CLEVELAND, Ohio — The rosters are set, the uniforms are hanging in the lockers, lineups are being composed. It’s opening day and the Guardians are about to kick off the 2024 campaign in Oakland against the A’s.
On Thursday’s podcast, Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga look at what’s in store for new manager Stephen Vogt and his club as they get set to navigate the next sixt months and try to recapture the American League Central Division crown.
Listen and read along with an AI-generated transcript of the podcast below.
More Guardians coverage
Read the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.
Joe Noga (00:15):
Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hos from Oakland Hoey. We made it, it’s opening day, opening night, really? Here in Cleveland. We have to wait around until 10 o’clock tonight, but you’re out there in Oakland. It’s opening day. How many opening days is this for you?
Paul Hoynes (00:36):
I think this is 42 Joe, 42 opening days. I can’t remember any of them.
Joe Noga (00:44):
That’s quite a few. This one obviously special for not only for you and for the guardians, but particularly special for Steven Vote for a lot of different reasons. This is first game is a manager of any kind, but also his family is there. This is the place where Stephen V really sort of became Stephen V as a player there in Oakland and it’s got to be kind of special for him to be opening his career, opening the season there at the Coliseum.
Paul Hoynes (01:17):
Yeah, it was nice to see yesterday during the workout, a bunch of players had their families there including Steven v’s wife and his kids, and they were all hugging. They hadn’t seen their dad in about two weeks, so they were all hugging their dad, but he’s really excited about coming back here, Joe, and opening his first season as a big league manager at the Oakland Coliseum and it’s kind of bittersweet too, because this could be the last opening day ever at the Coliseum for the A’s because they are scheduled to move to Las Vegas in 2028 open. They’re building a new ballpark there. I guess there’s still some legal hurdles to clear, but it’s a very kind of unsettled time for the a’s as it has been for the last several 20, 30 years. There’s always been rumblings that they could leave and it looks like that’s taken a much harder turn toward reality.
Joe Noga (02:27):
Yeah. Have they told you anything about taking precautions if things get ugly with the fans out there? I know there’s, just to access the field to access the clubhouse out there, you almost have to walk right past some of the fans. I always thought it was kind of unusual, the amount of interaction that just how close you are to two fans when you’re there at that particular park. Have they given you any heads up about just make sure that you’re staying safe while you’re there?
Paul Hoynes (03:01):
No, nothing like that. Joe. I haven’t seen anything. I took the BART out to the workout yesterday and I was looking for, one gate was open and I walked in and went up to the press room elevator, the press room by the elevator, so there was nobody there yesterday, but it could be a little different today I think. I didn’t get any, no one really had any concrete ideas how many fans are going to be there. We’ve heard about some fan protest, so it’s going to be kind of, let’s get there and see what happens kind of situation.
Joe Noga (03:43):
My big question is, you’re sitting in that press box there, last time I was there there was a possum crawling around in the air ducts, so just make sure if you encounter the possum that you have all of your stuff protected because you don’t want to be coming home with a rabid hoey would be not the best thing. Steven V, obviously not the only Oakland player on the roster or in the clubhouse. They’re this weekend. Ramon Loriano also had some words and had some thoughts about what’s going on there in Oakland as he’s coming back as a player.
Paul Hoynes (04:25):
Yeah. Ramon obviously was claimed on waivers by the Guardians last year after being released by the A’s, but he’s been an a, I think he’s spent his entire big league career with the a’s until last season he was drafted by them and he was talking about how great the Oakland fans are. He said that when they had a wild card game there, I believe in 2019, he said he went out there and it was as loud as he’d ever heard it and the year before the A’s had played at Yankee Stadium and he said the Ace fans, there was no comparison between the Coliseum and Yankee Stadium. He said the ground was shaking almost. You couldn’t hear each other talk, he said, and then it dawned on him and he said, this is a great fan base. If they really brought in players and ran it like a regular franchise, it’d be like this every day. But he said they didn’t and now they’re on the verge of moving and he said, everyone saw this coming. This is no surprise.
Joe Noga (05:41):
Yeah, it’s crazy that he would think that it was louder in Oakland. That’s a stadium without a roof on top of it. The upper deck is open air. There’s no roof there to keep that sound in and they could still make it that loud.
Paul Hoynes (05:55):
Yeah, you said Mount Davis, the structure they built for Al Davis to get the Raiders back to Oakland, he said that was packed and he said the ground was, it was almost like an earthquake. He said, I wasn’t sure if he was saying the ground was moving or it was just so loud, but it was interesting.
