AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS RAYS

October 19, 2026

Kevin Cash

Tropicana Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame 6 Press Conference

Q. Obviously getting to come home, we know the record for you guys this year. How did you feel about Yandy setting the tone last night with his comments?

KEVIN CASH: What were his comments?

Q. It's over today, you're going to win it today.

KEVIN CASH: I hope he's right, saying that. I know Yandy and all of us have so much respect for the Guardians, that team, the challenges they presented.

Want to just see us go out and feed off that momentum that we've kind of created the last two games, and do everything we can to put ourselves in position today.

Q. So the Guardians bullpen has been struggling and is coming into the game worn down. How do you plan to take advantage of that?

KEVIN CASH: I haven't felt they've been struggling. I look at their back-end bullpen guys -- Army's opening today. He's been outstanding. And then you've got Sabrowski, Gaddis and obviously Cade Smith. I'm not sure who you're referencing.

I know we've seen them, they've seen us. There's no secrets at this point. You just want to go and have good at-bats.

Q. Drew mentioned yesterday about the poison of the countdown and thinking about what's going to lie ahead. How do you address today with your team knowing what's in front of you, knowing that it only takes one to get where you want to go?

KEVIN CASH: I don't really address anything. You just trust the group that they're going to go out and be really motivated, do everything they can to start this game off the right way.

I'm guessing we're going to have a pretty pumped-up crowd behind us, which is going to be exciting. And appreciative of all these fans that are going to show up and get this place rocking really loud and then get the guys going.

Q. They didn't plan it as a bullpen day yesterday, but kind of turned out that way. What are the challenges from your point, roster construction and kind of anticipating how the game plays out of essentially three bullpen days in a row?

KEVIN CASH: Yeah, look, bullpen days throughout the regular season are very challenging to navigate on both sides. Today, I really have no idea.

I mean, we went into yesterday's game assuming Parker Messick was going to take a start and be a very close to a regular start. Then it shifted quickly.

So for tonight, I think you just kind of have to be more reactive. We're going to be mindful of who's up in the bullpen, who's moving around and adjust as needed.

Q. If you could talk about Cam Booser. Obviously the guy is phenomenal. He's having the time of his baseball life, if not the time of his life. If you could talk about what he's done, not only in terms of how he's really dominated but even added to the flexibility of an already strong bullpen?

KEVIN CASH: I'm so appreciative of Cam's efforts all season long. And we were talking yesterday about the decision to bring him in the game. There were some other guys. And Kyle was pretty bullish on, like, I'll take the power right here, with Boose's power and the ability that he's shown all season long to throw strikes.

The type of work that he does in between his outings, leading into a game, he keeps his body in great shape, his arm in great shape. He's prepared and ready to go whenever he's called upon.

But I hope he's cherishing these moments, because it's been a long, windy road to get to this point, and he's making the most of it.

Q. I was going to ask, it's been a very rewarding season to this point for you. Take us through the journey of the season, the mindset. When did this team begin to believe and the current mood and character of this club?

KEVIN CASH: I thought this team really came together about as well as you could in the Spring Training setting, given the roster turnover that took place. There were a lot of new faces. And you could sense it was a pretty close-it in group.

We go off on the road trip to start. Things didn't necessarily go our way. We had some opportunities to win games, and we came up a little short at the end of ball games. But that never changed the mindset of how they went about the next day.

Then we went on a pretty good run. We got back home, created a little bit of a home-field advantage here, where we won a bunch of games. And they continue to be really close throughout the entire season, definitely throughout the summer.

And any challenges along the way, I think they were handled incredibly well.

Coming out of the All-Star break, getting swept by Boston did not derail this group at all. You're looking at a divisional opponent that's getting hot, and they were as hot as any team in baseball. And we got beat. We weren't beating ourselves. We got beat. But that didn't change the mindset. There was no panic. They just stayed at it.

Q. When Liam Hicks came in in early August, we talked to him. He talked about the culture that was created in the clubhouse. Is that the culture that started in Spring Training? It came even with Nick, the infielder that came in in September, talked about the culture of the clubhouse, talked about the character of the club. Was that created solely really in Spring Training> did it evolve over a period of time? Because these guys talked about how comforting and how rewarding this clubhouse really is.

KEVIN CASH: Well, I'm glad they feel that way. I think ultimately that's created throughout different parts of the season, and it's created by the guys that are in the clubhouse.

I'm glad that Liam felt that way when he came over. Between Liam and Freddy and Tyler Wells. I know they were welcomed right away, right when we were on that West Coast road trip and the deadline had just ended. We got some reinforcements to come in and help, and they contributed in big ways.

Q. Freddy Peralta's obviously been amped up when he started these games in the postseason. You've seen him in the last start throw the fastest pitch of his career. So now that he's starting this game that could potentially send you guys to the World Series, what do you expect to see from him tonight?

KEVIN CASH: Hopefully more of what he's done. He's been as good as any pitcher in baseball in the month of September, backed up by the awards he got. And then in this postseason, it's been pretty dominating, the fastball change-up combination, commanding the fastball where it needs to be, and then the occasional dropping in some spin early on in counts or when bats lengthen out.

But Freddy's pitching with a lot of confidence, rightfully so because he's been so good.

Q. How much do you appreciate his flexibility and the rest of the rotation's flexibility and being willing to go out of the bullpen the other day, turn back around and start?

KEVIN CASH: I'm very appreciative of it. We had talked, once we knew that we were in, clinched the postseason spot, and then the division, we sat down with all of our starters, and just reinforced the message.

We know how important they are as to why we're getting this opportunity, and we also know, given the schedule and how some of these postseason games shake out, that there might not be starts for everybody. They could have cared less. They just want to help. They wanted to contribute. And not that we had this planned out by any stretch, but we knew that we were going to need to lean heavily on all five of our healthy starters at the end of the season to get where we need, or we were hoping to get.

Q. Baker's coming in here, just the way he stepped up at the start of the year and maintained that level of consistency through the regular season and now into the postseason, as things have evolved and how he's gotten hitters out different ways, but what can you say about that?

KEVIN CASH: He's just taken his game to another level. We thought he was good when we acquired him. And facing him for a couple of seasons in Baltimore, knew that he was tough. And he was pretty neutral with the righty-lefty because of the change-up and the cutter. But he's just better now.

He had an All-Star season. He's been the best closer in baseball. Wire to wire, what he's done and the run that he's been on here in this postseason, how efficient he's going in and using his pitches and attacking, getting swing and miss, and getting soft contact.