Will Stuart Fairchild's return from the WBC dial up Guardians outfield competition?

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1:14Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. I'm Joe Nogat joined by Paul Horns. Lindsey Big Weekend for the Guardians as they go. Two oh and one in cactus league play a tie game against the Rockies on the road on Sunday. But they come up with wins against the Angels and Padres on Friday and Saturday. Things start to really sort of take shape. We saw a couple of guys get back in the lineup and a couple of guys really start to produce there. Chased a lotter. Made his return on Friday. Played in games on Friday and Sunday. And Reese Hoskins had a big game on Saturday finally breaking through with his first cactus league home run and an RBI double in that game. Would you like out of the the Guardians over the weekend? And you know as we start to creep ever closer to the opening opening week of the season. What do you like out of these guys that you've seen as these you know some of the guys are going

2:15to be on the opening day roster start to really settle in. Yeah just good to see Reese Hoskins first sign of life we've seen Joe. I guess it's to have to be expected. You know he came in late. He missed the first part of camp and he's been playing a lot. And finally you know against the Padres on Saturday breaks through. You know just listening to the broadcast from from here. It's it seemed like that he struck out in the second inning but had a 13-pitch at bat Joe. And that really kind of got him going. It seems to be you know the fourth inning he hits a two run homer in the in the his next at bat in the 50 as an RBI single. So you know that's a good sign I think they really need a right hand at bat. You know his you know he has that pedigree. He has the track record to do it so that was encouraging. But now let's see him take the next step. Yeah and and that's that's really sort of he's got almost three more

3:18full weeks to to try and get to that point now. Once he feels comfortable and settled in now he's got time I guess to you know sort of get that good feeling at the plate in his timing and everything. You talked about that 13-pitch at bat. He fouled off what like four consecutive pitches at the at the end of the at bat before us swing and miss strike out on a change up I believe. But it was Michael King that was on the mountain it was probably one of San Diego's best pitchers that he homered off of. You know we had the good at bat early against King and then came back and I think it was a first pitch that that he took him yard for that home run. He didn't wait around for a 13-pitch to do that. It's sign of a sign of a veteran there I guess. But you're right he has that track record of you know six consecutive seasons where he was right around that 30 home run mark. He can really if you you know if you've given the opportunity to sit there and sit in the middle of your lineup and and really produce with the guys who

4:20he's going to have hidden in front of them in Jose Ramirez and Stephen Kwong there's going to be a lot of opportunities. Yeah nice to see that out of Reese Hoskins and now like you said that's just a matter of getting the body in the mind right and ready for the start of the season. How difficult are we sort of overlooking how difficult it is to come into camp late the way that he did and you know sort of expecting him to produce right away is that is that something that's you know not not the usual. You know it depends I guess if you're a younger player you don't have all the numbers that Hoskins has stacked up behind him in his career. There's a lot of I think there's a lot more pressure you know that that kind of attention to produce but I think you know if they they knew where Hoskins was when they signed them you know where he was in in spring training they knew he'd be a little bit behind so and I think you've got to give this guy the benefit of the doubt simply because you know he's done it before. Now you know it's it's not like you know they went out in a limb and gave this guy

5:22a huge contract if he if it doesn't work it doesn't work and you're out like 1.5 million you know that's not going to break the bank so you know it's kind of a win-win for the Guardians. If he comes through it's great he's the right-handed hitter powerheader you need if not it was you threw something against the wall and it didn't. Now by contrast a chase to louder makes his return to line up on Friday after missing several games with the lower body soreness. He played Friday and he played again on Sunday. I started Friday at DH and I believe he got a few innings in the right field on Sunday had hits in both games. I think he's got hits in every game that he's played in in the the cactus league this year. So you know you talk about a guy who has all the reason in the world but to sort of be pressing at the plate at this point because you know he doesn't know how many at bats he's going to get or when his next at bat is coming or when his next appearance is coming and the injuries have made things so inconsistent

6:23and yet when chased a lotter gets out there you know it's almost like he's free and easy playing at the plate which is the best thing that you could possibly see out of him. Yeah Joe I like the way they use them too you know the first game back against the angels he's playing right field and on Sunday they brought him back he's DHing. I wonder you know if that's kind of the pattern they'll follow once the regular season starts. I would think they'd like to see him mostly in right field but if the emphasis is the emphasis is on keeping him healthy he might be you know see the DH and you know I'm more than frequently I would say. Yeah and you know if it's a matter of them playing a two or a three game series you know he might play two out of the three games one game at DH one game in the outfield if it's a three game series maybe you know maybe two games in the outfield but you know they're gonna they're gonna limit his opportunities to go out there and expose himself and to injuries. Yeah I would expect that to be a good pattern for them to use and maybe