Joe Noga (06:14):
What do you think of Loriano and just his position, his status with this team and where he is in his career right now? He said during spring training that this is the healthiest he’s felt in several years and he could be sort of what they need. They need a right-handed bat out there. They need somebody to be productive. Can Loriano be that guy?
Paul Hoynes (06:39):
Yeah, I think he’s kind of a guy to keep your eye on and you’re right, Joe. He’s had abdominal injuries for the last three years that Evan allowed him to really swing the bat like he, he said he’s healthy now. He’s made some adjustments in his stance and he swung the bat really well in spring training, so that would be if he could come around and hit, he’s had a couple big years in his career, if he could duplicate that, that would be a great bat to a hit behind Josh Naer in the fifth spot,
Joe Noga (07:14):
And we know that defensively, he’s amongst one of some of the best in baseball in the outfield. He’s got a tremendous throwing arm. Last time we had a guy in the outfield in Cleveland who had a tremendous throwing arm and sort of knew that he had a tremendous throwing arm. It didn’t work out too well with Yasiel Puig, but Loriano, we’ve seen the highlights. We’ve seen him throw out base runners and maybe that’s something that the guardians will need to use this year as he’s out there playing defense.
Paul Hoynes (07:48):
Yeah, miles, straw was calling him the laser in spring training because I guess he made some throw it out in Oakland or something. He was talking about a throw he made last year that kind of opened everybody’s eyes in the dugout.
Joe Noga (08:03):
Yeah, there’ve been several. If you go online and search just Ramon Loriano defensive highlights, there’s been several over his career, so something to keep an eye on and look for. Maybe Loriano has a sneaky productive season for the guardians. Another guy who will not sneak up on anybody, will not surprise anybody, will be the guardian’s opening day starter and Shane Bieber, he is out there. He is ready to take the ball for the fifth consecutive year as Cleveland’s opening day starter, a tremendous honor for him and everything right now is set up for Bieber to have a tremendous season. Whether or not that season is entirely with the Guardians or a split between the guardians and another team after the trade deadline, that remains to be seen. But if Bieber can keep his head down and keep his thoughts together and get through it, he has a chance to do something special this year.
Paul Hoynes (09:04):
Yeah, he looks like based on his performance in spring training, he looks like the old Shane Bieber, the guy we saw, 2018, 2019, 2020. I think he’s healthy Joe. The work he did at Driveline in Scottsdale, Arizona during the winter really helped him. Stephen Votes said more than the velocity, more than anything else, it cleaned up his mechanics. He was able to get back to the delivery that he had earlier that maybe he had adjusted because of the injuries he’d suffered in the last two of the last three years, but whatever the reason, he’s had a really good spring and I know he’s fired up about pitching tonight against the A’s.
Joe Noga (09:55):
Alright, the biggest question then I think about today is can Bieber become the first pitcher since Bob Feller to throw a no hitter on opening day? Would that make, I mean from everything you’re telling me there, it sounds like Bieber is ready to go and just give him the Cy Young right now, but could he go out there and do that? You’re talking about doing it against obviously an Oakland lineup that’s probably not going to be winning a lot of games this season. They’ve struggled tremendously the last few years can be take advantage of that and become the first pitcher to throw in no hitter on opening days since feller. I don’t, come on, I’m begging you. Come
Paul Hoynes (10:47):
On, Joe. Don’t do that to me, man. Stick
Joe Noga (10:51):
Your neck out once Hoey. Come on. Come
Paul Hoynes (10:54):
On. I’m not ready to write an opening day. No hitter. I’m too old for that.
Joe Noga (11:01):
I won’t hold you to it, but Hoey says Bieber’s going to throw in a hunter word. Alright, well if Bieber does throw that no hitter tonight we will be blowing up our subtext even though it’s late. I’ll be
Paul Hoynes (11:12):
Jumping out of the press
Joe Noga (11:13):
Bugs. Yeah, we know, we know. So subtext is our subscription texting service. The best way to get updates on the Guardians throughout the season from Hoey and from me. You can sign up for 3 9 9 a month. Go to cleveland.com/subtext or send a text message to 2 1 6 2 0 8 4 3 4 6. Send the word subscribe there and we’ll send you back a link to sign you up for that. Love to have you as one of our subtext community subscribers throughout the season. Zi, there’s some formalities to get through before we get to the opener, the guardians actually worked a couple of trades, a couple of minor deals here for some pitchers, some relief pitchers. What can you tell us about the two new arms acquired by the guardians in these two players that they got? Zach Kent and Peter Leki?
