How Can Guards Score More Runs Next Year?

Before the season started, we felt the Guardians would be a .500 baseball team, but they got off to a tremendous start and won the AL Central with a 92-69 record and eventually lost in the Championship Series to the Yankees in five games.

When the 2025 season starts late next March in Kansas City, it will have been 77 years since the franchise has won the World Series. And yes, that’s the longest drought in the sport.

What can the Guardians do to defend their divisional title and also to get better in ’25? Today, we will focus on the offense.

Cleveland ranked 7th in the league in runs scored and the only playoff team that scored less was Detroit. Their team OPS was also 7th right at the league average at 703. They were slightly below average in getting on base and slightly above average in slugging.

All in all, they had an average offense.

By position, the Guardians were only above average at four spots: 1B (Josh Naylor), 3B (Jose Ramirez), LF (Steven Kwan), and DH.

We think the one thing the Guardians can focus on offensively is getting on base more often. The league average was .309 and only four players exceeded that: Kwan (.368), David Fry (.356), Ramirez (.335) and Josh Naylor (.320).

Last season, the Guardians made a concerted effort to hit with more power, and they did, hitting 61 more home runs, but it only raised the slugging percentage by 14 points.

How did that happen? They hit 49 less doubles and 11 less triples than they did in ’23.

Let’s look at Kwan, who people talked about his power increase because he went from five long balls to 14 in 2024.

What if we told you he actually had less extra base hits this season? He had 36 doubles, 7 triples last year. This year, just 16 doubles and three triples. Andres Gimenez dropped from 47 XBH to 32 in 2024.

Our point is the “be aggressive and try to drive the ball” approach worked in terms of hitting home runs, but it didn’t improve the extra base hit ability of the Guardians all that much.

The Yankees led the league in runs scored, but their offense is an anomaly because they have Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. They only had five regulars with OPS over 700, one more than Cleveland.

Baltimore was second in runs scored, and they had eight players over 700. Boston was third and they had seven players over that mark. Houston was next and they also had seven hitters over 700.

Can Lane Thomas provide enough offense to hold down a regular spot in the outfield? His combined OPS of 709 was about average. However, we liked his K rate and walk rate a lot better when he was with the Nationals.

At the very least, Fry and Kyle Manzardo should be fine at the DH spot, although the latter might deserve a shot at being an everyday player as the season progresses.

If Fry’s elbow issue isn’t something that requires surgery, getting him behind the plate more often would be a benefit because Austin Hedges doesn’t really help with a bat in his hands.

The tough decision could come up the middle where at least one of the regulars, Gimenez or Brayan Rocchio must do better offensively. Both were liabilities this year, although Rocchio had a solid post-season.

Simply put, the Guardians need better offense, and the best way would seem to be based on being more selective as hitters. Walks are good, when you walk, you aren’t making an out.

In the minor leagues, two top prospects stand out. Juan Brito walked 88 times (13.5% rate) in AAA last year, while Chase DeLauter also exceeded 10%. Brito could be a candidate to open the season with the big club, while DeLauter, who has battled injuries could arrive during the season.

The best way to add to the run total is to add more solid offensive players, not trading them.

Another Loss And A New QB For Browns

The Cleveland Browns’ season just keeps going downhill faster and faster. Last Sunday’s loss started with the Bengals taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, and although the defense played pretty well, the Browns fell to 1-6 with a 21-14 loss to Cincinnati.

The other significant event in the game was QB Deshaun Watson apparently tearing his achilles tendon on a non-contact injury in the second quarter thus ending his season. Watson has now been with Cleveland three years and has yet to play in more than seven games in a season.

Inexplicably, that did not give veteran Jameis Winston a shot at playing QB. Winston was demoted to the #3 quarterback, available only if the first two passers were injured. Dorian Thompson-Robinson was designated as the backup and was lackluster at best, completing 11 of 24 throws for a paltry 82 yards.

After the game, we saw a number of media people touting Thompson-Robinson (DTR) as the starter next week, with the opinion that the Browns need to see what they have in him.

We don’t get it. First, he was a fifth-round draft pick, so he was far from highly regarded coming into the NFL. Second, what has he shown when he has been on the field to make anyone think he can be a viable NFL quarterback?

We know he didn’t prepare as a starter last week, but when he comes into the game, he looks like a gimmicky, run first QB. He’s doesn’t seem real accurate, and so far, six of his 136 NFL throws have been picked off.

As a comparison, Watson has had three interceptions in 216 passes this season.

