CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – With half a foot of snow on the ground and temperatures hovering around 10 degrees, thousands of baseball fans streamed into the Huntington Convention Center for Guards Fest.
The annual pre spring training event featured plenty of interactive activities for fans including face and shoe painting, panel discussions, whiffle ball drills and games, pop-a-shot, autographs and photo opportunities.
Here’s the top notes and quotes from Guards Fest 2024.
Meet the manager – This weekend gave Guardians players their first opportunity to meet new manager Stephen Vogt in person. “[He’s] Awesome, first baseman Josh Naylor said. “Obviously I played against him in, I think it was in ‘21. I played against him and he's a great guy. He's a gamer. He loves baseball, he loves to win. So that's all you look for in people and he is a great human being, so we're all super excited to have him and the rest of the staff.” Vogt spent 10 years with six teams in the big leagues before retiring after the 2022 season. “You kind of get his energy right away,” Gold Gloved outfielder Steven Kwan said. “Super genuine, really authentic.” As beloved as Terry Francona was among his players, it’s safe to say Vogt has made a positive first impression and already separated himself from his predecessor. “I think Vogt was very authentic and intentional when saying he's not trying to be Tito,” Kwan said. “Obviously Tito was great, but he's going to go in with kind of his mindset. He's going to learn a lot. He wants to learn, which is really cool. It's not like his way or the highway, which we appreciate obviously, but it's going to be a new wave, but I'm super excited and confident that it'll be the right way.” Like Francona, Vogt’s positive energy is already reverberating around the clubhouse. “I'm excited to have Vogt with us,” right-hander Triston McKenzie said. “I'm excited to see some of the new coaches and have some of the guys that we're kind of wide-eyed last year be a little more confident and be able to kind of settle in.” Prior to being hired by Cleveland, Vogt spent last season as the Mariners bullpen coach, but the new job is starting to finally feel real. “It's been a lot of fun the last couple days,” Vogt said. “Finally getting to see people in person and no longer zooming or on the phone or texting just to get to meet everybody, see their personalities and get to watch some baseball. Yesterday we watched the pitchers throw some bullpens, some guys take some swings. It's fun that we're getting closer to baseball.”
Warm welcome – Vogt was a hit among fans Saturday. He shook a lot of hands and took time to hit grounders to kids on the whiffle ball field. “The people that I've been fortunate to meet today, everybody's smiling,” Vogt said “That's the beauty of a new season is everybody's got the same record right now and we all feel like we're going to win the World Series and you can feel that energy from the fans, but the welcome that my family and I have received here in Cleveland has been really humbling and we're really excited to be here.”
McKenzie ready – McKenzie has put his injury shortened 2023 season behind him. “Ready for spring training, ready for the season,” McKenzie said. McKenzie battled a muscle strain then a strained ulnar collateral ligament but avoided Tommy John surgery, which allowed him to return in late September. “It is just tough not being able to contribute and still having to watch the games and feeling like, oh man, if only I was out there being able to put my best foot forward, or whatever the case may be. It is just tough being around the guys and knowing that you could help and not being able to.” The right-hander resumed bullpen work earlier this year after the holidays. “The buildup has been a little bit different because I threw at the end of the year and I took so much time off during the year,” McKenzie said. “I’ve just been throwing a little bit more throughout the off season and I'd say the buildup is a little more gradual as opposed to slow to high.”
Golden season – Kwan won his second gold glove for his work in the outfield last season despite not feeling 2023 was up to his standards. “It was super affirming,” Kwan said. “I think especially, I was probably being really hard on myself, but I feel like that year wasn't like the team wanted or I wanted, but to still be able to come out with that, I think it shows a lot of our hard work.” Kwan, who hit .268 with 48 extra base hits, 70 walks and 54 RBI in 2023, is expected to remain the leadoff hitter and has spent the offseason working on his bat speed, angles and aggressiveness swinging the bat. He’s making an effort to not get too worried about working counts and taking pitches atop the lineup. “The leadoff [hitter] ideally is supposed to do that, but again, it doesn't work if you're 0-2 and then now you got to fight off [pitches],” Kwan said. “I think everybody has to be a hitter. You obviously have a reputation that follows, but I think also the big thing is staying ahead of all those kind of reports and just trying to keep everybody on their toes.”
KISS method – As catcher Bo Naylor enters his second season, his approach at the plate and behind it is: keep it simple, stupid. “I think that it's really easy in this game to think of so many things at one time and really speed yourself up, and sometimes you don't even realize that you're doing it and it could be a hindrance to you,” Naylor said. “So I think that the more simple you can make, the more fine and simple you can make your approach and really focus and hone in on that. That's one of the things that I've learned and really helped me towards the end there. That's one of the things, or part of the many things that I learned from being a part of this team.” In 67 games last season Naylor hit .237 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI. His elevation to the major leagues was highly anticipated last season. For him, it was an education. “I have to say patience,” Naylor said when asked what he learned most. “This game, there's going to be a lot of ups, a lot of downs. I had it in my first part of a season there, but the more diligent, the more disciplined that you can be in your routines and the things that you need to take care of along with patience, the success will come as long as you have the right mindset.”
Money matters – Josh Naylor has established himself as a core player for the Guardians but is not signed long term. Naylor has one more year of arbitration eligibility before he is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in 2026 raising the question Saturday about an extension. “I'm going to leave that to them. You can ask them that question,” Naylor said. “Obviously Cleveland's an incredible place to play. I love my teammates, I love my coaches and yeah, my brother's here too, which is awesome. We'll see what the other cards fold and whatever God has planned for me.” Naylor, who has hit a combined .274 with 44 home runs and 199 RBI since being acquired from the Padres, is set to make $6.5 million this coming season.
Quote of the day – Josh Naylor: “We're all trying to get better. We all have one goal and that's the win a World Series. And we can do that if everyone isn't on the same page and if everyone doesn't want the next person to kind of be great too.”