CLEVELAND, Ohio — Observers of the total solar eclipse over Cleveland on Monday agreed that the experience exceeded expectations. The Guardians, meanwhile, are exceeding expectations themselves with an 8-2 start, and Stephen Vogt pushing all the right buttons in his first foray as manager.
On Tuesday’s podcast, Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga look at what’s gone right for Vogt and the Guardians and they reflect on a memorable home opener at Progressive Field.
Listen and read along with an AI-generated transcript of the podcast below.
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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 Hoynes Hoey, the home opener, the eclipse Steven v’s. First home win an eight and two start. Jose Ramirez with a home run yesterday had everything. What really stands out in your mind when you think back on the home opener from 2024 for the Guardians?
Paul Hoynes (00:39):
Joe, I kind of underplayed this in my own head, but the eclipse just blew me away, man. I was not expecting that. I don’t know what I was expecting, but was really, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one, but I’ve never seen one up close and personal like that. So the eclipse out of everything kind of really jumps out of me that’s going to stay in my mind for a long, long time.
Joe Noga (01:05):
I mean, it’s kind of like the guardians themselves. Every time you looked up you saw you were just sort of blown away by what you saw when you looked up at the sky. So far this season, the guardians are exceeding expectations just like that eclipse. I got to agree with you. That was pretty cool to be standing on the field at progressive field and look around and having it feel like nighttime for four minutes there just completely shrouded in darkness and then that gradual eerie sort of grayish sort of reawakening of the sun coming back out. It was a once in a lifetime experience like they’re saying and just really unforgettable like, I got to agree with you, but give the guardian some credit. I think they pulled it off. They pulled off orchestrating the whole home opener together. It was everything sort of really hit a strong note. And for Steven Vote, I mean this was what a way to announce yourself to the city, huh?
Paul Hoynes (02:20):
Yeah, definitely. The team play is playing great right now. They’re off to an eight and two start. Best start since 2011. They come in and really dominate the White Sox in the home opener. They get a great pitching performance by Tristan McKenzie. Jose Ramirez hits a two run homer and the thing that kind of got me, Joe, is when we were in totality during the eclipse, I was standing in right field with all the fans and they all started chanting Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose. They started singing that unprompted and then all of a sudden he hits a two run over during the game an hour later or so. It just seemed like it was like a perfect combination of things
Joe Noga (03:13):
And he hit that home run off of Brian Shaw, former teammate in the fifth. It was the 100th home run of his career at Progressive Field. It was the 174th home run of his career as a third baseman, and that passes Al Rosen on the Guardian’s all time list, the most among third baseman. He continues to climb the ladder in pretty much every offensive category, every time he connects on a hit or a home run. And really, I thought it was interesting what his former teammates said. Corey Kluber and Michael Brantley were both in the ballpark before the game. They were there to throw out the first pitch, ceremonial first pitches because both of them have retired in the off season. These are guys who spent several seasons alongside Jose Ramirez. Something jumped out at me when Corey Kluber said, yeah, this is a guy who came up in the beginning of his career and he was supposed to be go out there, steal a couple of bases, late inning replacement kind of guy, and once he got to the major leagues, he finished off this development and he became this superstar that he is right now and he continues to be that way and Michael Brantley said he still thinks that he’s underrated.
(04:42):
So just to hear that, to hear how those guys who both have will eventually have their own cases for an argument for Cooperstown, they’ll both probably be on the ballot at some point. This is a guy, a teammate that they’re talking about who one day will have his own case for it.
Paul Hoynes (05:05):
Yeah, no doubt about it. That was a great story you did on Kluber and Brantley and they remember Jose just like we remember Jose, he comes up what, 2013, 14, whatever it was. He’s skinny little kid kind of bouncing around the clubhouse like he owned it. He was never intimidated. He ran the bases like his hair was on fire. Well, he’s filled out, he’s turned into a home run hitter, but he still has that strut about him and he still kind of owns the clubhouse and it is still a joy to watch him play
Joe Noga (05:37):
And there were 35,735 fans, full sellout at Progressive Field, the new look progressive field or the evolving progressive field with party decks now and right field and left field and blue seats in half of the stadium. It’s the 11th home opener, shutout for all time for Cleveland, the second at Progressive Field and the first since 2020 when Shane Bieber was on the mountain. We’ll get to a little bit more about Shane Bieber here in a few minutes, but the guardians are now 64 and 60 in home openers and 12 and 12 against Chicago in 24. They’ve met Chicago in 24 home openers. They’re 12 and 12, even keel there, eight and two for the first time since 2011 like you said, and there were more than 10,000 fans in the park three hours before, I’m sorry, two hours before the game to take in that solar eclipse during the totality. Again, all of these numbers, you’ve got to look at the way that that home opener went and it couldn’t have followed the script any better for Cleveland.
