Gavin Williams dominates, Steven Kwan surges as Guardians try to save their season – Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians finally gave themselves something to build on Thursday, beating the Giants to secure their first series win since late July behind another dominant performance from Gavin Williams and some timely hitting with runners in scoring position. Williams struck out 11, surpassed 200 strikeouts for the season and continued to make his case as Cleveland’s ace heading into the stretch run. Steven Kwan continued his remarkable turnaround with three walks and an RBI single, while José Ramírez showed more signs of returning to form and Angel Genao continued to make it difficult for Stephen Vogt to keep him out of the lineup. On the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga discuss whether Williams should start a potential postseason opener, Kwan’s approach to working through his early-season struggles, how Vogt can find regular playing time for Genao and the progress Jo Adell and Chase DeLauter are making toward returning to the lineup. The focus now shifts to a critical six-game trip against Colorado and the Angels, where Cleveland needs to take advantage of two struggling opponents to remain in the playoff race.Steven Kwan was written off earlier this season — his response is a masterclass in mental toughnessAngel Genao might be the Guardians’ most surprising weapon down the stretchGuardians, Colorado Rockies series preview, pitching matchupsRead the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s an AI-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.Podcast TranscriptJoe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, the Guardians take care of business. I guess on getaway day at the ballpark, they wrap up their home stand, they wrap up the series against the Giants and, and get a win. Their first series win since they, they took two out of three in Cincinnati back in July. Just how big was it to, to come through and, and, and get, not only to, to get the hits and runner with runners in scoring position to get the, the 10 strikeout effort from Gavin Williams, but to actually finish off a win and win a series at home?Paul Hoynes: Yeah, that was the key point, Joe, just to kind of salvage this home, home, home stand which, you know, began with a sweep by the, the Padres. You know, this was important to, you know, just get them on the plane on a winning note. Headed to, you know, Colorado for, you know, really six important games, three against the Rockies, three against the Angels. But yeah, just, you know, kind of a good overall performance, especially coming off of, you know, really a frustrating one nothing loss on Wednesday night to the same Giants team. And you know, they, they did a little bit of everything. They, they scored early, they added on and they had some great pitching.Joe Noga: I know it seems like it was, you know, they’ve been playing so many rough games this, this last few weeks here, but they actually did win a game against the Padres. They didn’t get swept, so.Paul Hoynes: Oh, I’m sorry.Joe Noga: Yeah. Oh, no, no, that’s okay. Because we had all been feeling that, especially coming off of that, that Wednesday night loss, that one nothing loss where Parker Messick pitched so well. They got another 10 strikeout effort from Gavin Williams and 10 strikeouts. Puts him over 200 for the, the season. His 13th 10 strikeout or double digit strikeout game of his career. Nine of those this year. He’s second in the majors with those nine double digit strikeout games tied with Dylan Cease and Jacob Mizrowski. So you’re talking about two of the, the Cy Young favorites that he’s up there with in that conversation. Just for, for Gavin Williams. This, this was a, it’s been a really good bounce back on Thursday for, for him coming off of that game against the Padres.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, definitely. He’s in control. You know, he had the, he gave up the two runs on the home run in the fourth inning. But other than that, Joe, he looked, you know, he looked super. I thought he could have gone a lot deeper into the ball game, 96 pitches, 60 strikes. But you know, I think Vogt is kind of looking ahead to, to the stretch run and conserving these guys. He’s, you know, Gavin’s made every start this season, hasn’t missed a turn, just like, you know, most of the other guys in that rotation. So I guess you have to be very careful with them. And you know, the bullpen did a great job.Joe Noga: Yeah. And William said, you know, the key here is taking that momentum forward. Now they get on the road, they face Colorado and the Angels. These are two teams that, that, that they know they should beat and they, they know that they should definitely, if they don’t sweep, then they should take two out of three in each of those series. And, and that’s not being, saying, you know, just on paper, this, that that’s what this should be. And you know, Thursday’s game wasn’t necessarily an offensive explosion, but they did, you know, get enough offense especially early to put them in a position to win and sort of give Gavin that, that ability to go out there and pitch freely.