CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians are searching for a new hitting coach after the announcement that Chris Valaika is leaving Cleveland to join Terry Francona’s staff in Cincinnati.
On Friday’s podcast, Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga look at what Valaika accomplished in three seasons with the Guardians and what is next for Stephen Vogt’s staff. They also break down the Fielding Bible Award winners and take a look at Fernandomania as the World Series approaches.
Joe Noga 0:04 Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. I’m Joe noga. Joined by Paul Hoynes hoinze. The Guardians are heading into the offseason, and they’re doing so now with. The without a hitting coach will have to fill a vacancy there, as Chris Valeka has joined Terry Francona’s staff in Cincinnati after three years with the Guardians, valeka now moves on and will actually he’s going back to the Reds actually played for the Reds as a as. A player and now is is on Tito’s staff. In in Cincinnati, you know couple of things about this to to mention to bring up. People getting nervous that other members of the the coaching staff in in Cleveland might be joining Francona there as well. We can put those, you know, rumors in in whatever category we want. But let’s first address valeka and the job that he did when he was here, basically the the Guardians, you know, went from a high strikeout team to a a team that. Strikes out about as little as any other club in the Major League.
Joe Noga 5:55 You know, really as far as Vlika goes, is this a step or along his path that they could get him into a position to maybe be considered for a managerial spot?
Paul Hoynes 6:18 Think so, Joe? I mean, you know, he was the only staff member that interviewed for the Cleveland job after Tito left. And you know he. So you know that. I guess that’s a step in, you know, gives you an indication of what, what his goal is. I. I’m not sure you know what the emphasis was, you know. In him leaving Cleveland because he, you know, he had done a good job here. He’d he’d established himself here, I think. You know, he had a a good group of players to work with. It seems like the Reds are a bit farther away from contending. But perhaps you know, maybe he thinks Tito is only going to be there for X number of years. Maybe he’ll you know, this is a way to position himself for, you know, to get a shot at managing the Reds and you know, it is in a sense he’s going home. They drafted him. You know, a third round pick. I believe in 2006 he made his big league debut with the Reds. So maybe that has something to do with it as well.
Joe Noga 7:23 Yeah. I I I think it’s it’s pretty logical to to look at it and say well, you know Steven vote is freshly in Cleveland and you know successful, you know, winning a manager of the Year award and then, you know, going on to. I guess it won’t be. He won’t be leaving anytime soon, so Alicia wants an opportunity within the next couple of years. It’s probably more likely to come up in in Cincinnati than anywhere else. As far as you mentioned Stephen Kwan, I want to go back to that. Is there a better hitter than encapsulates sort of, you know what? Able to accomplish in Cleveland, like you said, a guy who comes in and he’s he’s high contact and then you know the second year struggles you know. And as Kwan struggled, the entire team struggled hitting, you know, in 2023 and then in 2024, he. Comes out and he’s, you know, he has this power surge and you know, it’s not like the guardians were hitting home runs all over the place all season, but they were. They were at least competitive in that in that regard and. That sort of is, is encapsulated in in Kwan’s progression that way. It was. There was there a better student or disciple of of Valekas hitting philosophy than Steven Kwan.
Paul Hoynes 8:37 I don’t think so, Joe. I mean, you know, he’s kind of jumps right out at you, you know, as as like you said, first contact, then power. And trying to blend the two and I think he probably got into some problems, you know, after the All Star break, trying to go to blend the two knowing when to take a chance at a pitch, knowing when to, you know, to to let the bat go instead. Of you know working the count so you know we saw him struggle. We saw him hit a lot of fly balls. In the second-half and then he kind of reverted back to form in the postseason when he became a line drive hitter and just had a, you know, knocked it out, you know, just had a great postseason. So I think you know that, you know, Kwan had kind of encapsulates that maybe maybe a guy like David Fry too. Joe, I mean, you know, he’s he’s never really had shown power. A lot of power before. But he hits fourteen home runs this season. You know, has a has a decent hits for a decent average produces in the post season. You know, I think his philosophy, you know, kind of took root and you could see, you know, the thing I liked about valeka is, you know, the the Cleveland had such a reputation of developing pitchers, but they were always lagging behind in in hitters. And when they brought. Value in. They really supported him with with you know, 3-4 different other coaches. You know, they formed a hidden group that you know that that really kind of tried to mimic what they had accomplished with the pitching staff and, you know, so I think we’re seeing that now coming through the system. But you know, now they’re going to have to find. A new a guy that that, you know, kind of to leave that to get to leave that program.