Paul Hoynes (12:19):
Yeah, Peter Streleski pitched made 37 appearances for the Brewers and Arizona last year. It was a non drafted free agent by the brewers in 2018. He made 36 of the appearances for Milwaukee and only one for Arizona after they traded for him at the deadline and he was designated for assignment on March 25th, so that’s how he became available for the guardians to make that deal. And who’s the other Zach
Joe Noga (12:53):
Kent. Zach Kent. Yeah,
Paul Hoynes (12:54):
Zach Kent. They acquired him from Texas for $250,000 of bonus pool money and I think that was available because with the number one pick they’ve got the biggest draft bonus pool in baseball. So they were able to spare that I think, and they’re both right-handed pitchers, they were optioned to Columbus and they fill out the 40 man rosters, so interesting move. But I guess they had the openings because of all the injuries they suffered in spring training, especially to that pitching staff. So they had the openings on the 40 man.
Joe Noga (13:35):
Yeah, Kent, a guy who had dealt with some oblique strains and delayed his season last year and that might’ve kept him back a little bit, but obviously the Guardian saw something they liked there. I remember Chris Antonette saying after they won the number one draft pick and the extra bonus pool money that they get with that, he said getting the number one pick was huge, not just because you’re going to get a tremendous player at the top of the draft, but that bonus pool money is also important because it allows you flexibility to do things like this, like going out and if there’s a player that you saw that you particularly like, that international bonus pool money is important to some franchisees, especially the ones like Arizona who are going to be down the order and not have as much of it. So that’s an important ability to be able to go out and acquire players with that bonus pool money.
(14:35):
It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re using it on draft picks at all or guys in the international phase of the draft. So again, these are moves that might not move the needle or show up big nationally right now, but eventually one of these guys might wind up taking a spot in the bullpen or at least coming up for a little bit of time if there’s an injury or if there’s performance issues or anything like that. The one thing that we think it does mean is that we’re pretty sure now that Kate Smith is going to be on the roster because both of these guys are going to aaa.
Paul Hoynes (15:19):
Yeah, really a nice story about Kate Smith. They told him over the weekend that he was on the club, but with a caveat, caveat, if we sign someone else, you’re going to triple H and Joe, we found out yesterday, Kate Smith is born in Canada. He’s becoming an American citizen and he has been unable to go return home for the whole year since he’s applied for citizenship and his father who lives in Canada, obviously was undergoing some heart problems, had to have surgery and the whole family was reunited yesterday and they came over to the Oakland Coliseum and they were reunited there. I think Cade, his family, his wife, it was kind of cool. It was a cool scene.
Joe Noga (16:21):
So when the team goes to Toronto by then, are things going to be cleared up? Is he going to be able to travel back to Canada to be with the team if he’s still with the club?
Paul Hoynes (16:33):
Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know when that becomes official, when he officially becomes a dual citizen, so we’ll have to see. But they’ve had problems with that in the past, not problems, but certain players or certain personnel have not been able to go to Canada because of that.
Joe Noga (16:50):
Right. Yeah, I remember there was an issue with the translator a couple of years back as well, so yeah, all very fascinating. Boy, it seems like we’re getting a strong Canadian influence on the roster now. We’ve got what? There’s at least three of them, right? With the Naor brothers and Cade Smith
Paul Hoynes (17:08):
And Cal Quatra left, so they’re going to drop the puck here instead of throwing out the first pitch.
Joe Noga (17:16):
Yeah, well at least there’s somebody for Josh Naor to talk hockey with. That’ll be important as well. Alright, some housekeeping items and things to talk about. Just what the opening day roster is going to look like. We’re going to see it in about 40 minutes or so right now, probably around one o’clock our time, but we have a pretty good idea. Guys like Trevor Stefan and James Karen Check will probably open on the 60 day injured list that takes them off of the 40 man roster and gives Cleveland the opportunity to put guys like Kent and St Str on. But the other guys that are going to remain on the injured list, going to open the season on the injured list we’ve pretty much known about for the last couple of weeks here. Right?
Paul Hoynes (18:06):
Yeah. Gavin Williams is with the club. He’s been thrown out to 180 feet. Joe. He’ll travel with the club to Seattle, he’ll throw a bullpen there and then he’ll return to a Goodyear and continue to work off the mound and get ready for a rehab assignment. Sam HEAs is here, he, he’s been going through his throwing program. I think he’ll travel with the team and return to Cleveland for the home opener and then either go back to a Goodyear or go out on a rehab assignment and Xavier Curry and Ben Lively are still in Goodyear throwing and doing the last part of their spring training and then they’ll go out on rehab. But all of those guys, those four guys we mentioned will open I’m sure on the 15 day injured list
Joe Noga (19:06):
And when Williams is ready to come back or go out on an assignment and then work his way back in that fifth rotation spot becomes in question because ostensibly that that’s his spot to reclaim depending on how Carlos Carrasco does over the first couple of weeks. But what could be some possibilities that they would have? Could they move Carrasco into the bullpen when Williams comes back?
