AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS RAYS

October 17, 2026

Tyler Wells

Progressive Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Can you take us through how you guys went about last night, how you passed the time, what you made of the rainout?

TYLER WELLS: Obviously just trying to stay prepared for the game. Keep it light. I think the highlight of the night, after we found out that the game was no longer happening, was fantasy football trades started talking. I think that was kind of just the easiest way to pass the time and keep it loose.

Q. Was Booser at the center of that?

TYLER WELLS: Me and Boose definitely had a lot of conversations about it.

Q. Any deals you've done there?

TYLER WELLS: Oh, yeah, me and Liam Hicks, we pulled one together.

Q. Can you share your team names?

TYLER WELLS: There's nothing really there. I think we're all kind of just stuck to the normal stuff. I know mine is just T Wells. That's pretty much it.

Q. How is it relievers manage obviously a lack of workload, between not having a lot of games and you guys not getting a ton of innings in games you've had?

TYLER WELLS: I think over the course of the year, you know, every once in a while you'll kind of go through those spurts where it may be a week you don't throw.

In this particular circumstance, I think a lot of the guys are kind of falling on that, where it's just being able to stay prepared every single day. The best way I can put it is consistency and being able to just stay prepared and kind of keeping to your routine every single day.

That just kind of allows us to just keep it stable and not really veer off of what we've been doing. And that allows us to also go out there and be successful with those long period of time off.

Q. Conversely, the fact that you guys are in a position to play four days in a row, which is not unusual in the regular season, but do you think that kind of impacts how the workload gets distributed, too?

TYLER WELLS: I can't speak on that personally. The way that my thought process would work on it is be ready to go every single day. It's postseason. You only possibly get this opportunity -- once-in-a-lifetime. So just trying to be available every single day I think is a commodity. I think for us it's very important, and I think each and every guy is going to go out there and be prepared for that.

Q. We were talking to Ian after Game 2 and just kind of the similarities offensively between the Guardians and the Rays. Have you found that to be the case? What is it like facing a team that reminds you of the team that you are offensively?

TYLER WELLS: Yeah, 100 percent. I definitely see it. They're definitely a scrappy team with some guys who can hit for power. I think a lot of that probably stems from their manager. I think the way that he sees the game is probably also very much in the same way with just being able to play the game of baseball, bunt guys, steal, create chaos. I know Cashy sees it that way, as well.

I think right there, it makes it definitely a more interesting game whenever it's, like, you go from the New York Yankees, who are definitely power guys, to a team like this. Just being able to go out there and continue to compete with these guys and do what we do and do what they do, I think, it makes it a very interesting series.

Q. We didn't speak to you after you pitched the other night. Just how did you feel out there? And how good was it for you to have that kind of experience, just given the time down that you had heading into the series?

TYLER WELLS: Yeah, I felt great. Everything was -- everything felt normal. And obviously after that first one, not really going the way that I was hoping, to be able to go out there and do that was definitely important.

The long period of time off, I'm not going to rely on that one to be any sort of excuse for the first one, but definitely being able to go out there and put up two zeros is huge, and especially in that situation to give the team an opportunity to win.

Q. I think before the Yankees series, we spoke with you, and you mentioned that in the playoff baseball, you really kind of have to maintain a steady heartbeat and not make the game bigger than what it is. You understand you're down to one of the series. Just mentality-wise, what is it like going to take the field tonight, knowing what's on the line?

TYLER WELLS: Yeah, I think as we continue to go through just even the days of -- like, last night, where we aren't sure if the game's going to happen or not, and we're frying to stay locked in, I think the biggest part of that was staying loose, and being able to, as you said, not trying to make it bigger than what it is.

I think if we go out there and we play Rays baseball, it's going to give us a good opportunity to win. I think each and every guy in the clubhouse understands that, and that's how they're attacking it. And I think you're going to continue to see that where it's just everyone just stays calm, goes out there with a slow heartbeat and attacks that.

Q. You've pitched plenty of times in the cold. What's the key to being successful in it since you've done it many times in dealing with it as a pitcher?

TYLER WELLS: Stay warm. Fortunately, there's a lot of things out there that allow us to keep our bodies warm, physically activity being one of them. But just advances in technology with like the hyper-ices and stuff like that helps us minimize injury.

So I think being able to go out there, stay under the heaters, stay locked in, keep moving, and utilize those things is going to be important, and each individual guy has their own things that they use, as far as just being able to keep the feeling in their hands, is the best way to put it.

I recall a game earlier this year when we were in Chicago. I think it was 40 degrees and the wind was howling. It was brutal. I think the wind chill was in the 20s. At a certain point, it's like you're not going to be warm. So you just kind of have to deal with it and go out there and compete.

Q. Did you ever make a fantasy trade with Taylor Walls? Taylor Walls-Tyler Wells would be a pretty good trading match.

TYLER WELLS: I haven't yet, but there's a possibility there.