Wouldn’t it be better to see if Winston can have a comeback to his career like Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, or Sam Darnold? And if the losing continues, they can always play DTR in the last couple of games.

Look, more than likely, the Browns are going to draft a QB with their first round pick next spring. Perhaps Winston can be your bridge quarterback to open next season if Watson isn’t ready or another move is made with him.

Anyway, back to the game. There were more mistakes. Motion penalties, illegal shifts, lining up offsides. We know the coaches don’t coach this, but there has to be consequences to habitual offenders. Perhaps the loss of some playing time would allow the message for these players to soak in.

The Browns couldn’t run the ball either, gaining just 77 yards on the ground with 44 of those yards on runs by Thompson-Robinson. The only good thing was seeing Nick Chubb back on the field, getting 22 yards on 11 carries. His longest run was five yards, but still it was great to see him back on the field after his terrible knee injury last year.

The defense played well mostly, although one of the Bengals’ touchdowns was a pass to Ja’Marr Chase with big play magnet Greg Newsome II in coverage. The defensive back just can’t avoid giving up a big play pretty much every week.

We would guess more players who were brought in for this season, veterans on one-year deals will be (and should be if possible) moved for draft picks before the trade deadline. We have no problem with that.

However, we don’t want to hear the word tanking. It breeds a losing environment that is tough to get rid of. Browns fans more than anyone else should understand that.

What needs to be done is getting a victory and getting back to the philosophy that worked for the most part over the last four seasons.

It won’t be easy for sure

How Far They Go In The Playoffs Is Really Cavs’ Measuring Stick

The Cleveland Cavaliers open their 2024-25 season Wednesday night in kind of a weird area. They have had regular season success, winning 44, 51, and 48 games the last three seasons, making the playoffs after the last two years.

The Cavs are a good team and have many very good players. Donovan Mitchell is a perennial all-star. Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen have each played in an all-star game and many people project Evan Mobley to be that caliber of player as well.

Whether or not the wine and gold have a successful season will depend on the success they will have in the playoffs. In the last three seasons, they have gone from losing in the “play in” round, to losing in the first round, to being eliminated in the conference semi-finals to the eventual World Champion Boston Celtics.

Based on the maddening plan of one step at a time taken by the front office, we will guess they will judge it a successful season if the Cavaliers lose in the conference finals in 2025.

After last season, president of basketball operations Koby Altman placed the blame squarely on former head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, firing him and replacing him with Kenny Atkinson, former head man in Brooklyn, and most recently an assistant with Golden State.

First, let’s say we like the hire. We thought Atkinson got the most out of his talent with the Nets, and Bickerstaff’s offense was a bit simplistic, depending heavily on the pick and roll.

Unfortunately, the coaching staff was the only area in which the Cavs made changes. Outside of first round draft pick Jaylon Tyson and free agent big man J.T. Thor, the same roster that lost to Boston is back.

Maybe that’s good, but we felt last year’s roster lacked size, and since Thor is the only player over 6’7″ brought in, we still feel that way.

Cleveland still is starting two undersized guards with Garland at 6’1″ and Mitchell at 6’3″ and with Max Strus starting at small forward (6’5″), the wine and gold are one of the sports’ small teams at those three positions.

It is interesting to note with Strus sidelined, Atkinson may go with 6’9″ Dean Wade at the three, giving the starting unit a lot more size.

We like that Atkinson said he is going to have a longer rotation, playing 10 or 11 on most nights, which will save wear and tear on the starters. He has a slew of 6’5″ and 6’6″ players off that bench, like Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Ty Jerome, Georges Niang, and the rookie Tyson, who has an all-around game many of these reverses do not have.

The reserves at the big men spots are concerning. The Cavs will use Wade, a stretch four, who frankly might be best served playing the three, and Thor. We would guess Atkinson will give Thor minutes. Bickerstaff never seemed to develop a legitimate big man back up after the team traded Lauri Markkanen, ending the tri-towers year.

The Cavs should be a good team again this season, and depending on the injury situation, should flirt with or exceed the 50 win mark again this season.

The measuring stick will be the playoffs. Philadelphia added Paul George, the Knicks added Karl-Anthony Towns (although we aren’t sure that makes them better), the Bucks are in year two of the Giannis and Lillard experiment), and Orlando is going to be better because their stars have another year of experience.

Can the wine and gold make a run to the conference finals or beyond? If they don’t, will Altman be the next change to be made?

Guardians Still In This Series, But Need A Win Tonight

Former Browns’ coach Marty Schottenheimer used to say no game was “must win” unless if you lose you are eliminated from playoff consideration. On that basis, today’s game three of the American League Championship Series isn’t that, but it’s pretty darn close.

