AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS RAYS

October 15, 2026

Stephen Vogt

Progessive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Guardians - 3, Rays - 2

Q. What did you make of Petey Halpin's at-bat and the moment that was created because of that?

STEPHEN VOGT: That's really cool. I'm really happy for Petey. It's the second time he's kind of picked us up in a big spot this year. And a really fun moment for him, great swing.

I mean, he's had great at-bats this series. I really like the way he's approaching it and he's getting some hits. It's a lot of fun to watch.

Q. What did you think of Gavin and nine strikeouts for him today?

STEPHEN VOGT: Gavin was outstanding again, everything we could ask and more. Kind of one mistake and Simpson made him pay for it. But I thought Gavin threw the ball excellent.

Probably could have gone longer, but his velo started to drop there in the fifth. And what we just asked him to do over the weekend, out of abundance of caution and in fairness to him, it felt like it was time to move away from him.

Like I said, he probably could have kept going, but with the velo drop there in the fifth, we just wanted to be as safe and smart as possible.

Q. Is that the highest bat flip you've ever seen?

STEPHEN VOGT: I didn't see it or watch it. I just saw the replay and saw how little it went out by. I'm glad it cleared the wall.

Q. The bullpen itself has been great for you guys, but can you speak about Cade Smith and just what you ask a little more of him in the eighth in some of these games and how he's produced for you?

STEPHEN VOGT: Again, like you said, our bullpen as a whole has been phenomenal all year. And Cade, he's thrown so much over this last week, week and a half. He's prepared. He's ready. We had the two days off. We felt we could get more than three outs out of him.

And Yandy Díaz, what an unbelievable bat and battle that was.

But for him to come back out and get three quick outs, that's what Cade does. He's efficient and he's ready to take the ball.

Q. It's uncontrollable for you guys, really, but the time change, moving up to 1:00, and then kind of uncertainty with the weather in these next couple days, how is your team responding to that uncertainty and that uncontrollable factor in this series?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, it is what it is. We stay ready. Our guys are ready to go at all times. The time change didn't really throw a whole lot of wrinkle coming off an off day.

And obviously with everything up in the air for tomorrow, we're going to be prepared to play whatever time, whatever place. So our guys stay ready.

Q. Why do you think Halpin has risen to the occasion here in postseason? I mean, he's a young guy. He's had an up-and-down regular season?

STEPHEN VOGT: Petey's ready. He's ready for whatever we ask him to do. He got called up when everybody got hurt, and he played an everyday role for us for a while. And then it kind of turned into a defensive replacement. And then kind of filling in for injured guys.

He just wants to play, and he wants to contribute. For him, I don't feel like any moment ever gets too big for him. He's just ready and he loves playing and he wants to help the team win. And so it's really fun when you see somebody like that step up for their teammates.

Q. What's it like in the dugout when something like that happens?

STEPHEN VOGT: I mean, we all go nuts. I mean you see it, you see it with every postseason team. These guys want to win, all these teams. And we're no different than anybody else. And it gets exciting.

Everyone's playing to win the game and when one of your boys steps up and gets a big hit, especially a Petey, who like I've mentioned all year has become somewhat of a leader on this team, as funny as that sounds with just a little bit of time. But the boys really respond to him. So that gets us juiced.

Q. You guys have had your peaks and valleys with ABS this year. But how good was it for Jo on that strike two, to challenge it and then draw the walk to lead to a two-run inning?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, it's huge. I mean I feel like we've been really good in the second half. We've used them at the right times -- maybe not used as many as we could have. But that was a big spot right there, and he used it well.

Q. You mentioned Petey kind of having a leadership role, but we've also seen guys like Travis and Chase. Who is that guy in the clubhouse who isn't the rookie who's enabling them that confidence to feel like they can step up and do that?

STEPHEN VOGT: The easy answer is everybody. You know it starts with Hedgey. It starts with Hosey, Kwan, David Fry. I mean, those are the leaders.

But no matter who walks in those doors, they know that they're here to help us win. They get embraced right away and go be yourself.

And there's no pecking order. There's no hierarchy. This is about 26 guys coming together and playing hard every day as a team.

Q. As a team that likes to cause chaos on the base paths and Hicks throwing out guys the way he is -- I know you guys want to stay aggressive -- is there any adjustments or anything else you need to tell the guys as they're getting on base and trying to cause that chaos?

STEPHEN VOGT: No, we went at the right times. Hicks made two really good throws today. So credit to him. We're going to continue to be us. We have to push the envelope. We need to stay aggressive, put pressure on them.

But credit to Hicks. He made two really good throws today.

Q. When you mentioned wanting to be fair to Gavin after what he did in the last round, as you're mapping out the game today, how does that workload factor into how you're thinking about what you want to do pitching side today and planning his usage?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, I think when we go into the game, we have a limit that everybody has. He was a little lighter today just with what he did over the weekend.

But you also have to watch the game. They'll tell you when they're getting tired, or they'll tell you when things aren't starting to go well.

But for Gavin, the first four innings, he looked sharp, sharp, and he still looked sharp in the fifth. I just didn't like the velo drop. He's feeling fine. We just gotta get him out of there at the right time.

Q. A lot is talked about Cade Smith's routine. What's your favorite aspect of just the way he prepares himself?

STEPHEN VOGT: It's the same every day. He does not waver, he does not change. He's as diligent and -- if there's 100, what, we played 170 games or something like that now -- 170 days, he's been on the same routine and probably Spring Training as well. When you stay consistent with your routines, you get consistent performance.

Q. Have you named a starter yet?

STEPHEN VOGT: No, with the game just ending and with the uncertainty tomorrow, we need to kind of work through some things. We should have a starter announced soon. But with the game just ending, we haven't had time to work through what we're going to do.

Q. It wasn't a sell-out because of the time change, but what did you think of the crowd?

STEPHEN VOGT: The crowd was unbelievable. Really appreciate everybody changing their work schedules and moving things around to be here to support us because we feed off of our fans. It was a great crowd.

We didn't know what to expect. Obviously, people have life, and we understand that. So to see that many fans show up at 1:00 on a Thursday, I think that's huge for us.