Paul Hoynes (19:39):
Yeah, I think that’s the obvious move and if Carrasco goes into the bullpen, somebody has to go Tyler Bebe would be on the bubble I would imagine. But all those things like we can speculate on, but they usually have a way of taking care of themselves. The season takes care of that, so that’s still what, a couple weeks, maybe three weeks down the road. So we’ll see what happens.
Joe Noga (20:05):
Yeah, we’re about to get into it. We’re about to raise the curtain here and get this started. Are you excited? I mean, I can’t wait for the team to get back here really just to be around them once again, but to see real baseball that counts and balls and strikes that count and outs,
Paul Hoynes (20:27):
You’re fired up, Joe.
Joe Noga (20:28):
I can’t wait. I’ve been going crazy this whole off season. I can’t wait. I know this is 42 of these. I’m sure that you’re taking this in stride, but yeah, this is big.
Paul Hoynes (20:42):
No, there’s always something special about opening day. You get excited about it. You want to see nobody’s won or won a game or lost a game except two. The Dodgers and
Joe Noga (20:57):
The Dodgers in the Padre. Yeah, the San
Paul Hoynes (20:58):
HaCo. Yeah, but it’s starting new and you want to see if all the stuff you’ve been writing about comes true. All the players you’ve talking about, talked to and writing about in spring training, how they do and just how this club is going to come together. Joe, it’s an interesting club, but there’s some good points and some question marks and they’re going to get answered in 162 games. You always find out what kind of team you have you’re playing on or you’re watching.
Joe Noga (21:35):
Yeah, that’s my biggest fear is that everything I’ve been talking about this off season, everything I’ve observed and I’ve predicted and thought about this team, it is just going to happen the opposite. And I’m going to sit here just having to face the music with people on social media or whatever. Before we go, just really quickly, we published our season predictions, our record predictions for the club this year. Just real punchy, just tell us what you think the guardians are going to finish and where they’ll finish in the Al Central.
Paul Hoynes (22:12):
Yeah, I’ve got them finishing third in the Al Central Joe. I think they’ve got a chance, I believe to play 500, but I don’t see them as a 500 ball club right now. I liked certain parts of the club, but I’m wondering how it comes together as a whole. And my question as always, is the offense, are they going to score enough runs?
Joe Noga (22:39):
Was your prediction in terms of wins and losses was what I believe it was 78.
Paul Hoynes (22:47):
Yeah, 78 wins. Yes. Yes.
Joe Noga (22:50):
72 more than last
Paul Hoynes (22:51):
Year,
Joe Noga (22:51):
Right in third place and I had them at 75 wins and third place struggling for third place in the division. I see it as, we don’t like this phrase, but sort of a bridge year, sort of a development year for continuing for guys like Jimenez, Kwan and really rocchio sort of stepping in now. I think the Naylor brothers will continue to get better and it sets them up to be in a good spot for next season, but I think they’re going to have to get through a swamp of a year this year and just wade through it. I think there will be stretches where they play really well and then there will be stretches where you turn around and you look and you just say, what are these guys doing? And maybe they have some things figured out by the end of the year, by September and get to see some of those younger faces that we’ve been talking about all spring. But right now I think this is going to be a tough year to get through with some promise on the other side, a lot of hope maybe at the end of the year for this club heading into 2025 ho. That’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast opening day edition. Can’t wait to get things started. Looking forward to your takes and your stories from Oakland all weekend and we will talk to you tomorrow morning. Good
Paul Hoynes (24:19):
Deal, Joe. Happy opening day or night.
Got a question you want answered on the podcast? Register for Guardians Subtext to hear your Cleveland Baseball questions answered exclusively on the show. Send a text to 216-208-4346 to subscribe for $3.99/mo.
Want our podcast delivered directly to your phone? We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe to it here.
You can also subscribe on Google Play and listen on Spotify. Search Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast or download the audio here.
Ad not displaying properly? Become a Cleveland Baseball Insider by clicking here.
If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-589-9966 or the National Council on Program Gambling Helpline (NCPG) at 1-800-522-4700 or visit 1800gambler.net for more information. 21+ and present in Ohio. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.