AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: GUARDIANS VS RAYS

October 18, 2026

Stephen Vogt

Progressive Field

Cleveland Guardians

Pregame 5 Press Conference

Q. Can you take us in the decision to start Bailey behind the plate for the first time?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, so obviously talked about it for a while, just like we did the last time out with the way Patty's swinging the bat -- with the way Patty is swinging the bat, we just wanted to keep his bat in the lineup.

Obviously there is some risk, there's some concern with Patty never have caught Parker. But you know what? If I'm going to trust two human beings to go out and navigate a game, it's Parker and Patty.

Q. Have they known this was a possibility?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, we've had conversations since the last time Parker threw with Hedgey -- Patty and Parker, that this could be a possibility. And they were all on board, all for it. Hedgey is the best teammate on the planet.

Q. Just building off of that, as somebody who was a catcher, you probably have a unique perspective on this. Can you talk about the nuance of having that relationship with a personal catcher? Why is that important? Why, ultimately, or how do you come to the decision to vary from that?

STEPHEN VOGT: Yeah, again, it's the playoffs. I think all bets are off when you get to the playoffs. It's not as if Patty and Parker have not spoken or communicated all year.

And I do think, obviously, the familiarity that Hedgey and he have just having worked together all year, there's going to be some things that Hedgey sees that Patty possibly doesn't.

But at the end of the day, you trust two elite people at their positions to go out and navigate a game.

Q. Will Gavin Williams start Game 6?

STEPHEN VOGT: We're not ready to talk about Game 6 yet.

Q. With that, though, how do you navigate your pitching staff today knowing that you have two games coming up?

STEPHEN VOGT: We need to navigate it to get through the game. Obviously, we want to win this game, and we've got a three-game series to get to the World Series. I think we all signed up for that, and we're really excited about that. So we're going to deploy our pitching to win the game today.

Q. Travis was just talking about how the guys behind Parker, when he comes out in these big game spots, it's easy to feed off the energy that he brings to the mound. What is it about him rising to the occasion of these big games?

STEPHEN VOGT: He's a competitor. Parker, what he's done this year has been unbelievable. He takes the ball every five, six days, he's done it since Spring Training, and gives us a chance to win.

He's just uber competitive. Even when he doesn't have his best stuff, his best command, he still finds ways to get weak contact and get outs. And don't expect anything different today.

And the guys like to play behind him. He works quick and he throws strikes. And those are the best guys to play defense behind.

Q. What was Chase's reaction to the error, and what was the process? Did you think about putting (indiscernible) in right field at all today?

STEPHEN VOGT: We're not going to go off of one error. We didn't play a clean baseball game last night. That was very uncharacteristic of us. Our defense was not good. We didn't throw strikes and we didn't have great at-bats. That's not a good recipe to win a game.

One play, one ground ball to right isn't going to change the lineup. Again, Chase has played a great right field for us this year.

Q. This is the fourth time you're facing Drew Rasmussen, second time in this series. What have you learned in the three starts? And what's the hardest part about facing him?

STEPHEN VOGT: I mean, he's really good. One of the best pitchers in the American League, obviously. And it's the three-fastball combo. He crowds the lefties with it. And you've got to make a decision at 96 to 98. And got the good change-up to go with it.

He attacks the strike zone. He comes right after you. And he knows how to hit that inner rail probably better than most, right on left.

So he could be very difficult. But we've got our work cut out for us.

Q. Yesterday, Jo said that José kind of plays the way baseball is the way it's supposed to be played. From your view, as a former player, former catcher, being a manager now, what's your view on it, José, the way he plays day in and day out, no matter if it's the regular season or the postseason?

STEPHEN VOGT: That's how every baseball player should play the game. He respects the game. He runs hard. He hustles. He knows the game. He sees the game before it happens.

I say all the time, tell my boys, I'm like, I hope you grow up to play baseball like José Ramírez. That's what I want my sons to do. And I've never seen somebody that takes the field and gives 100 percent the way he does for his teammates and to the game of baseball more than Hosey.

Q. Thinking about the catching decision, the way you were explaining it and with what you guys did with DeLauter last year, debuting (indiscernible) the playoffs and to play him in center field. So just like from a philosophy, like a big-picture philosophy, when you're making the decisions to try new things in the playoffs, how much of it is about engaging (indiscernible) more people involved, their makeup, and how much of it is you need to try something because on paper it looks good?

STEPHEN VOGT: It's about trusting your people. It's about knowing your people. I work really hard to get to know these guys. I work really hard to get to know who they are and what they're capable of.

And what's the point of this if you're not willing to take a risk or take a chance? If you play it safe all the time, you're going to go home early.

I don't think this is a huge risk putting Patty back there. He's one of the best catchers on the planet. And Parker's one of the best pitchers on the planet. So you go trust two elite athletes to go do it.