Paul Hoynes (07:03):
Yeah, just think of the tradition involved there, Joe, the White Sox and Cleveland true charter members of the American League. They have played each other in home openers 24 times. Just think how far back that goes. And then for Jose to become the all time home run leader among Cleveland third baseman Al Rosen, I think he gets kind of short shifted a little bit. His last season was 1956, so think of how long it took Jose to catch him. I mean, so he set the marker out, he set his tee shot. That was a 300 foot tee shot by Al Rosen, so it took Jose a while to catch it
Joe Noga (07:47):
And you just think about all the totals and the numbers that Jose has continued to pile up. Every time his team faces Chicago, he just adds to, oh my God, his elite what? 32 home runs and 98 rbis, the most of any active player right now in baseball against the White Sox. So obviously he’s played them more than anybody in the game right now, but it’s still impressive to think about just the totals that he puts up
Paul Hoynes (08:22):
And Jose’s got to be crying over the change in schedules. What he only gets to play him 13 times this year instead of 19 times, right for the last two starting last year. So his average is going to be hurting.
Joe Noga (08:35):
Well, there’s a couple of guys on this roster who are probably feeling sore about that because they feasted yesterday and they will continue to feast on these guys. Let’s start with Andre Jimenez, take away what he did at the plate two for three, a double an BIA run and what he’s five doubles. He’s tied for the major league lead and really you take away the offensive stuff. He had a brilliant game defensively more than once. We’re continuing to beat this drum about Andre Jimenez being the guy being the best defender in the American League, winning the platinum glove last year. He’s going to win another one if he keeps this up.
Paul Hoynes (09:24):
Yeah, great play in the first inning he went range far into a right center field to catch Andrew Tyler Freeman Center fielder broke back and I mean it looked like aime was playing center field as far back as he went to catch that Pop-up. He looked like another version of Omar Kel. That’s the only other infield I remember ranging that far out into the outfield to catch a popup, but just a great job. He’s been dynamite on defense for the last what gold glove winner last two years platinum glove winner last year. And Joe, this guy since 2022 has been hit by pitches 50 times. He got hit by a pitch yesterday with the paces loaded and drove in a run that’s collecting an RBI the hard way.
Joe Noga (10:22):
Yeah, Tyler Freeman said about breaking back on that ball in the first inning. We asked him what he was thinking and he said, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get there. So the next thought in my mind was don’t hurt Hemi because you don’t want to crash into anybody because that would be bad, so don’t
Paul Hoynes (10:42):
Hurt the franchise.
Joe Noga (10:43):
No, that’s exactly it. He said he’s the captain on defense on that infield, so you’ve got to keep an eye out for that. The other guy who jumps out really is Steven Kwan three for four had his 31st three hit game in his career, I believe it was his sixth multi hit game and out of 10 games this year. I mean you got to think about that. He is piling up the hits and one of the top hitters in the American league right now.
Paul Hoynes (11:20):
Yeah, he’s hitting 3 83 leading the team in batting average and hits just, he is locked in Joe. He’s setting up that offense that run and shoot offense. He ignites it. He pushes the plunger on the ignition switch and he’s kind of like a Kenny Lofton almost. We haven’t seen a leadoff hitter like this for a long time and he can run the bases can hit for a little bit of power. You can hit doubles. He’s an exciting guy and he really puts that offense in motion.
Joe Noga (12:00):
Yeah, still not hitting the ball hard, but the soft line drives are dropping in, the infield hits are flowing, so as long as he keeps that up and stays consistent with that, that’s the engine that moves the offense for sure. As far as Tristan McKenzie goes, he pitched what? I’m sorry, he went into the sixth inning? Yes, five
Paul Hoynes (12:30):
And two third innings.
Joe Noga (12:31):
Five and two thirds. So he pitched into the sixth inning, walked four and only struck out I believe three. He walked strike three hits. Yeah, two strikeouts, strikeouts. So not a lot of strikeouts, only a lot of couple of hits, but walked four. But the fastball command was there a little bit and you picked up on something in terms of just his pitch mix.
