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    • Guardians rookie draws on winter ball championship experience in the ALDS
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    Guardians rookie draws on winter ball championship experience in the ALDS

    Vaseline Posted on

    DETROIT – Brayan Rocchio said the experience he gained playing winter ball in Venezuela is helping him find success in the Major League Baseball playoffs after helping his club to a Caribbean Series championship in February.

    Rocchio played for the La Guaira Tiburones in the 2024 Venezuelan Winter League. The switch-hitting shortstop appeared in 20 games and batted .377 with seven doubles, a home run, eight RBI and a .998 OPS. But more importantly for Cleveland, Rocchio hit the go-ahead goal in the seventh inning of Game 2 in the finals, giving him valuable playoff experience that has translated into his current run in the American League Division Series.

    “When I was there, I felt the pressure was real,” Rocchio said through Guardians translator Agustin Rivero. “Playing there, I knew what it was like and what to expect in games like this.”

    Rocchio is hitting .333 with a .956 OPS in 10 at-bats through the first three games of the ALDS against Detroit.

    Dodgers veteran infielder Miguel Rojas and former Royals infielder Alcides Escobar are among Tiburones’ teammates who reached out to Rocchio during the playoffs.

    “They always share the same message: they try to control the nerves and tell me to breathe, to be present in the moment and above all to enjoy the game. That’s what they told me: ‘Go have fun, enjoy the game and enjoy this experience, because it doesn’t happen often.’

    Guardians battle the Tigers in game 3 of ALDS

    Cleveland Guardians’ Brayan Rocchio singles in the fifth inning during Game 3 of a baseball American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Detroit. Paul Sancya, AP

    Rocchio said part of what gives Cleveland confidence heading into Game 4 is the club’s confidence in manager Stephen Vogt.

    “What he did all season got us to where we are today,” Rocchio said. “We trust him and believe we will always have a chance to win.”

    Vogt and catcher Austin Hedges often talk about Cleveland’s “cadence,” approaching the day-to-day work of the season with the same intensity as they would in a playoff game. Rocchio has bought in and said his teammates are leaning heavily on what got them to this point ahead of Thursday’s elimination match.

    “It’s nothing new for us,” Rocchio said. “This is the same thing we have been doing all season: fighting and trying to win series.”

    It’s a sentiment Vogt echoed in his pre-match comments on Thursday.

    “We have been at our best when we had nothing to lose. For us it’s going out, having some fun tonight, enjoying playing playoff baseball, playing carefree, playing loose, being yourself. That has been the rhetoric all year long, and it will continue to be the case tonight.”

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