MLB WORLD SERIES: RAYS VS BREWERS

October 26, 2026

Steven Matz

Tropicana Field

Tampa Bay Rays

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Steven, I feel like I ask you this a lot, drawing on your veteranness, but you guys have kind of not played up to your typical type of game these first two games, some base running, some defensive stuff where you've been so crisp on most of that. What do you think it takes on this stage to get back to Rays baseball?

STEVEN MATZ: Yeah, throughout the year, you go through things like that. I think it's a testament to this team. Even though we haven't played our best baseball, we're still in one-run games, right in it until the end of the game in each of those games. So I think that gives us confidence. Even when we're not at our best, we're still in the games, and we know what we're capable of.

So getting an off day, coming back to The Trop is a good little reset. So we're all excited to get out there.

Q. Kind of along those lines, Steven, as one of the handful of guys who has been on this stage before, is there anything you've tried to impart to the guys in the bullpen, especially how to handle this, how to adjust to it?

STEVEN MATZ: This is my first time out in the bullpen in the World Series. No, I think it's just the same game. All this stuff is a little different, but once that game starts, everyone knows how to handle themselves, and everyone's been doing a really good job.

For me the biggest thing is just enjoy this. We're the two teams left in baseball still getting to play in front of great crowds. Just try to enjoy this moment, take it in, and just play free. I think that's the name of the game.

Q. Playing the World Series away, it's completely different than playing the World Series at home, right? How important are the people for you guys now in Game 3?

STEVEN MATZ: That was huge. We saw it in the last couple of series how they showed up here, the environment. A lot of guys have been saying that's the best environment they've ever played in in The Trop here. Starting in that first series against the Yankees here, it was crazy. So when you know you have the fans behind you, it helps.

It was a really good crowd in Milwaukee. They really showed out for them. You can tell the excitement there. We're glad we get three games at home with the fans behind us.

Q. You touched on this before a little bit, but do you see like any similarities between the Mets team, and how has the transition to the bullpen been since it is a different situation for you obviously?

STEVEN MATZ: I think I see a little bit of differences. I talked about this before. I think this team -- you know, the Mets team, we had some kind of aircraft carriers that carried us through with Danny Murphy hitting all those home runs.

This team, it's been that way all year with different guys stepping up in different moments, different guys contributing, whether that be Nick pitching a big game or Jonny Aranda getting a big RBI or Cammy hitting getting a home run. There's different guys stepping up. I think that's what made us great all year, you're not relying on one guy to carry us throughout.

The second question?

Q. Being in the bullpen.

STEVEN MATZ: It's been a lot of fun. I think you're really dialed in on every pitch. You're trying to gauge the situation on which route it's going to go, how you're going to get ready, what line of hitters you're going to play. I've enjoyed that difference from when you just get that one day and then you kind of essentially become a fan in the dugout. It's been fun being engaged every pitch.

Q. You've come here as a visitor every year. A couple of the Brewers, one specifically, was complaining last night about the color of the roof and things. You've been here so many other times with different teams. What were the things you guys talked about that or you personally thought were the weird parts or the tougher parts getting used to here?

STEVEN MATZ: The roof obviously is a big one. I think the roof is a lot better. With the new roof, it's a lot brighter and seems like guys lose the ball less. The turf used to be really hard; really hard, bouncy turf. We got new turf too, so that's a nice improvement.

Those are just some of the quirks I would remember when I would come here is the color of the roof and the hard turf with the bouncy balls, outfielders trying to get a gauge on that or infielders and stuff.

It's always been a great mound to pitch on. It's always been a really -- pitchers have always loved throwing here as a visitor and at home as well. New turf, new roof, here we go, we got a brand-new stadium. We're ready to go.

Q. Kind of off that, since you've been with the Rays, what have you come to learn or maybe appreciate about playing for this franchise that you didn't quite know from afar?

STEVEN MATZ: They've got great people starting with Erik all the way down. It's been just the way they treat people, the way they treat us as players, and just diving into everything as a player to try to maximize your potential. You can tell they really care about us as people and players.

It starts with Erik. And even the new relationship group, they've been great. It's been very impressive to see just how they go about that and treating us, and everyone kind of pulling on the same end of the rope.

Q. Just to piggy-back off that, you were the one player who came in from the outside who signed a multiyear deal with this organization. What were your expectations coming in, and how have they maybe lived up to or exceeded expectations to this point?

STEVEN MATZ: I think I had high expectations coming in because you always see them getting the most out of players. It seems like a common trend around here. It was just fun to learn firsthand on how they do that, how they go about that. And I feel like I've learned a ton this year from Kyle and Winston, our pitching guys.

I think I had high expectations. It was just fun to see actually firsthand on how they go about that.

Q. When you're out in the bullpen, do you ever pay attention to the fish tank? With crowds out there now every game in the postseason, is there any interaction with the fans out there?

STEVEN MATZ: Oh, yeah, there's some fans. Starting in New York, we were getting showered with beers and French fries. Milwaukee was a little bit nicer to us out in the bullpen frankly. Don't pay much attention to the fish tank out there. We're kind of faced towards the field. That's kind of an afterthought.

Q. Are the fans right there?

STEVEN MATZ: They're sitting right behind us. We're sitting right there on the field, so they're right there in the mix. A lot of same, similar faces. You know, it's nice. Especially during the playoffs, we have a lot of Rays fans, not visiting team's fans behind us. So it's good.

Q. What are some traits or characteristics about this particular group that leads you to believe you guys can rally back in this series?

STEVEN MATZ: I think we have a really nice camaraderie here. I think that's kind of -- I don't know what you call it, but something that you don't necessarily see on the field. We go to a lot of team dinners. We spend a lot of time with each other. There's a lot of inside jokes, that type of stuff. Everyone's tired this time of year, but when you enjoy being around each other, that really helps energize you and keeps guys motivated.

Then from the baseball side of things, I just think we do a lot of things well. You have the big thumpers in the middle of the lineup like Cammy and Jonny and Yandy, and everyone kind of stays in their lane. We have one of the best shortstops in the game, one of the fastest runners in the game. We have a lot of different things and do a lot of different things well.

In the bullpen, we're not necessarily averaging 98 like their bullpen, but we've got different, unique things that guys bring to the table. That's what the Rays are really good at finding. Finding guys, what they do well, and maximizing that.

Q. Kevin said it's all hands on deck for Game 3 tonight. Outside of physically being ready to play tonight for everyone, does that need to be a mentality moving forward as you try to dig yourselves out of this 0-2 hole, just all hands on deck?

STEVEN MATZ: For sure. We played that way all year. We platoon guys, righties, lefties in the lineup. We've had guys -- myself I started, now I'm relieving. Seymour was relieving -- sorry -- he was starting, relieving, back and forth.

I think everyone -- like I said earlier, it's just a great group of personalities. Everybody's willing to do whatever. I think that kind of helps us. Yeah, I think that was kind of our mentality all year, all hands on deck.

Early in the year we would have a closing catcher come in or whatever it may be. Guys coming in late in the game to play defense. So that's just kind of the brand of baseball we've played all year. I think that will continue to help us throughout these next few games.