7:27an indicator right there that that's what his playing time is gonna look like and maybe that's where Hoskins might lose in it better to or lose a game or two in a series because you know that they got to find ways to keep until or I'm sorry to keep the lottery and man Zaro in the line up at the same time you know maybe with the Hoskins being the veteran they've told them up front are you willing to you know sit one or more games in a series just to make sure that that's possible so we'll we'll see but they usually have things you know pretty figured out there also over the weekend great pitching out of the Guardians this weekend about especially out of the starters Friday Saturday Sunday Gavin Williams Slates Coney Joey Cantillo all of them starting to look stronger and get deeper into games I think Cantillo pitched into the fifth inning on Sunday and Williams and Ciccone both you know give up a run here or there but not nothing too devastating

8:28and some good outings on the heels of four scoreless from Tanner Bible on Thursday but what he's seeing out of the way the the starting rotation is starting to shake out. Yeah you've got to be happy with that if you're Steven vote. Bobby starts it off Thursday night against the white socks with four scoreless and you know you roll out Williams Sony Cantillo Williams goes three and two thirds a Ciccone goes four Cantillo goes four and two thirds you know I think they're just the right where they should be at this stage of spring training and if you map it out you go you know you count down the days in the schedule it looks like and no surprise I guess it would be Bobby and Williams opening the regular season what on March 26th and 27th in Seattle. Yeah good one two punch over the weekend there in Seattle with Bobby and Williams still haven't gotten confirmation from Steven vote on who the opening day starter is but he's been asked about it

9:28already a couple of times in some interview sessions and you know he's been asked about what it would mean to Tanner Bobby and Tanner Bobby has been asked about what it would mean to him because if you remember again last year heading into the the opener Bobby was all set to take the ball on the you know the season opening game in Kansas City came down with about a food poisoning and Ben Lively had to step in. Yeah you know and I think you know I mean Bobby was really geared up to to make that start I think it's you know it's a it's a big deal for any starter you know it means you're the number one guy and obviously as as they say you're the you're the opening day starter for one day and then then you just get into the routine with the other four guys you know to be the opening day starter is is an accomplishment and I think every starting picture looks forward to that and I know he was disappointed after that but we came back and had you still had a strong season and I would think you know he's the guy in line to do it this year hopefully everything

10:33goes well he stays on course and he gets that opportunity against a really good Seattle team. Yeah and obviously the debate would be between Bobby and Gavin Williams who also you know sort of pitched his way into position to be considered a number one type starter with the numbers that he put up last season good problem to have and also you throw in Slade Sikoni who's had a pretty consistent spring as well a good to see him out there you know just working on some things and as these guys get built up and they they get a little deeper into games it's it's great to see that you know they're they're bouncing back and they're recovering well and they're they're in position to sort of set themselves up for success early in the season over the weekend the Guardians cut about a dozen guys from their camp roster none of the none of the cuts were were unexpected I think at least from the perspective of watching the team and understanding you know who has the best shot to make the the opening day roster most of these guys were minor

11:34leagueers who were non roster invitees to major league camp and also some minor leagueers who were on the 40 man roster the biggest name I think like you mentioned earlier Daniel Espino a guy who who's made a couple of appearances in cactus league games in fact over the weekend he I think either Friday or Saturday he made he had an outing where he pitched a scoreless inning but Espino one of the guys sent down along with Frank O'Allemann Doug McKenzie guys who are on the 40 man roster as well so you know what you think of the the cuts mostly pictures that were were cut and sent down and oh they're off to get there their minor league season underway yeah no big surprises as you said Joe Espino you know I thought it was interesting what Stephen vote said you know when he was talking about him being option he said you know we expect him to impact the big league club at some point this year that that kind of struck me because you know as everyone knows this guy is hardly pitched for the last three years and I'm really curious to see what role

