The bullpen is still the backbone and everyone in the park knows it. When Clase comes in, the game shrinks immediately. You can feel the air change. The real tension is everything that comes before him. Who actually gets the ball in the eighth without it turning into a whole thing. When the bridge holds, this team feels suffocating. When it doesn’t, even a two-run lead feels fragile.

Up front, Bibee’s starts are must-watch now. Not because of flash, but because of how calm everything looks when he’s on. He doesn’t rush. He doesn’t panic. You can feel the dugout relax when he works through traffic instead of fighting it. Williams is the other constant watch. The stuff is real, but now it’s about efficiency. We’re counting innings, not just strikeouts, trying to see who’s built to carry real workload when the season starts leaning heavy.

At the plate, it’s still about pressure and contact. Grinding out at-bats. Fouling pitches off. Forcing mistakes instead of waiting for something big. When the lineup strings singles together, the whole place hums. When it goes quiet, it happens fast and everyone feels it at once.

Progressive Field feels tuned into this version of the team. You hear every two-strike pitch. You feel the tension the second a runner reaches second base. We keep showing up because these games get decided in inches. A clean inning. A smart jump. A ground ball hit exactly where it needs to be. Being there when those moments stack up is how you know it’s working, even before the scoreboard catches up.