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, three runs in the first inning. Patrick Bailey, I thought had the key hit there. Two out single, two out, RBI single against his old club to make it three nothing. And you know, Gavin Williams was carried it from there. But you know, we haven’t, you know, the CORA and early, as we’ve said in the past in past podcasts, hasn’t been a Cleveland’s problem. It’s adding on, that’s been the problem. And they were fortunate enough to do just enough to, to, you know, on Thursday to secure the win.Joe Noga: Yeah. And you talked about Bailey’s big hit against his former club earlier in that inning. Jose Ramirez had a hit with runners on first and third, nobody out. Ramirez did, did sort of get jammed on a pitch, floated it out there for a base hit. The hit was number 1751 of his career. Tied him for 5th place all time in Guardians history with Charlie Jameson. So, you know, it’s been a while I think, since we’ve, we’ve updated any of those Jose Ramirez all time lists. You know, it was, there was a point in the season where it was like every other game we were saying Jose’s moving past so and so on this list. And you know, you know, that, that hadn’t been the case for a while, but, you know, nice to get, you know, a feeling like Jose Ramirez back in the, in the saddle again as well.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, the season and injuries are a great equalizer when it comes to a guy in Ramirez’s situation. Hopefully, you know, he’s starting to feel a Little better with that surgically repaired left hand and he’s starting to swing the bat a little better. It certainly has looked this way at the tail end of this, at this home stand. Joe.Joe Noga: Yeah, and Votes said that they as a team, you know, executed their game plan in terms of they, they knew that the, the San Francisco pitcher Roupp was a guy who, you know, sort of had different kind of shapes to his pitches and crisscrossed the plate a little bit. And he said going into the game, you know, if they could get a few jam shot singles, that they would be, you know, in, in, in good position. And that’s exactly what happened. So they were real happy with the execution. One series doesn’t sort of erase the offensive struggles that they’ve had over the last couple of weeks here. But you know, the Guardians have, have really been grinding, really been working according to Vote and you know, it’s good to see, you know, a couple of hits fall and a couple of run score and they get to get on the plane and have a happy trip to the West Coast.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, no problem. Definitely about, definitely Joe. And you know, is it still, this is still a team that you really don’t know what you’re going to get. And that’s why, that’s why this trip is so important. They are what, 11 and 20 since the all Star break, one of the worst records in baseball. So that’s why, you know, they really have to play well against the Rockies, against the Angels. Two teams that have, you know, are out of the race obviously, and if they’re going to stay in the wild card race and have maybe an outside chance in, in the AL Central. So, you know, big, big road trip and it was key to win this. It was really, really important for them to win this series.Joe Noga: I want to go back to Gavin Williams here and the, the idea of an auto 10. We heard that from Stephen Kwan in the post game. Steven Kwan gets up there and says it just feels like every time Gavin’s out there it’s an auto 10. He’s talking about strikeouts here. He struck out 11 and 5 and 2/3 innings. His, you know, 200 strikeout was the, he made him the first Cleveland pitcher to get to 200 since Shane Bieber had 259 of them in 2019. So you figure he’s, he’s got, you know, maybe five, six more starts left. You know, 259 is a, is a good number, a good total there target for, for Gavin to try and get to. It’s not the record, but, you know, it’s still a really good season if he can get up there. So and, and vote essentially agreed with, with Stephen Kwan saying, you know, he’s been dominating for the last couple of months. Yeah.Paul Hoynes: And his last six starts, Joe, here’s the strikeout totals game by game. Today was 11, 5, 7. And then that string of three starts with 10 or more strikeouts, 10 against Arizona, 12 against Cincinnati, 11 against Minnesota. So, you know, Gavin is on a roll here and you know, he maybe, you know, hit a little bit of a speed bump against the Padres and White Sox, but it looks like he’s back, back on track. You know, I don’t know if you judge if strikeouts are the, you know, strikeouts equate to victories, but if they do, he’s certainly on the right path.Joe Noga: Big. The question, I guess it’s coming up now. You talked about sort of conserving him for whatever potential postseason run they might have. Is Gavin Williams, your, your, your ace, your number one, your first game of the postseason. If you, you make it to a wild, wild card round, if you make it to a division series round, he’s the guy who gets the ball, right?Paul Hoynes: I think so, Joe. Unless, you know, you have to win that game to get into it. You know, if. It all depends what you’ve got to do to get to the postseason, who you’ve got to use, you know, and how you set rotation sometimes, you know, you have to use your best guy just to get through the door.Joe Noga: Yeah, that would, and you like your chances if there’s a, a must win game in the final