Paul Hoynes (12:59):
Yeah, Joe, he was a totally different pitcher than his first game of the season against Seattle. In that game he threw 36 sliders, the most sliders he’s ever thrown in a start compared to 24 fastballs yesterday he threw 63 fastballs and I believe seven sliders according to a stat cast, and that’s a radical change. Bow Naor caught him against Seattle. Austin Hedges caught him yesterday against the White Sox. Hedges said different teams deserve different game plans, but I think there was an effort by vote, by the organization, by Hedges to get Tristan to reestablish his fastball because that’s how he controls the strike zone. And Tristan said that,
Joe Noga (13:55):
Well, I mean if you didn’t like your results in your first start and you knew you were facing a lineup in Chicago that maybe you could try to take advantage of, I mean maybe this was the perfect timeframe to say, okay, let’s just focus on our fastball command and go after these guys and the results will be what they are and it worked. Certainly you’re not facing murderer’s row when you’re looking at that White Sox lineup, so you maybe have a little bit more room to play with there. I thought he established against as many guys as he could, and when he lost at bats, when he lost guys with the walks, it wasn’t like he was missing terribly or you’re looking around going, what the heck? They were close misses and you don’t want to give into a team that you maybe that it’s just not as strong a lineup and he did a good job of not giving into guys who he knows he shouldn’t give into.
Paul Hoynes (15:01):
Yeah, and I think this is a guy, Tristan missed so much time last year. He made only four starts with the shoulder injury at the start, at the end of camp, and then the strained UCL in his right elbow. I think it’s going to take time for him to gain confidence in that elbow to pick up some loss velocity. Hedges was saying that yesterday that because he missed so much time, he’s going to work back into his velocity. It’ll pick up. He was thrown about 92 miles an hour, 91, 92 yesterday, and that’s about what he threw in his first start as well. So I would imagine if everything goes okay, the velocity will pick up the more, the deeper he gets into the season.
Joe Noga (15:55):
By the time we’re talking June, July, August, he should be nice and heated up by then. The bullpen continues to be dominant. Tim Heron, hunter Gaddis, Kate Smith, Emmanuel Kloe three and a third innings only allowed one hit and two walks. Kloe strikes out two in the ninth and he had a vote all jazzed up about, it wasn’t a saved situation, but he came out there with a four run lead in the ninth and I think Vote wanted that boost of adrenaline when Kloe walks in from center field to his walkup music and that the crowd gets going all crazy. He said that was sort of an electric moment and what more could you ask for Class A comes out, gives up a hit, but strikes out two in the ninth and finishes off the game.
Paul Hoynes (16:52):
Yeah, that was a perfect ending. I was a little surprised to use class in a non-A situation, but I think you were right, Joe. I think Vote was looking for an exclamation mark for that day, the whole day, the whole game and class A gave him one.
Joe Noga (17:07):
Yeah, during the introductions they cheered loudly for Jose, I’m sorry, for Class A. Obviously they cheered for Jose as well, but they also had a resounding cheer for Shane Bieber and it was emotional. Bieber put his hand over his heart as he emerged from the dugout, and we had seen before that when he talked to the media, he got a little choked up when talking about what’s ahead of him. Obviously it could be as early as the end of this week where he’s heading to have surgery on his elbow, Tommy John’s surgery, and it’s never a certain thing that a pitcher’s going to come back. I mean, this is a career threatening sort of injury. So Bieber has that confidence that guys have done it in the past, it’s happened, they’ve come back from it, but whether or not his return is going to be with Cleveland or with somebody else coming out of that dugout, it could have been the final time we saw Beaver do that. What did you take away from his interactions yesterday and just the idea of the prospect of that might be the last time we see Shane Bieber in a Cleveland guardian’s uniform?
Paul Hoynes (18:32):
Joe, he kind of beared his soul to the media. You got to be moved a little bit. By that, I mean this is a guy that’s a free agent at the end of the year. I’m sure in the past the guardians have tried to extend him. He’s turned it down. He decided, he and his agents decided to go year by year, trust in yourself, trust in your own ability, and then he blows out his elbow. Two starts into this season and now he’s facing an uncertain future. So these are kind of strange times for Shane Bieber and I’m sure he is wondering a, about the surgery, B, how he’ll come out of it and see just what kind of picture he’s going to be after it and where this will take him, and that’s a lot to take in and he didn’t hide from it. I really respected that the way he handled all the questions yesterday, he was honest to a fault and I think you just got a real good glimpse of what he is as a guy, as a man and as a pitcher. I mean, I admire him.
Joe Noga (20:01):
Yeah, and like you said, processing emotions is something that he’s still working through and I think anybody who’s been to the heights that Bieber has been and the expectations that he sets for himself and now to not know if you’ll ever get back to that point and to think about what he could potentially miss out on just in terms of his career and contracts, all of that plays into it. You said he’s a guy who decided to go year to year when the question of does he want to be extended started to come up, that to me was a clear indication once he started going year to year. That to me was a clear indication. He’s on a timer, he’s out of here the minute he can be out of here. I don’t know if an injury changes that. I don’t know if this particular injury changes that I still think he’s going to look to sign with the first club on the west coast that he can, and maybe they give him a deal that says it’s a two or three year deal knowing that first year that he’s not going to be available.
