AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS RAYS

October 18, 2026

Jonathan Aranda

Progressive Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame 5 Press Conference

Q. I know you said last night, it was just a matter of time to get the big three going. Was there anything specific or work that you did that led you to believe that or a matter (indiscernible)?

JONATHAN ARANDA: I think the big thing was just being relaxed. I could sense a little bit of just trying to force things a little bit in the first few games. And you guys have seen us all year. That's not the type of players that we are.

I just felt a lot more relaxed at-bats for myself and for the group. And just trusting the results that we've had before, led to getting the results that we wanted in yesterday's game.

Q. Did that message come just kind of organically among you guys, or did Motor say something or Ozzie, or just, hey, everyone's good, relax? How did you guys kind of come to that point mentally?

JONATHAN ARANDA: It was just something organically. It just happened. We're all not saying it, but we're all connected at the same time. We're all on the same page. It's kind of the message that we've had all year. And just, again, just being relaxed and being ourselves.

Obviously you don't want to be down a game going into yesterday's ballgame. And that might get you a little bit discouraged, but we never have our head down. It was just a matter of us, like I said, getting into our rhythm and finding our groove.

Q. At this stage of the season, how much does it help facing a pitcher like Messick, who you guys have gone up against four or five times?

JONATHAN ARANDA: Throughout the course of the year, seeing him a few times at this point definitely helps. I'm not going to say it's the key to the game or the key to the success, because you know, regardless of how many times we've seen him, he's a great pitcher. He's one of the best lefties in the game.

We just gotta keep doing our thing, but it definitely helps a little bit. But we'll keep going at it and just attacking it and looking at today kind of as a new challenge.

Q. To build off of that, what can you take away from the Game 2 performance against him? And what is the benefit of facing him so soon after a game like that?

JONATHAN ARANDA: I don't think we did a bad job in Game 2 facing him. We got some base hits, put the ball in play a little bit. But kind of still going into the whole rhythm of things, it definitely helps us.

Again, with the rainout, we're playing consecutively. So keeping this momentum that we have from yesterday hopefully will benefit us into today's game.

Q. For you personally, what makes Messick difficult?

JONATHAN ARANDA: The obvious one, just him being a lefty, right? That's the obvious difficulty there. But also, too, he has great command of his sinker. Sometimes when he lets it out of his hand, it runs inside a little bit more than you expect. It's kind of harder to pick up the ball and kind of harder to read that specific pitch in certain moments.

Q. We talk a lot about your offense, but defensively speaking, we could see you emotional after turning that double play, last night in the ninth inning. Just how much work have you put in on the defensive side of the ball, especially going back to coming up through the minors where, you were playing some middle infield, they were trying to find a spot for you?

JONATHAN ARANDA: Yeah, I mean, defensively, throughout my entire career, it's been a good challenge that I've had. It's something that I've taken pride in in my career the entire time. Every time we go out for infield work and we take ground balls, you know, it's something that I have in mind that, hey, this is something that I want to really striving in.

And when I compare myself to my other teammates and everybody around me, there's great defenders on this team. So I want to be at that level, if not better. So I'm just striving for myself every single time I go out on the field to be a good defensive player that I can accompany with my offensive game.

Q. What does it mean to you to represent Mexico on a big-time stage in the ALCS and inspire the next generation of ball players, whether that be in baseball or any profession?

JONATHAN ARANDA: Being Mexican is always the first and foremost thing that I'm proud of. It's one of the greatest blessings that I have. Obviously, when I'm at this stage, when I'm at this level, it's something that I take a lot of pride in, to inspire the other kids in Mexico or across the world, across the country.

Yeah, I think if they just look after me, I think the biggest thing is just to enjoy the game and to go about it in the way that I do in terms of discipline. That's what I would say to all those other kids.

Q. I know it can be hard to appreciate in the moment, but how much do you appreciate the opportunity to be here with this team? You're the longest-tenured player in the organization. You've touched every level of the minors to be here. What does that mean to you?

JONATHAN ARANDA: It's a great thing. It's not easy to be a Major Leaguer and be with an organization for an extremely long time. It's something I take a lot of pride in.

I was here with this group for almost seven years in the minor leagues. So now being here with the Major League team, with this season specifically, and knowing the goals that we have here soon, it's really special feeling.

So hopefully we can accomplish those here soon and achieve the goals that we want to achieve here in October.

Q. When you got the chance to establish yourself in 2024 and you got off to the good start last year until you had the unfortunate injury, how do you think you've improved or evolved as a hitter?

JONATHAN ARANDA: I think the experience has definitely helped. It's experience. It helps a lot.

Just being here at the level that I'm at is also helping a ton, and just a matter of being around the game and also understanding how pitchers are going against me, that's really helped. I just have improved as a batter and up at the plate watching my game and looking at what I can do as a hitter and trying to improve on all aspects.

Q. Have you heard much from Alejandro Kirk this October, and did he have anything for you, advice, from his playoff run a year ago?

JONATHAN ARANDA: Yeah, we talk every day. We're best friends. We're brothers. He's someone that I have by my side. You know, I did ask him at the beginning of the postseason, I was like, hey, do you have any tips for me moving forward here in October? And his main suggestion was, just have fun, just have fun and be yourself. That's honestly helped me a lot to kind of slow the game down and enjoy the moment, again embrace this challenge of what is October baseball.

Q. On the same topic, I know you went to the World Series to go see him play. Was that at all last year motivation for you coming into this year?

JONATHAN ARANDA: Yeah, of course. It was a big thing for me to go see him, for us, to see each other in the World Series.

In that moment last year, I kind of visualized myself in the same scenario. So now fast-forward it a year later, I use it as motivation right now. Hopefully I can make those dreams that I had last year a reality and help this team to a World Series berth.