Joe Noga 10:26 Yeah, and and and we can get into, you know, candidates and you know who we think will will fill in that spot eventually here at at some point maybe in a in a later podcast. But as of right now, wanted to you know, just step back and and and mention as soon as the election announcement went live. A lot of folks jumped in and said, oh, well, Carl Willis is next. And then and this is, you know, talking about, you know, ***. Sort of pillaging the the coaching staff in in Cleveland. And and really that doesn’t make any sense or doesn’t track very much. I believe Darren Jackson is the the pitching coach down in in Cincinnati. He sort of locked in there and and one of the really only one of the real holdovers from David Bell’s staff that that Tito got on board with. There’s there’s not a place for Carl Willis in in Cincinnati if if he decides to coach again next year. So really any any of those kind of rumors would be sort of unfounded?
Paul Hoynes 11:28 Yeah, well, you know, you don’t know what’s gonna happen. I mean, it’s it’s a long offseason. Things. There’s gonna be some twists and turns. But right now it seems like you know Karl Carl will sustain with Cleveland. I mean, I guess he could retire. He’s been doing this a long time, but you know, I I just know from talking to him at the end of the season that he was committed to Cleveland, that he was committed to seeing this, this through as he put it, he wants to try to get the. You know to. To be to have a hand in in the guardians reaching the World Series again and possibly winning a World Series title. And you know, I think as as we both know, Joe Steven Vote loves his guy. He leaned on EM. I think the pitching staff likes him. You know the pitchers really relate to him and they’ve got, you know, that’s a good, solid group of coaches they have and I think they want to keep him together.
Joe Noga 12:27 Yeah, I I could see that sticking together and and you know, at least coming back in the same. Context as as last year in in 2025. All right. Wanna move on here and talk about some awards being handed out? The Fielding Bible Awards were announced on Thursday, and two guardians were recipients of Fielding Bible Awards. One of them was a no brainer, and the other one was kind of a surprise. Andres Gimenez, once again, a Fielding Bible Award winner. And this is an award handed out by Sports Information Solutions. They’re sort of the the analytics, you know, collective behind things like fan graphs and and you know, they use Statcast and Baseball Savant and these these are the these are the the number counters and the the the stat geeks who. Sit there and put their heads together the the sabermetric guys. I guess if you will. And they used all of their analytical prowess to come together and vote on awards. Dalton Varsho, the outfielder for Toronto, wins the overall defensive player of the Year award. But Jimenez, who was a Platinum Glove winner last year, wins his second straight Fielding Bible Award. Kind of a no brainer there at second base.
Paul Hoynes 13:52 Yeah, just really a fun player to watch, Joe. This guy hasn’t missed a step. In fact, I think he just keeps getting better. Great arm from, you know from mid right field. How many guys did we see him throw out at the plate? You know, not just in the post season, but all season long. Anybody who runs on on Andres is, you know, is a dead duck when they try to score from third or second or first. I mean, he he loves that man. I just remember the one time during the regular season he threw a guy out at the plate and then took a bow, you know?
Paul Hoynes 14:28 In in, in in short right field and. He should have. I mean this is, you know, a guy that goes to his left, his right, makes a double play, makes everything look easy. And he makes a routine play to Joe and he doesn’t. There’s not too much French pastry when he’s making the the routine play, he just makes it.