(21:13):
We’ve seen it happen with other pitchers facing this kind of injury To me in my mind, Bieber coming out of that dugout, that camera shot of him with his hand over his heart, acknowledging the crowd. To me that was the last time. I think it’s going to be the last image that I have of him in a guardian’s uniform. But we’ll see. Things might change. The club might decide we’re going to try and resign him and maybe he listens, who knows? Because this is home for a lot of people. It just never really has felt like home for Shane Beaver.
Paul Hoynes (21:53):
Yeah, I don’t know Joe. I mean it all depends. I mean, after he gets the surgery a, does he work closely with Cleveland’s staff, his medical staff, or does he go to, do his agents, have their own staff or who will oversee his rehab and when he starts his throwing program again, but he’s going to be down for this year for sure then. Yeah, so I mean it really is. It’s a big question mark, but I would think Cleveland is almost obligated to oversee his care in the beginning of his rehab, at least coming out of the surgery.
Joe Noga (22:46):
Right. And Bieber, I’m sorry. And Kluber and Brantley who have both suffered season ending injuries in their careers and both talked about what it’s like to be around the team during your rehab and to be able to feed off of that injury and get your work done and still be around the club throughout the rest of that season after suffering those injuries. They talked about how that was a benefit and who knows what the, we talked so much in post-game yesterday or last night about the vibe in that clubhouse and how it’s been the greatest and the most positive vibe that any of those guys have felt in a long time. And a lot of that is credit to Steven Vote. A lot of that is credit to the fact that they’ve been together and they’ve matured and they’ve grown up together over the last three years.
(23:44):
Is Bieber going to be a of that or is he not? Is that something that he’s going to stick around for during his rehab or does he, like you said, rehab somewhere else on his own, under the auspices of the Guardians until the end of his contract and then who knows? So we’ll continue to follow that. We’ll continue to follow all of the injury news coming out of the Guardians. The best place to get updates on that is Guardian subtext. You can subscribe to Guardian Subtext for 3 99 a month, get updates from Ponzi and from me sent directly to your phone, sign up by going to cleveland.com/subtext or by sending a text message to 2 1 6 2 0 8 4 3 4 6 hoey.
(24:34):
I keep going back to the eclipse. I keep going back to those four minutes and I thought one of the best parts about that was when the moment of totality hit the ballpark, DJ had timed up Pink Floyd’s Eclipse from Dark side of the Moon so that the line and the sun is eclipsed by the moon hit at exactly the moment the totality hit, and that gave me goosebumps just as much as looking up and seeing what I saw. But when you took your glasses off and you saw that ring around the sky, what did it make you feel just personally for yourself?
Paul Hoynes (25:19):
I just really loved it. I was so, you kind of get overwhelmed. It was just so, I don’t know what I was expecting, Joe. I thought it was going to be like a movie, but it was real life and it was just so cool to watch it and to see that this is something you’re never going to see again. Probably. And just such a, it was like a perfect setting. You were at the ballpark. You were around fans. Everybody was cheering. It was like a party and you’re seeing something that what won’t be seen again in Cleveland till what, 24 44?
Joe Noga (26:02):
We won’t be seeing it, that’s
Paul Hoynes (26:03):
For sure. Yeah, we won’t. We’ll be out in the ether somewhere.
Joe Noga (26:10):
How did your dogs react? What was the animal situation? Because if they’re running backward circles and barking all over the place, that could be an issue too.
Paul Hoynes (26:18):
Yeah, I don’t know. I wasn’t home, so I don’t know what Ollie was doing. I know she survived though.
Joe Noga (26:26):
That’s fantastic. The Guardian survived. I’m telling you. They pulled it off opening day on a total solar eclipse, the only MLB franchise with totality overhead during their pregame festivities. I think it was spot on credit to everybody. Hey, even the flyover and during the national anthem for the home opener kind of blew me away. I don’t even know what kind of plane it was. It was this giant, normally you get the stealth bomber or something like that. This looked like a 1940s giant cargo ship or something like that, and it came right up over the buildings. It looked like it was coming right for the press box.
Paul Hoynes (27:13):
No, I was yelling, pull up. Pull up
Joe Noga (27:18):
A con air. It reminded me of Con Air. That’s what it was. I thought Nicholas Cage was behind the control. Yeah, that’s the
Paul Hoynes (27:24):
Crazy guy with the Army helmet on, right? Yeah.
Joe Noga (27:29):
There you go. That was it. Hoey. That’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. We’ve got, hopefully we’ve got about five more games on this home stand if we can get ‘em in weather-wise. Looks like we’re in good shape for tonight. We will check back in with you tomorrow here and we’ll talk to you then.
Paul Hoynes (27:48):
Good deal, Joel.
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