The Guardians are down two games to none in the series, but it’s a best-of-seven series, so they aren’t dead yet, but you can get out the shovels if they can’t win tonight at home.

The big weaknesses that plagued the regular season, starting pitching and the offensive are again the culprits in dropping the first two games of the series.

In the post-season, the Guardians are 3-0 when they scored four runs or more and 0-4 when they tally three runs or less. They’ve put up just five runs in the first two games of the ALCS.

As for the starters, we knew Steven Vogt would rely heavily on the bullpen throughout the playoffs, but in game one, Alex Cobb pitched just 2.2 innings and Tanner Bibee went just 1.1 in the second game. That has caused the skipper to use guys in higher leverage situations than he wanted too.

That has caused some hiccups. Rookie Joey Cantillo came in game one and threw four wild pitches. For those questioning Vogt for going to Cantillo that early (and we were one of those people) understand he likely would have had to bring Cantillo in at some point. He used his best four relievers to the max in the last two games of the Tigers’ series, and no doubt they needed an extra day off.

And in game two, the bullpen was forced to cover 6.2 frames, and it could’ve been 7.2 if the Guards had taken the lead. He correctly used Cade Smith with the bases loaded trailing by two in the second to get out of the jam, which he did allowing just one more run to score.

The point is if either starter could get through four innings, it’s a much better situation for the bullpen. It’s that simple.

As for the offense, Cleveland has just three players with more than one hit in the two games: Brayan Rocchio, who continues to have a tremendous playoff, Steven Kwan, and Josh Naylor. New York has five.

The Yankees have seven extra base hits, the Guardians have just two, the home runs by Rocchio and Jose Ramirez. Cleveland hitters have struck out 21 times, New York hitters just 16.

The Guardians have problems in right field, where Jhonkensy Noel and Will Brennan have combined to go 2 for 25 with one walk in the seven games. And at catcher, Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges have combined to go 0 for 23.

We know Bo Naylor is struggling but pinch hitting for him early in a game just means more at bats for Hedges, who is on the roster for defense and leadership, but is a terrible hitter.

It’s not that the offense hasn’t had opportunities, they were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on in game two. Someone, anyone, needs to come through with a big hit.

Let’s be clear. Right now, this series is not over. A win in game three put the Guardians right back in it. There is pressure on Matthew Boyd to provide some innings and with four days off, no doubt, Emmanuel Clase is prepared to get Vogt at least five outs.

The Guards need a spark offensively. Kwan and Rocchio have gotten on base. They need someone to step up and drive them in.

2024 Has Been A Year Of Mistakes For The Browns

The Cleveland Browns seemed poised to at least tie up their game against Philadelphia in the fourth quarter, trailing 20-13 and having a first down and goal at the Eagles’ 8 with four and a half minutes left.

But then the mistakes occurred. A false start on rookie Zak Zinter on 3rd and goal from the three moved Cleveland back. Then as the Browns were going for it on fourth down, Jedrick Wills jumped and push the team back to the 13-yard line.

From there, Kevin Stefanski thought it was too risky to have a fourth and goal from over 10 yards and kicked a field goal, hoping the defense could get the ball back one last time.

It was just another couple of mistakes in not only a season plagued with errors, but an entire off-season of decisions being made that have backfired on the organization.

In their playoff season a year ago when they went 11-6, the Browns ranked 10th in the NFL in offense. But apparently, that wasn’t good enough for the brass, and they replaced Alex Van Pelt, who had been the offensive coordinator since Stefanski was hired, with Ken Dorsey, who worked with “dual threat” quarterbacks at Carolina and Buffalo.

Offensive line coach (and guru) Bill Callahan left because his son Brian was named head coach with the Titans, and the Browns went outside the organization to hire Andy Dickerson, who they interviewed for the OC job.

Why they didn’t go with Scott Peters, Callahan’s assistant is a question that should be answered by the front office. In the name of continuity, it might have been the wiser choice.

They also dismissed long time running backs coach Stump Mitchell and brought in Duce Staley.

The point is there were a lot of changes on the offensive coaching staff considering the offense performed pretty well last season, especially when you factor in the number of different starting quarterbacks the team played.

After Joe Flacco’s very good play down the stretch last season, the Browns could have brought him back to be the backup quarterback, but they feared the fans’ reaction if Deshaun Watson didn’t play well, so they passed on him.

He went to Indianapolis where he has a 102.2 passer rating with seven touchdown throws and just one interception in three games. For a frame of reference, Watson has five TD passes in six contests.