12:39he would impact the guardians on would it be a starter or reliever you know I think if it's they used him but pretty much as a starter and at least in a starter's role but Saturday against the against the Padres he came in first time he came in and in relief in the fifth inning he relieves Sacone gives up a lead off double and then strikes out three straight shown I think he topped out at 97.3 miles an hour showed a great slider and so maybe that's a role for him we just don't know but the fact that they have that arm available and if he can stay healthy you know he can help them one way or the other at some point during this upcoming season yeah if you've got you know 97 in the tank and the rest of your pitch mix is developing maybe there's a way to protect him if he comes up and joins out of the bullpen and he's only expected to go winning you can do it that way and then tell him hey you know you get through this season pitching one inning out of the bullpen

13:42and then maybe you look at next year as a time to go and compete for a spot in the rotation but you know I I would think at this point they're going to try and stretch him out as much as possible but we've only ever seen him in in one inning chunks so far and maybe that's the way that it goes for this year but still like trying he's he's the kind of kid who's got the the mental makeup where you can you can reason with him and say just because we pitch you out of the bullpen this year for an inning at a time it doesn't mean next year if you if you come back healthy that you can't be a starter at that point because did you know that that's where they want him and where he wants to be is in the rotation. Dot about it so he's he's always started he drafted him as a starter but when when he was drafted this was back in 2019 there was some scouts who said he might be end up in the bullpen just because because of how hard he threw kind of you know so well you know we'll see how that ends up but right now Joe he's got he's got to get some meanings under his belt here he's got to get some meanings in that arm just see how he handles handles being used on a regular basis

14:47what he can and can't do. How many you know how long can he be how long can he can he be stretched out for and you know how deep can he go in a game there's a there's a lot of things the Guardian's have to still find out about a Spino but you know initially right now the biggest thing is he's healthy and and they seem very pleased with that. It's a great thing to see out of annual Spino considering that the long path and the long journey he's had thus far since being drafted. A couple of guys coming back to the Guardians by the middle of this week should be Travis Bazana and Stuart Fairchild whose time in the World Baseball Classic came to an end this weekend actually just this morning. Bazana's Australia team losing to Korea in basically a win or go home you know match up for that that pool in Japan. The Korean team beats the Australians the Australians finished two and two in the tournament. Bazana had an RBI in turn to double play

15:51in that game but wound up hitting just one 88 with a 610 OPS home run a couple of RBI's in the tournament in those four games but for him you the the experience probably immeasurable just you know being able to go out there and put Australia across your chest and represent your country leading off playing second base in all those games. Stuart Fairchild big breakout four games for the the Chinese Taipei club a couple of home runs including a grand slam went three for 12 with the plate hit 250 with six RBI's. Stuart Fairchild how would he think the chances are that he carries over that momentum back into tactically games as he returns to the Guardians and I know works that into a spot on the opening day roster. I think just from listening to you know what Stephen Vogue had to say about Fairchild early in camp that they targeted this guy really early in the free agent process they they feel you know they like they like his ability to

16:55play center field to lead off to play you know right and left field to steal a base. I think he's got a legitimate chance to make the 26 man roster Joe as a bench guy well have to see you know it's getting crowded right now with Angel Martinez and and some other guys there's a lot of competition for those last few spots on the roster. Chase DeLotter George Valera Steven Kwan CJ Kaifus on home Martinez like you mentioned it is a very crowded field picture and oh yeah Nolan Jones still out there and Nolan Jones you know kind of struggling still at the plate what's going to happen there's there's too many bodies for too few spots right now and if you put child Fairchild into that mix reinsert him in that competition now and and let's say he takes off and he's you know he's hitting like he was out out in the WBC you're going to have some really hard decisions and Stephen Vogue likes talking about those hard decisions who do you if you know

17:56three weeks from the end of camp who are you predicting right now could grab a couple of those spots in the outfield yeah I think I'm held Martinez I've got to stay with him uh you know the thing is they've got a couple you know Daniel Schneeman can play out there and he's had a really strong camp and you know Fairchild I think there's a reason they brought him to camp and you know if if he continues to play well I think he's going to make a case for himself and the other outfielders boy you know you've got Valera you've got you've got Rodriguez we haven't even talked about Rodriguez you know the lottery so it's really going to be a tight fit for sure you know I wonder uh you know Nolan Jones you know they paid him they sent him to a one year two million dollar deal Joe and you know after though he what he had two hits in the first at submission game the first spring game this spring and he struggled since then and we saw we he looks a lot like he did last season and this is this is not a good time to struggle if you're Nolan Jones yeah if if he continues along this path the do you think maybe they'll