week of the season lining up to put, to put Gavin Williams on the mound. And, and don’t forget the Guardians close the season in Boston. And who knows, you know, what Boston will be playing for if they’re going to be playing for a position seating a division championship, something like that. Uh, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll, we’ll have to wait and see. Finally, on Thursday, the Guardians come through with some hits and with runners in scoring position. We talked about Jose’s big hit. We talked about, you know, Patrick Bailey having a nice, nice turn. Uh, what about Stephen Kwan with his turnaround? You know, if you had told us in, in, in May or early June that this was the version of Stephen Kwan we’d be seeing out there, we would have thought you were crazy. He was mired in such a slump and, and not looking like himself. But today on, on Thursday, walks in his first three at bats and then an RBI single in his fourth this is the, this is vintage Stephen Kwan.Paul Hoynes: Yeah. And you know, just, he’s hitting line drives all over the field, not trying to do too much. He, you know, after the game he was talking about, you know, he has a plan and he believes in the plan. And I guess everybody can have a plan, right? But until you, until you get hit in the nose, punch in the nose, you don’t know, you don’t know how you’re going to, how well you’re going to stick to that plan. So he has stuck to it. He believes in it. And I liked what he said. He said at the beginning of the year he had a plan, but it didn’t sound like he was confident in it. That, you know, he may have, you know, kind of wavered from that. But right now everything is, you know, everything is working for him. The plan is working and his confidence is high and you can tell that Joe, I mean, every time he comes to the plate, he looks like he’s going to reach base via a walk or a hit.Joe Noga: Yeah. And his ability to, you know, get the bat on the ball hasn’t, hasn’t changed. He’s still one of the best in baseball at doing that. When, when he, when we asked him, he said, you know, he’s worked with mental performance coaches, he’s worked with, you know, the hitting coaches then to formulate game plans. It’s all, you know, just really interesting to see sort of the behind the scenes work that goes into. You don’t just pick up the bat and walk out there and say, well, I’m going to get a hit today. It’s, there’s, there’s so many different layers to the preparation and, and all that goes into it. But at the end of the day, you still have to have the, the physical skills and the, the ability to go out there and perform. And I think there was a point this year where a lot of people, not just, you know, fans outside the, the Guardians clubhouse, but I think people around the team were questioning what was going on with Steven Kwan and they’re being rewarded by having that, you know, that, that faith in him and sort of sticking it out. They’ll tell you it’s, it’s why it’s a, it’s a long season and eventually these, these guys always get to where they’.Paul Hoynes: Yeah. And you know, talking to Steven Kwan, you know, in, in, in the last, over the last few weeks, he said that he’s really happy with the way, thing, you know, the way he came out of this, that, you know, he’s you know, he really. He never really got too down on himself. He never really. And when he started hitting, he never really got too high. That he’s, you know, that he’s. He felt like he was a good teammate even when he was going bad and he wasn’t, you know, you know, celebrating overly celebrating when he’s gone good. That he’s, you know, kept. Kept an even flow to his season and, you know, we’re seeing the results of that now.Joe Noga: Yeah, he mentioned in Thursday’s postgame talking about, you know, he’s seen other guys who ride the wave and they get too high or they get too low and, you know, coming in, coming into the clubhouse every single day, it doesn’t cost anything to, to be a good teammate or to, you know, to have that positive approach as opposed to, you know, you know, he said you could, you could see other guys who, when they’re, when they’re down, they bring their, their teammates down, they suck the air out of the locker room, and that’s not what he wanted to do. And it’s, it’s paid off for him. Certainly at points, you know, we’re. We’re starting to look at the future. We’re starting to think of, you know, where, where he fits with the, with the ball club, certainly beyond next year. And you’re wondering if maybe, you know, there wasn’t going to be a place for him. But hopefully the, the, The Guardians see that the work, you know, pays off and this doesn’t dissuade them from, you know, trying to sign him and trying to keep him, extend him and keep him in the cloud on the club for a long time.