MLB WORLD SERIES: RAYS VS BREWERS

October 24, 2026

Kevin Cash

American Family Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. I saw a quote when you were talking about Freddy Peralta. You said he had a unique three months in New York. I wonder if you could expand on that. Also, when you guys were looking at bringing him in, how much of it was we know what we need to do, and how much of it was, well, we know there's talent and there's hope.

KEVIN CASH: I think unique is that Freddy has had such an outstanding Major League career. I've looked at his three months in New York as unique being in line with what his track record was of being a really good pitcher for the Brewers throughout his tenure there, and then now I feel like he's kind of come back to being Freddy Peralta with us.

As far as we thought we were getting a really good pitcher when we acquired him, and there's a lot of information we had and felt like he wasn't that far off from being the same guy that we had really thought highly of for so many seasons in Milwaukee. Sure, there were subtle adjustments, and Kyle and Jorge Moncada and Tomas and our catchers poured themselves into trying to help Freddy.

But I give Freddy the credit for being able to verbalize and communicate what he felt was needed to get him back on track, and then he went out and did it.

Q. Is Drew -- in your opinion, is Drew's ascent to where he is just a matter of him finally being healthy and being able to see the pitcher that he's always been, or do you look at the injuries throughout his career, kind of overcoming those, battling through those, making him into what he is today?

KEVIN CASH: I think there's a lot to be said for that. These pitchers who go through these injuries, it's devastating for their careers, and it takes a mental toll. You've got to have some type of mental toughness to get through some of those yearlong, 15-month rehabs.

And Ras is committed as any pitcher, any player I've ever seen at his craft. Ras has always been really talented. I think it's backed up by being a first-rounder, doing what he did in this system, with Milwaukee, us acquiring, all the success. But he's gotten better every year. It seems like he's added a different pitch to his arsenal every year. This year it's been the change-up. It was sinker sweeper or sinker slider, then it went to four seam, carry four seam.

I remember years ago we were talking about why does this guy have such electric stuff but maybe not get the strikeouts that align with it? Then he started adding different pitches that complemented each other. The strikeout started to spike. Now the change-up this year has been the pitch -- when you've got three different fastballs that you feature -- a sinker, four seamer, cutter -- and they're all between 90 and 98 miles an hour, and then you add a change-up that's been pretty devastating and really has showed out against some of these lineups that we've faced here in this postseason, he's just an elite-level pitcher.

Q. You got a sense of the atmosphere here last night obviously. What you're looking forward to seeing, what your fans can do for you guys. The Brewers haven't played at The Trop since '23. They've got fans that have never been there. How much of an advantage is that going to be for you guys?

KEVIN CASH: There's definitely little nuances at our ballpark that make The Trop unique. We love it there, and we love our fan support, and our fan support has been second to none in this postseason run. It was loud here. I think that we can get just as loud, if not louder, at our ballpark.

I know our group is ready to get back there. We'd love to do everything we can to get this thing 1-1, taking it back for Game 3, and really give our fans something to yell about.

Q. As a former catcher, what have you learned about pitchers throwing in familiar ballparks and how comfortable they are, particularly their visual, looking at a target, and how much does that weigh into success in those ballparks?

KEVIN CASH: I think you said it, it's the visual, right? Sometimes you have certain hitters that for whatever reason have success in a certain ballpark, the way they see the backdrop, the way they see the ball coming out of the pitcher's hands. I think the same can be said at times for certain pitchers and what they've done and the experiences that they've lived on specific mounds.

Hopefully that works for Drew definitely. I know we've got another guy pitching Game 3 that's got a ton of reps on this mound in Freddy Peralta, but we felt it was best to get Freddy back home because he's had a lot of success at home for us.

I'd like to think there's going to be a little more comfort than not for Drew just because he's pitched off this mound.

Q. A couple of guys said after the game last night even with the outs on the bases, they don't want to get away from the aggressiveness that made them successful during the season. How do you want to see them balance that along with Contreras and being careful and cautious out there?

KEVIN CASH: We knew coming in that Contreras is elite, really, in all facets of his game. The one caught stealing at third base was probably us trying to do a bit too much, force it a little bit right there. The rest, that was -- we're betting on Chandler with contact or a walk. It didn't go that way. Would assume, if it was a strike three, that Contreras was likely going to throw Jonathan Aranda out. I don't know how many career stolen bases he has. Looking for some movement right there.

I'm confident with the way we've ran the bases all season long and our decision-making all season long, we're going to stay committed to that.

Q. You and Kyle and Chad Mottola have been together for a long time. Obviously the success under that trio has been because you're good at your jobs, but how has that continuity and your relationship and dynamic as coaches changed over that time?

KEVIN CASH: I think I'm incredibly fortunate to have certainly those two leading our pitching and our hitting. I think they're really good at what they do. I think they're really good at retaining information. I think they're really good at evolving with the game. There's new stuff that comes out every off-season, every in-season, and our guys, Kyle and Chad, and then the rest of the group kind of follows suit, their entire staff, they pour themselves into just trying to better themselves, equip themselves, and be more prepared to help the different players on our roster.

Q. How come nobody ever leaves? Like I'm sure you guys have gotten offers elsewhere? Why do you guys like working together and like working in Tampa?

KEVIN CASH: I think that's a staple that's presented from Erik. Erik cares about everybody in our organization. It's very comforting to come to work every day knowing that you're working alongside somebody that wants to win as bad as you and cares about you as much as you care about them.

Q. You guys obviously have a really good defensive team. How important is that to what you do and who you guys try to get? You don't have a big bopper at every position, but it seems like you've got -- if a guy's not going to hit, he's going to be an exceptional defender.

KEVIN CASH: It was taught to me a long time ago coming into this organization that preventing runs is equal to driving in runs. I think that our guys, we work really hard -- our scouts, our front office, our player development -- in just constantly preaching the value of preventing runs. The defensive side of the ball can help you win a lot of ball games.

The success over the last, call it, ten years or maybe throughout this entire organization, the successful seasons, it really comes down to how well we can defend, pitch and defend. Certain teams get there with driving the ball and scoring a ton of runs. We'll take the great offenses as well, but we always want to make sure we're doing our work on the other side of playing great defense.

We preach pitching and defense so much, and we preach pitching, we might as well have the defense that can go out there and help those guys find success.

Q. How challenging is it to determine whether to use your highest leverage relievers in a playoff game where you're not winning? How much of that is driven by where the series is at, whether it's a Game 1 or a Game 6 or whatnot?

KEVIN CASH: I think it changes without a doubt. Game 1 and Game 6 are different for sure. A lot of conversations. We talk about it. Regular season, down one is maybe down one. Postseason, down one, maybe you play it like it's tied. The good thing about our relievers and our bullpen, there's just so much confidence with anybody that we ask to come in there, that they can get the job done.

I know they have that belief, and whoever steps out of that bullpen between innings, I know the guys on the field have that belief and that confidence in them.

Q. You talk about defense. I know DeLuca was saying he should have caught the ball if it hit his glove, but some of the data came out today that was a 10 percent catch chance with the amount of ground he covered. Do you marvel sometimes at how much ground the outfield you have covers?

KEVIN CASH: I thought off the bat gapper, double, triple, no doubt. No chance of getting anywhere close to that ball. That's a tribute to Jonny DeLuca and Victor Mesa and Chandler, what they do out there and the ground they cover.

I love the fact that he thinks he should have caught it. Hopefully he'll continue to have that mindset. I don't think he should have caught that ball. Just marveled that he got there.