Joe Noga 14:47 Yeah. And that’s the one thing that that Steven Voge says. He doesn’t put any dressing on the other routine plays, he he he goes out there and gets those done and then the exceptional range, you know, balls that you don’t think he’s he’s gonna get to. He definitely does. And you just go back to the play that he made in the 10th inning in game three of the ALCS, all the way into foul territory. By the time he was done spinning and throwing on Josh Naylor, keeping a toe on the bag to to retire the run. There you mentioned those those plays at the plate. Talk to Tyler Freeman, who spent most of the season in center field for the Guardians and and he said there’s a there’s a mantra that sort of rings through the clubhouse and rings through the the outfield during drills and practice. You know when a ball is hit over an outfielder’s head and it gets gets to the to the warning track or to the wall. The only thing that’s racing through any of their minds is get the ball to himie get the ball to Andre Jimenez because. If there’s a runner on base and he’s trying to score, Jimenez is gonna know what to do. And usually comes through with perfect execution. So get the ball to himy. I guess is the is the the rallying cry when when the guardians are in trouble defensively. The other Fielding Bible Award winner for the Guardians. You know, if I had you guess, you’d probably guess Steven Kwan because he’s a two time Gold Glove winner in left field. But you would be wrong. It’s Tanner Bibee, the first Guardians pitcher. Ever to win a Fielding Bible award, you go back to 2023 or 20. I’m sorry, 2022. When Shane Bieber won the Gold Glove for the American League as as a pitcher. Tanner Bibee, now based on the combination of his, his ability to hold his field, his position on the diamond and control the running game. With, I believe he picked out he had four pickoffs at at first base this year. So his his overall defense got him the Fielding Bible Award as as a pitcher for 2024. Just sort of a nice kudo for for Bobby, who, who had a really nice season.
Paul Hoynes 17:05 Yeah, Joe, I mean that was surprising. I mean, and Beaver winning the Gold Glove was surprising. So I guess you know you really don’t think of pitchers as fielders, you know, I mean, you know, I guess, you know, I’m obviously they are. You know, I mean, Greg Maddox. Look how many gold gloves he won.
Paul Hoynes 17:25 So, but you know, they they do play an intricate part in the defense after, you know, they let the ball go and, you know, I really like the, the, the idea of, you know, controlling the running game. Because that was such a point of emphasis this year with manager Steven vote, they worked on it all spring. You know, really, for their catchers and their and their pitchers and their, you know, their infielders, to keep the runners close on the bag and it and it worked. And obviously Bobby did a great job with that.
Joe Noga 17:58 Yeah, that was the one thing that really stood out this season was I think. Of the what 12 runners that attempt to steal against Biebee six were successful and six were unsuccessful. And that’s that’s a pretty good rate. And again with the four pickoffs tied for the most in in all baseball, just an outstanding season in terms of controlling that running game and Tanner Bibee a Fielding Bible Award winner. Just just let that sit there for a second and. You talk about this is a team that has four Gold Glove finalists. And and Baby’s a guy getting recognized with this award.
Paul Hoynes 18:38 And Joe, you, you think about this, you know, with the limits of of the throw overs of to pick four guys off, you know you got to be doing something right because you throw over twice and you don’t get them, that guy’s off and running on the.
Joe Noga 18:53 Yeah, it’s a. It’s a different world now in terms of, you know what pitchers are expected to do. All right. Want to remind our listeners if you want to join here. Subtext and and is the best way to follow along throughout the offseason. Get text messages sent straight to your phone from Hoynes and for me it’s a great way to have discussions and speculate and have conversations about free agents. And you know what the roster should look like next year. We’re constantly asking our subscribers for their thoughts. And publishing them as well. Go to cleveland.com/subtext or send a text message to 216-208-4346. Quincy familiar face re upping with the Japanese league framel. Reyes signs a deal to go back to. The the I believe it’s the haikido ham. The Haikido ham fighters. He’s he’s going back to the Japanese professional league where where he found some success to play this past season.
Paul Hoynes 19:55 I hit 290. Joe slashed. He slashed 290-340-8516 with 25 home runs and only 368 plate appearances. So you know Fran Mill. It hopefully has found a home and sounds like he’s, you know, he’s going back to Japan and perhaps he’ll be able to work this out where he can get another shot at the big league somewhere down the road.
