Carl Willis on Alex Cobb’s timeline, Triston McKenzie in relief, calling for Cade Smith: Guardians takeaways

Willis talked about closer Emmanuel Clase’s dominant season, rookie Joey Cantillo’s successful return to the big leagues and Triston McKenzie’s potential as a bullpen piece moving forward. He also provided updates on Alex Cobb, Gavin Williams, Carlos Carrasco and Cade Smith.

Below are some takeaways from Willis’ interview session.

• On Clase’s dominant season: “He just exudes confidence when things are going well,” Willis said. Clase’s stuff has not really changed, but he has demonstrated a willingness and understanding that at some point in time he may have to do something a little bit different, and there is a lot of confidence with that. People talk about Clase’s velocity, but Willis points to his strike throwing and command of the zone that really stand out. “Hitters come up there and they know what they’re going to get, but because of his ability to put the ball where he wants it, it’s still extremely difficult for them.”
• On Joey Cantillo’s successful return to the majors: For Willis, Cantillo’s success is directly tied to strike throwing and attacking the zone. When Cantillo came out of the bullpen against Kansas City it proved how well his stuff played against a good lineup. “He wasn’t afraid with the changeup to double up, triple up a couple of times,” Willis said. “We’ve never questioned or doubted the stuff. It’s just consistency in the strike zone.”

• On plans to deploy Carlos Carrasco: After allowing two runs in three innings for Akron on Friday, Carrasco continues to build up his pitch count. “The (pitch) profiles were all in line with what we expect and what he expects. Now it’s a matter of building him up, keeping him feeling well. But he was really excited about the outing.”
• On Triston McKenzie’s potential as a bullpen piece: McKenzie pitched three innings of relief for Columbus on Tuesday, striking out four and allowing a hit and a walk. Willis said McKenzie is scheduled to come out of the bullpen again for Columbus on Sunday. “We are not viewing it like he’s not coming in and pitching an inning. There’s still some bulk, multiple innings there, but it’s something that we want to see at this particular point in time of the year and going forward, how he handles that, how it translates. If his zone percentage picks up. We’re going to see where that takes us.”
• On inconsistences with Gavin Williams: Willis attributed some of Williams’ up-and-down performance to the elbow injury that delayed the start to his season. “More than anything it is been a mental grind for him, and he is working on all the right things that we’re identifying and he’s having a voice in the process of how we’re looking at it and what he feels.”
• On Cade Smith’s development as a rookie: Willis said it has been indescribable to see Smith perform to a 6-1 mark with a 2.03 ERA in 70 appearances. He attributed the success to Smith’s intelligence and focus. “We have all this data and information to try to get ahead of things so that if a guy starts to slip a little bit, we stay ahead of it and he’s ahead of it before we are,” Willis said. “He’s very in tune with himself, his body, his delivery, and I love saying his name over the phone.”
• On a timeline for Alex Cobb’s return: Cobb, sidelined by a blister since Sept. 9, was scheduled to play catch Sunday for the second day in a row. “He has done everything possible,” Willis said. “He’s done weighted balls to keep himself in a decent spot. Our hope is that he gets to the point that we can get one, maybe two (starts) out of him, but there may be a situation where once he’s ready, we have had the thought of possibly having him make one start in the minor leagues just because he’s had a period of time away.”