All of these changes were made with the idea of getting Watson to perform as he did when he was with Houston, in 2020. Instead, he is playing worse than he has ever played.

During his partial seasons with the Browns, 2022 due to suspension and 2023 because of injury he wasn’t this bad. In six starts this season, the quarterback has yet to throw for 200 yards in a game.

Even worse, he’s now started 18 games in a Cleveland uniform and has yet to throw for 300 yards. As a frame of reference, Flacco had four such games in the five he started for the Browns last season.

It’s been a year filled with mistakes starting with the front office trying to fix something that didn’t need to be fixed. It’s continued on to the playing field where penalties, dropped passes, and coverage breakdowns are causing the Browns to lose every week.

The players need to play better. The front office needs to admit their mistakes as well.

Guardians Survive And Advance

It had been since 1997 that the Cleveland baseball team won an elimination game when they beat the Florida Marlins in Game 6 of the World Series.

But they won two this week. Trailing the Detroit Tigers, two game to one Thursday night, they won 5-4 to force a deciding game five, and then won at home yesterday, 7-3 to advance to the League Championship Series for a sixth time, the third time against the New York Yankees.

They have lost the previous two matchups against the Bronx Bombers, but defeated Seattle in 1995, Baltimore in 1997, and Toronto in 2016.

So many heroes in this series, primarily their big acquisition at the trade deadline, Lane Thomas, who went 6 for 19 in the series, driving in nine runs. His three-run shot in Game 1 got the Guards off on the right foot, and the grand slam in the deciding game was ultimately the deciding blow.

Steven Kwan went back to first half Kwan, going 11 for 21 with two walks. He had a trio of three hit games in the series.

David Fry sent the series back home in game four, with a go ahead two run homer and a squeeze bunt to score an important insurance run.

And of course, as it has been all season long, the bullpen was unbelievable. We said before the series it was likely Cleveland only needed four innings from the starters, and out of 132 outs recorded by the pitching staff, 60 of them came from Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, and of course, Emmanuel Clase.

But there were unsung heroes as well.

Brayan Rocchio had a tremendous series, going 6 for 16, and was sparking with the glove. So much for those wanting others to handle the position in the playoffs.

Andres Gimenez was having a terrible series but started the five-run rally yesterday with a single and then scored an insurance run in the ninth inning.

And what about Eli Morgan. Because Steven Vogt went to the bullpen after two innings, he was running out of relievers. Gaddis was gassed after throwing 32 pitches Thursday and 30 more in the fifth game, so Morgan, who didn’t pitch in high leverage situations often, came in the 7th and got two big strikeouts.

The other three teams in the championship series are Major League Baseball’s dream, coming from the mega-markets of New York and Los Angeles. And then there are the Guardians, whose payroll is less than half of each of the other three franchises in baseball’s final four.

The Yankees are the American League’s highest scoring team at 5.03 runs per contest, over a half a run over the Guardians’ 4.4 figure. Pitching wise, New York is fourth, behind Seattle, Detroit, and Cleveland.

The key for Cleveland pitching will be to handle the dynamic duo of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. If you can control them, you have a fighting chance. It’s a bit complicated because Giancarlo Stanton got hot in the Division Series, going 6 for 16 with a big home run.

And can the Guardians defeat Gerrit Cole, who looks like he is back to his Cy Young form in the KC series.

But remember, the Yanks won only two more regular season games than the Guardians, and although we are sure at least in the beginning of the series he will limit the usage of his four main relievers to just one inning, that of course means, the starters still only have to give the skipper about 15 outs.

As usual, where will the runs come for the Guards? Can Kwan, Thomas, and Rocchio continue their hot hitting? Can the Naylors provide some pop? And what to do with rightfield?

In a seven-game series, there is a little less pressure in game one. All the Guardians have to do is win four out of seven. If they do, a seventh American League pennant will be flying over Progressive Field.

Time To Make A Tough Decision On Watson

And the Cleveland Browns thought they were finished with dysfunction when they hired Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry as coach and general manager, respectively.

But we guess a leopard can’t change its spots, and the franchise is back to being talked about by the national NFL media, and not for a good reason.

Of course, all of the controversy and discussion surrounds the team’s quarterback, Deshaun Watson. The Browns gave up a tremendous amount of draft capital, primarily the three first round draft picks, and guaranteed his entire contract when they made the move to get Watson from Houston, and they have received little return on their investment.