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, it’s really an interesting situation. You’ve got Kwan. He’s a free agent after what, next season? Right, right.Joe Noga: 27.Paul Hoynes: And we don’t know how much of a 20, 27, there’s going to be. Uh, there could be a lockout. We don’t know how long that’s going to last, so. A lot of balls in the air, but at least Stephen Kwan is playing well. He’s controlling what he can control. And he’s not only sending out a message to the Guardians and, and his teammates, but he’s sending out a message to the 29 other ball clubs that, you know, he’s, you know, a viable, valuable, versatile player.Joe Noga: Yeah, I thought it was funny in Thursday’s postgame, he mentioned Lane Thomas as a player that he could. He took that sort of, that, you know, steady. Every day, same come in the same guy, you Know, be a good teammate sort of approach even when you’re struggling. Because we remember how much Lane Thomas struggled in, you know, in the 2025 season with injuries and inconsistencies. But Kwan said he took something from that, you know, watching his teammate go through that season and, you know, if. If nothing else, a bad lane Thomas in 2025 produced the ability for Stephen Kwan in 2026.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, that’s funny how that works, isn’t it? I mean, you know, veteran players can really set a great example in a clubhouse about what to. What to do during hard times and what not to do during hard times. And Elaine Thomas obviously made an impression on Stephen Kwan.Joe Noga: A couple of quick hits here before we get going. Angel Hanau another couple of hits on Thursday. He had a hit on Thursday. Reached safely in 13 of his 15 first 15 major league games, batting.333. How important is it for Stephen Vogt to keep finding places for. For Angel Hanau to stay in the lineup and play as much regularly, as much as possible?Paul Hoynes: Yeah, they got to find out what this guy can do, Joe. I mean, is this just, you know, a hot streak, a rookie catching the rest of the league by surprise, or is this guy legit? And so far, you know, it’s hard to argue with the results. He’s played third, he’s played second. We haven’t seen him much at short. I don’t know if he’s ever. If he’s even played a game.Joe Noga: Yeah, sure, he played one game in short.Paul Hoynes: Okay. So, you know, that’s his best position. So, you know, a valuable guy. You know, he’s. He’s got some pop, he can run a little bit, you know, so far, you know, no complaints about his defense at two, you know, you know, two positions where he hasn’t played a lot at third and second. So, you know, really interesting guy. I think he. He’s got to keep getting playing time. You know, with Bazzana struggling, although he got a headlight today with, you know, Bazzana kind of scuffling, you know, you’ve got some time. You can. You can use him at third base. I mean, second base. And with, you know, with Jose Ramirez needing time off at third to rest that hand, you can play him there. So, you know, the opportunity is there and he’s taken advantage of it.Joe Noga: Yeah. And it’s just kind of. Kind of weird that, you know, the same opportunity was presented to Gabriel Arias and, you know, he didn’t take advantage of it the way that it seems like Angel Genao really is taking advantage of it. I would like to see him a little bit more at short, maybe, you know, one or two more starts at short, but you can’t really, you don’t really want to do that if it’s going to cause Brayan Rocchio to get all out of whack as well. They’re trying to get Rocchio tuned back in by keeping him down in the, the number nine spot where he’s most comfortable. And, uh, you know, I think he was, he’s productive. He had an RBI single in Thursday’s game. So, yeah, it’s a, it’s a delicate act. He’s got a, you got to balance a lot of different things. But Stephen Vogt said it, it was, it’s a good problem to have with these guys. Talk about Jo Adell and Chase DeLauter both dealing with nagging injuries. Uh, Adele, we saw him in the clubhouse before Thursday’s game prying on some Evo shield body armor type guards for the inside of his knee. He did get a couple of plate appearances today. I believe he struck out and won, but, you know, he was available, I guess. DeLauter was available off the bench as well, but didn’t get into the game. We saw him running sprints and stretching with the trainers down the left field line prior to Thursday’s game. Both of those guys, if they, if they make it through the flight to Denver, expect to see one or two of them in the lineup on Friday night. You know, sometimes the air pressure and a long flight, not great for guys dealing with lower body injuries. So, you know, might want to give them a day before they get into the swing of things, but, you know, a good sign that both of those bats are, are on their way back in the lineup.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, definitely. I thought you were going to say that one of them was going to parachute out of the plane.Joe Noga: I mean, that’s.Paul Hoynes: But yeah, and you know, another guy we’d like to see is David Fry. I mean, he got called up, you know, on before Wednesday’s game when they put Hoskins on the il and after hitting what, six home runs in the six last six games at Columbus. He hasn’t gotten a bat in a bat yet, has he?Joe Noga: Not yet.Paul Hoynes: Yeah. So, you know, hopefully he, you know, they get some left handers that he can face in Colorado and Anaheim.Joe Noga: Ready on the mound in the opener against Colorado on Friday. Hoynsie will be there to bring it to all of us and we’ll, we’ll talk to him on Monday as the Guardians head to Los Angeles. We’ll check in with you then.Paul Hoynes: Good deal, Joe.This article was produced with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by Cleveland.com staff.