The Cleveland Guardians have played 36 games this season and a whopping 22 of them have been decided by two runs or less.
Cleveland is 8-9 in games decided by a single tally, and 5-2 in those decided by a couple of runs. Overall, the Guardians are 13-11 in these games and 4-8 in the other contests.
First, all of these close games are going to give a collective ulcer to the die-hard fans of the team.
Second, playing this many close games means it will be interesting to see what kind of toll it will take on the pitching staff, particularly the bullpen.
We know that Terry Francona has sort of the “caste system” for his relief pitchers. When the Guards are in the lead, he prefers to use James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, and now that he is back, Sam Hentges to set up closer Emmanuel Clase.
He uses Eli Morgan with a lead if one of the above needs a day off. He will use Nick Sandlin and/or Enyel De Los Santos after that group. That’s his current arrangement.
But in checking the American League leaders in appearances, you will see that Clase leads the league pitching in 20 of Cleveland’s 36 games and Karinchak is tied for second at 19.
Stephan is 21st appearing in 16 contests.
With the Guardians treading just below the .500 mark early in the season, we understand their need to put as many games in the win column as they can, so Francona wants to use his best guys, and maybe the best closer in the league to lock down a W.
And despite Clase’s “struggles” this year, this shows how good he is. He hasn’t pitched at the dominant level he did a year ago so far, but he still has a 1.86 ERA, allowing just 15 hits and five walks in 19-1/3 innings. Oh, and he leads the AL in saves with 13.
Clase led the junior circuit in games pitched a year ago with 77, but right now, he’s on a pace to pitch in 90 of them. Now, we know that’s not going to happen, and Clase is also pretty economical in the number of pitches he throws. In his last five appearances, he’s thrown no more than 13 pitches.
Two things need to happen if the Guardians keep winning. First, it would be a huge help if they could win games by four or five runs over the next few weeks. That would enable Francona to lessen the workload of his primary bullpen guys, using them just enough to keep them fresh.
Adding Hentges to the mix has helped lately.
Or the skipper may have to expand the late game usage for pitchers like Sandlin and De Los Santos. We understand though they have to earn the confidence of the manager. Sandlin, in particular needs to command the strike zone and throw quality pitches.
The starting rotation seems to have picked it up over the last couple of weeks, covering at least six innings on most nights. But playing this many close games will take a toll on the Guardians’ relief pitching.
Just another reason to hope the offense comes out of the collective funk it has been in over the last four weeks.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 