AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS RAYS

October 19, 2026

Steven Kwan

Tropicana Field

Cleveland Guardians

Pregame 6 Press Conference

Q. Freddy's been just so good in September, last time out against you guys. Do you have any new ideas to get to him tonight in this big game?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, just training for the fastball even more. We trained for the fastball last time obviously. His reputation is the great fastball and I just think now we just double down on that.

He did a great job of throwing strikes last time too. So we're going to have to concede to something. But if we're stubborn on the fastball, understanding our top, we should be able to put up some stubborn at-bats.

Q. Wanted to ask you about your relationship with Drew Rasmussen. Outside of the competitive setting, what's he like? What's your relationship with him like?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, it's fun whenever I have teammates ask me the same thing. I feel like I just call him, he's a sweetheart. I don't mean that to demean him that in any way. He was kind of, like, he's a year older than us, so he always kind of took care of my class when he was a sophomore and beyond. He's kind of like the team dad a lot of the time.

But also it would be 6:30, he'd be lifting the house. Everybody's kind of like waking up, just trying to get ready and he's doing full dead lifts. You need a band to keep all the weights on. And you're, like, how is this guy ready for all of this?

He's been a pro the whole time. Unbelievably nice. He's been very mentoring as well throughout this whole process. And for him to come back from all the adversity that he's gone through, it's beyond unbelievable what he's gone through. And to have the success that he's had has been amazing.

Q. You guys have had success this postseason, backs against the wall. Vogt keeps saying this team plays their best when you guys are facing these kind of odds. Why?

STEVEN KWAN: Maybe it's the same answer that I gave in Chicago. But when I feel like we're in kind of those middle games, you try to have the best strategy and see what sticks. But when your back's against the wall, you kind of have to die on a hill of a plan.

We do our homework. We do a ton of research. And hopefully the plan that we have today, we can die on that hill and come out with a win.

But it's almost like you have no other choice to be in between something. It's all or nothing.

Q. Yandy had some interesting comments last night saying that it ends tonight. Do words like that, can they motivate a team in these situations?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, I guess so. I mean, we're all competitors. It would be kind of worrying if you didn't feel that way. We think we're going to win the game as well.

But he's confident, we're confident. Hopefully he's wrong. Hopefully we can come out with the win today.

Q. I know you take a ton of pride in your defense, and you made a couple of amazing plays at home. Obviously had one here earlier in the series you'd like to have back. When you're playing on turf versus natural grass, I know it's not going to catch you by surprise, but what kind of process do you go through when you get into a building like this to just re-acclimate to the surface?

STEVEN KWAN: Yeah, a ton of things. I think the Trop is definitely unique in its properties. I would say the biggest one that I'm more familiar with is just be ready for Yandy. He hits the ball so hard but at such low angles. It caught me off guard because, in my head, it was, oh, for sure a single; oh, my gosh, it's coming so hard, maybe I have a play; and, oh, my God, it's by me.

So understanding what he's trying to do with the ball is really important. I just put myself in a bad spot, so grass, turf, I was probably going to miss that ball anyway, and at how hard it's coming off.

But yeah, especially with the Trop, the catwalks, the roof, the humidity, all those things kind of play into factors. So when we take our BP out there and do our practice, we're just going to take it really seriously.

Q. You get asked about José Ramírez so much. On a day like today, or Game 5 against the White Sox, what's he like in the locker room?

STEVEN KWAN: Same as always. Consistent. It was even like after the game yesterday, he was doing the same stuff. We had a couple of guys, obviously, frustrated losing the game. But he says the same stuff.

If anything, he was more supportive being just, hey, we've got tomorrow. Don't worry about it, we've got tomorrow.

I think it's super important when your leader is like that; he's the same person every day. I think if he was more rah-rah today, I'd actually be a little worried.

But he's talking his smack, he's doing all of his things. Yeah, same guy every day, and thankfully he's the same way today as well.

Q. If there was a turning point in the season in a good way, where would you identify it as?

STEVEN KWAN: That's a good question. I don't know if there's one. I feel like obviously the deadline was really exciting getting all these really great veteran players.

I think it was just more of a belief, we believe in ourselves as a team, but to know that the front office, the coaches, everybody believes in us as well and we got a shot at this, I think that was really exciting. And they all blended seamlessly into it. But it's been an interesting year.

So it's hard to say if that's like the turning point, but I think that was a moment where it's, like, okay, if we're going to go out and get these guys, then might as well go and try and win the whole thing.