused on being the best teammate, which he does that pretty seamlessly and cheering his buddies on.

Q. Given the short series of a 3-out-of-5 or 4-out-of-7, talk about the sense of urgency, urgency of time and the heightened emotional environment that this series presents?

KEVIN CASH: I think there's plenty of urgency, three games, five games, or seven games. You want to play well at home. We worked hard to have the advantage of being at home to start this series.

We did a lot of really good things in the DS. We'd like to see that carry over. Know that this team, this Guardian team, presents different challenges than maybe what the Yankees challenges were. But we're going to do everything that we can to prepare and play well. Fortunate that we have a guy like Rass to hand the ball to.

Q. They obviously struck out a record number of batters during that five games. You guys don't strike out very much at all. Is there a tipping point in there to where which one of those prevails?

KEVIN CASH: I don't know if there's a tipping point. I know that we're contact-oriented, and they have a pitching staff that's got a lot of swing-and-miss stuff. But very confident that our guys will make the necessary adjustments that they've done all season long.

In the DS, I mean, you're not going to see more strikeout-pitching starters than what we saw and felt like we did a good job of adjusting on the fly in those games.

Q. One Junior question. Do you remember after the trade with Cleveland when you first kind of heard of him coming through the system? The trade was November 21.

KEVIN CASH: No, I don't. I'm sorry. What was he like, 16?

Q. He got to Double-A by the next year.

KEVIN CASH: I don't remember. Sorry.

Q. Because the organizations are fairly similar, as you mentioned, what do you see as the most important things to do well in beating a team like Cleveland in this series?

KEVIN CASH: Prevent runs, secure the baseball, turn outs into outs. I think that has been a staple of ours all season long, and want to see that continue.

Q. You were there to see a very young Jose Ramirez in Cleveland. What are your memories of him then, and then what's it like to see last night the admiration, the respect he has in that organization and that city?

KEVIN CASH: I mean, he's incredible. The type of teammate he is, we can all see what he does on the baseball field and how special of a player he is.

But hearing Vogter talk about how he's made the choice to be there multiple times, I think that speaks volumes about Jose Ramirez. I think it speaks volumes about the organization as well.

It's easy to say I want to be there, but with that comes -- there's a reason why. And I think the comfort that he finds because of the people that are just everywhere throughout that organization.

Jose, as a young player, it was a shortstop, third base, second base profile, a lot of contact. And I know there were some early struggles, and there was a debate, is he going to be able to stick, this and that. He's definitely stuck.

And he's a guy that you know, just like you're always watching certain teams with players, where is he lurking in the lineup. And I think you game plan kind of accordingly.