Joe Noga 20:22 Yeah, maybe he resurfaces somewhere. Just a a big personality, you know, I see him fitting in perfectly in Japan though, with with all the, you know, the bright lights and the way that they treat the the foreign born players out there, just a a larger than life presence framel in Japan. Speaking of larger than life presences or Fernando, Valenzuela passed away prior to the beginning of this year’s World Series. Very fitting that the Dodgers and Yankees are meeting. In the World Series this year and Fernando Valenzuela is getting a lot of attention and being remembered for just the tremendous influence that he had on baseball in the early 80s. What are your thoughts on Fernando Valenzuela, his passing and and how that will sort of, you know, sort of be a an underlying theme to this, this upcoming World Series?
Paul Hoynes 21:17 Yeah, just a great personality. Joe died at 63 years old. Much too young. Cause of death has not been reported, but in 1981. He was with the Dodgers. Tommy Lasorda, the regular starter, got hurt on opening day. He came up to Valenzuela and said, Are you ready to pitch? The kid went out there and threw a no shutout on opening day Joe and listen to these stats. He, in his rookie year 25 starts. 13 and seven he threw 192 innings, led the big leagues in 180 strikeouts through 11 complete games and eight shutouts. And you know, that was Fernando Mania was born. And you know that he’s a, you know, he’s from Mexican descent, some little town in Mexico. They found the Dodgers found him. The Dodgers great scout Mike Bredo. To scout a shortstop in Mexico, he saw Valenzuela come in and strike the shortstop out and said he forgot about the shortstop and started concentrating on Valenzuela. This kid, he came from a family of 12 kids. They lived in a house with no running water, and he became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. And just swept, you know. You know, swept Los Angeles turned on the. Mexican community. Los Angeles, the Latin speaking Spanish speaking community in in Los Angeles and to this right now Joe 40%. Of the Dodgers fan base is made-up of Spanish speaking. Baseball fans and Valenzuela is part is the main reason why.
Joe Noga 23:12 Yeah, there was an absolute love affair between the Dodgers and the Latin community. It was sparked by Fernando’s, you know, emergence there and that that whole fernandomania time he was, he was one of the most famous athletes, not just baseball players, but athletes in the world because of, you know, just the the, the hot start that he got off to. With the Dodgers and. The success that that he brought that team. For you’re gonna see a lot of of him referenced in the coverage of the World Series over the next two weeks here. So it it should be really interesting to watch and that leads us into, you know, who who we think’s gonna win the win, the whole thing. The Midsummer Classic kicks off tonight. Jack Flaherty and Garrett Cole on the mound. For the Dodgers and the Yankees. How do you see this series shaking out?
Paul Hoynes 24:14 You know best of seven series we saw. You know a ton of the Yankees in the ALCS. I think they have a better starting rotation. The Dodgers are really shaky. Maybe they got they’ve got 3 starters. They’re going to have to throw a lot of bullpen games, you know, I’m going with the Yankees, probably in six or seven games.
Joe Noga 24:38 I I think I would agree with Yankees in six or seven. I do think that the Dodgers, offensively, are gonna be able to put up a couple of blowout games there. I think if if the Dodgers win two games in this series, they’re gonna be, you know, 8 to one games or or you know, nine to three, something like that. That’s those are all definite possibilities, but like you said, it’s A7 game series and in a in A7 game series you can’t hide your flaws. The Dodgers have have way too many flaws. The Yankees have flaws, too. That bullpen is a big question mark, but I think the the Yankees. The Dodgers flaws outweigh the Yankees flaws. And I think like you said, I’m going to say Yankees in six as a solid and and that that you know that means they have to go back to LA which I I think nobody in New York is going to want. But I think that that that’s the. Way it’ll shake out Yankees walking away in six.
Paul Hoynes 25:42 Yeah. And if it cuts you off, it comes down to Bas running. I I’m gonna go with the Dodgers because I have never seen a worse base running team than the Yankees. They’re old and slow and they don’t know what the hell they’re doing.
Joe Noga 25:54 Yeah, it’s it’s the Keystone cops on the basis when the Yankees are out there. All right, hoynse, that’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. We’ll check in with you next week.
Paul Hoynes 26:10 Good deal job.
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