19:01look to try and find a trade partner find something uh to to to move him on because I can't imagine that they would want him taking away at bats from any of these other guys that that are actually hitting the ball with any sort of consistency but you know a guy like Valera's got options they they can they can send him down at least to start the season and then and then call him back up at some point once he's ready but yeah I don't know if you start with Kwan in in center field and then you're looking to fill two corner spots and and maybe you know two more on the bench the fairchild and Martinez have to be two of those guys and the lottery's got to be another one so you're you're talking about maybe three or four bodies for one spot and that's going to be a real tough you know you're going to have some tough conversations with guys particularly Nolan Jones I think coming up and Joe with thought what uh votes said about Nolan Jones laid last week he said he needs he needs to see conviction out of Jones and I wasn't quite sure what he met does that mean conviction and a swing conviction you know in in his in his you know in his in his

20:06in his you know his stance at the plate in a way he attacks the baseball but he said he's caught in between again as he was last year laid on the fastball and out front on the breaking ball and that he that he wants to see a convicted conviction from Nolan Jones so I'm I'm not sure exactly what that means but I think you know maybe more aggressive I'm not sure yeah and you know if you're more aggressive it's going to lead to some some negative results that you know you're gonna strike out a little more and he can't be the guy who's afraid to go out there and strike out uh yeah it's going to be tough to you know again tough decisions are ahead for Steven vote and uh and the Guardian's coaching staff when it comes to the outfield I want to wrap up here really quickly with the mention of the um annual class A and Luis Ortiz uh trial uh the situation what we found out over the weekend that the uh the judge in the case and in the Eastern District of New York has moved the trial date from a schedule date of May 4th it's now pushed back all

21:11the way to the end of the baseball season November 2nd is when the trial date has been set we also found out uh that in uh separate filing or to disagree according to uh Yahoo sports according to a separate filing say has also asked for uh the the defendants to be separated their trials to be separate earlier uh Luis Ortiz had requested uh his try his uh his case be separated from Class A's uh because he believed that it would be prejudicial to to be tried at the same time as Class A because uh according to Ortiz's lawyers the evidence against Class A was so much more than what what they had against uh Ortiz in the case that Ortiz would be prejudiced by that but Class A now also claiming uh through his attorney according to Yahoo sports uh the the quote from the filing says Mr. Class A's need for prompt justice is heightened by the enormous and perhaps unprecedented prejudice he might suffer if his trial is delayed over the

22:12objection the lawyers for Class A were trying to argue here that delaying the trial until November actually hurts Class A's case and they wanted the the proceedings to go on but here the second part of this quote uh specifically a delay could imperil Mr. Class A's receipt of the the approximately 6.4 million dollars he is contractually owed in 2026 and the tens of millions more he would receive under a new contract reflecting his fair market value as one of baseball's most dominant athletes quote a hoisy is this delusional that uh Emmanuel Class A could someday uh you know even new contract for his fair market value as one of baseball's most dominant athletes do Class A and his lawyers honestly believe he's ever in a pitch in Major League Baseball again. Oh I mean this guy would have to be uh cleared you know lock stock and barrel they would have to find him you know as as pure as new driven snow for that to happen because this is going to follow him for the rest of his life for the rest of his career the taint of this him and Ortiz and

23:16you know I'd be stunned if he ever pitches in a big league game again or professional baseball any associated leagues because now what league Korea uh Japan none of those leagues are going to touch him regardless of whether or not uh you know he's convicted of the United States of of what he's charged at the federal court uh just for fear of what uh their associations with Major League Baseball I don't think uh any of those the other top uh you know professional leagues would would want Class A pitching for them. Yeah you couldn't pitch winner ball he tried to get to pitch what in Venezuela they wouldn't let him so this fast winner so with for the same reasons just uh you know but we still don't know Joe are the Guardians on the hook for the six what they own for this season the 6.4 million or not and uh the clock is ticking. Yeah and this filing by his attorneys really indicates that that 6.4 million is still on his mind as well as it probably should be yeah they're they're they're still hoping that they uh get the opportunity to to collect what he

24:20is quote contractually owed a 4.2026 according to that filing. All right Huysey that's going to wrap up today's edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. The Guardians will be in action again today uh in Arizona and we'll uh wrap it up when we come back tomorrow and we'll talk to you then two teams one cup the prime time stage is set for the TGL presented by SoFi finals Los Angeles Golf Club versus Tiger's Jupiter links keep up it's playoffs tune in Monday March 23rd 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN 2 and Tuesday March 24th 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and on the ESPN app