The Toronto Blue Jays spoke to reporters on the eve of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
The Blue Jays will face the Seattle Mariners in the best-of-seven series.
Games 1 and 2 will be at Rogers Centre on Sunday and Monday.
The Blue Jays booked their ticket to the ALCS on Wednesday, defeating the New York Yankees in four games in their Division Series.
Meanwhile, the Mariners advanced on Friday, beating the Detroit Tigers in a winner-take-all Game 5, which lasted 15 innings.
Manager John Schneider, Game 1 starter Kevin Gausman and outfielder Myles Straw held media availabilities on Saturday afternoon.
Here are some of what they said:
5:32 p.m. - Gausman on preparing to face Mariners
“I’m a little bit different than most guys. I’m not Chris Bassitt. I don’t have seven pitches, so I don’t have to do as much deep diving. (I’ll) definitely take a look at their tendencies and what they’ve changed if I think they’ve changed their approach at all,” Gausman said.
The Blue Jays faced the Mariners in Toronto in April and in Seattle in early May.
“I said this last week, like I didn’t come up with a new pitch this turn through. I’m gonna throw fastballs and splits and sprinkle in some sliders. That’s kind of my game. And I will take a look at maybe picking some times on their runners. They’re really good running teams. So, I mean, going into that, I need to know all the right spots, when I can slide step, and when I need to be quick, and what guys are going to try to steal third base from second. There’s a lot of different aspects of their games they try to take advantage of, and that’s why they’re here.”
5:25 p.m. - Gausman on starting Game 1 of another series
“I said this before: anytime you’re handed the ball for what is the most important game up to this point, you’re always going to be fired up and ready for that. And so, I’m excited to see what tomorrow night is going to be like here, and I’m ready to go.”
5:24 p.m. - Gausman on Jays’ white-panel hats
“I don’t know,” Gausman said when asked how long Jays players intend to wear them.
“We’ll see. Everybody likes wearing them. Nobody’s going to go against them right now. So, you know, we’ll see what happens.”
The hats have been considered the team’s “good luck charm.”
5:19 p.m. – Gausman on facing Cal Raleigh
Gausman says they’ll have conversations later today on how to pitch to Cal Raleigh.
“What a season he’s had, and what a great switch hitter at such a hard position—to hit, to catch as many games as he has. What a season he’s put together. But I also feel confident with myself that I can go out and get them out. I’ve gotten out before, and so now it’s just about mixing up pitches and trying to kind of keep them off balance.”
5:16 p.m. – Gausman on being step closer to World Series
“It’s fun. It’s even more fun to do it with this group of guys. It’s a special group of guys. No one’s selfish in this bunch. And you’ve really seen that if you’ve watched this play at all this year,” Gausman said.
“They play the game the right way, and they play fundamental baseball, and so, you know, they make it really easy to root for.”
5:10 p.m. - Schneider on Bassitt’s availability for ALCS
“He feels a lot better than he did at the end of the regular season, even last week. So I think he’s recovered physically well. He could pitch one inning. I think he could pitch four or five,” Schneider said.
“He understands that this time of the year, whatever we need from him, he’s going to go out and give.”
5:06 p.m. - Yesavage ‘mostly likely’ for Game 2 and Bieber for Game 3
When asked if Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber will get the start for Games 2 and 3, respectively, Schneider said, “most likely.”
“Nothing definitive yet but I think that could be a definite possibility.”
5:04 p.m. - Schneider shares message to fans
“It’s been tremendous. I feel like the last second half of the year, really the whole year, they’ve come out and supported us. And I feel like you could feel the buzz in the city for a few months now. This atmosphere, I think you kind of have to be here to appreciate it in the postseason. It can be pretty deafening at times. So to the fans, I say, ‘Thank you for coming and thank you for making this a place that is noticeably different to play in when you get into this kind of atmosphere.’ It’s fun every single night.”
5:01 p.m. - Schneider on Bichette being in ALCS roster
“I don’t want to say our last decision but one of them and kind of just getting some feedback from him when he is done,” the Blue Jays manager said. “We’ll check in with him here shortly.”
He shared that Bichette will run the bases today.
4:47 p.m. – Straw on Gausman
“We have confidence in everybody on this team. You can put whoever that literally does not matter, any single name, whether they’re on the roster or not, anyone in this organization, and I’m gonna believe in him, you know, 100 per cent so obviously, (Gausman) has been doing it for us all season long.
“So, I mean, anytime he gets the ball, I feel like we got a good chance. So, looking forward to it, he brings the energy. I love watching him compete. He’s a big-time competitor. And I think the Blue Jays fans are gonna be ready to see him take them on tomorrow.”
4:45 p.m. - Straw on Jays getting days off before ALCS
“For a team like us, we have a lot of veteran guys in there that know how to use the day-offs properly and know how to come in and be prepared and what they’re going to be asked to do, or whatever. And I feel like this round is nice. I mean, we still got our few days off and not missing too much baseball and not having to play those inner-squad games. But I think we’re going to be ready to roll. I feel like that was the perfect amount of time to kind of miss and still be locked in.”
4:42 p.m. - Straw shares message to Jays fans
“We’re as excited as you guys are. Looking forward to being back in the city and, you know, doing more than just the LCS. So, yeah, nothing else, other than we’re just really excited and prepared for the opportunity to stay over.”
4:40 p.m. – Straw on Blue Jays fans in Seattle
“It’s gonna be cool to see all the Blue Jays fans come down from over there. And obviously, our place is going to be rocking as always, so we’re excited. I wish the flight was a little closer, but that’s only once or twice, so that’s easy, so it’ll be fun. I’m really looking forward to it. I think we got a good shot at this.”
4:37 p.m. – Straw on playing Mariners
“I think we were all locked in, and we all know what they got. I mean, those guys are really good. They’ve been good for a while. So just kind of knowing just what we’re gonna compete against and knowing who we got. So, yeah, we’ll get in there, do some homework on them, and go from there.”
4:36 p.m. - Straw on playing for the Blue Jays
“It was a very easy team to come to,” Straw said.
He added, “Ilove it here. The city is great, the facilities, the people. I mean, everything. So very happy and just blessed to be a part of all this.”