This season, Watson isn’t even playing at an average level, ranking 28th in the league in passer rating, ranking ahead of only Jacoby Brissett, Will Levis, Bo Nix, and Anthony Richardson. His QBR rating? Last among qualified passers.

However, there are many people who believe the choice to start Jameis Winston or Dorian Thompson-Robinson for that matter, doesn’t rest in the hands of the head coach. That’s how dysfunctional franchises behave.

That’s amazing to us because of the success Stefanski has had here. We know he hasn’t won any Super Bowls or even advanced to a conference championship game, but he has won the most games since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, winning 38. The next best? Romeo Crennel and Butch Davis with 24.

He’s been the NFL coach of the year twice in his four seasons at the helm.

We know publicly Stefanski has defended Watson, saying every aspect of the team has to get better, and saying it is his decision as to who starts at QB. But we also know he doesn’t say anything in his dealings with the media. He doesn’t criticize his players in the press, so he’s certainly not going to say the front office is holding him hostage.

And if the front office is indeed telling Stefanski he has to make it work with Watson and the new offensive coordinator brought in to improve the quarterback’s performance, maybe they should come down and make it work.

Instead, they should be working on what is the best and least painful way out for the franchise. If the team were to release him right now, they would be stuck with a $200 million bill in dead money on the salary cap.

If they were to tell him to go home and he will be released after June 1st next year, that dead money amount falls to $119 million. That’s the best option.

Why should the Browns bench Watson? The best reason would be to see if the problems on offense are truly because of the quarterback, and to identify any more glaring holes that need to be fixed this off-season.

We understand the problem that could be developed if you bench Watson and have him watching from the sideline, it would be awkward and could be divisive to the team. That’s why you make a clean break.

A trade is out of the question because no one is taking that kind of cap hit.

Look, you have to pay Watson no matter what. You can either pay him to have a negative effect (by his play) or you can send him home and he would have no effect. Which is better?

And the worst thing you can do when you make a mistake is to keep trying to justify the move. Admit you made a bad move and proceed.

Can the season be salvaged? Probably not, but let’s say Winston starts this week and the Browns win, and then they come home and beat Cincinnati. They’d be 3-4 and have hope.

Isn’t that worth making the change?

Browns’ Season In Ruins? All Signs Point to Yes

It is hard to believe that just nine short months ago, the Cleveland Browns were getting ready to take on the Houston Texans in the playoffs and hopes were high after they won four of their last five regular season games, scoring over 30 points in three of those wins.

We bring that up because we highly doubt the man who coached that team, Kevin Stefanski suddenly lost the skill to lead this team during the summer.

On the other hand, we asked this question all summer long. This Browns’ team to win now, and what would happen if the team got off to a poor start. Would the organization have the stomach to replace Deshaun Watson if he were not playing well?

Well, that time has arrived and at least after the game, Stefanski said he would continue with Watson at quarterback. He is staying with him despite him not throwing for over 200 yards in any of the five games Cleveland has played this season.

Several members of the media, both local and national, have wondered if Stefanski even has the authority to make the change, considering the amount of draft capital and money the franchise has invested in Watson.

If that’s the case, it should tip everyone off as to why this franchise has trouble winning consistently. Presumably, Stefanski, GM Andrew Berry, and the rest of the front office, save for the “strategy department” were hired because of their football acumen, yet their ability to make decisions is compromised.

It seems that the focus of the franchise has shifted from a year ago. Last year, it was about winning, making the playoffs. Over the off-season, it shifted to making a player happy and justifying a bad trade.

That’s the only reason for firing Alex Van Pelt as offensive coordinator and bringing in Ken Dorsey. By the way, could the latter be the first OC to be fired in mid-season two years in a row?

That’s not to hold the coaching staff blameless. The number of stupid penalties grows every week. We don’t believe they are coaching players to commit errors, but maybe there needs to be more accountability.

Sunday was no different. Mike Ford was flagged for running into the return man fielding a punt when he clearly signaled for a fair catch. There were multiple occurrences of having 12 men on the field, causing either a penalty or Stefanski having to take a timeout.

When you are losing, those mistakes are glaring.

Washington came into the game with one of the worst defenses against the pass in the league. The Browns threw for 108 yards. The Cleveland defense allowed 215 yards on the ground, another recipe for defeat in the NFL.

The defense started very well, getting an interception on the goal line by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and confusing rookie QB Jayden Daniels, who came into the game completing 82% of his throws.

He hit on only 56% Sunday, but had completions of 66, 41, and 33 yards, and the Commanders had runs of 50, 34, and 28 yards. There were big plays all over the place.

And really, the game turned on the 33-yard run by Daniels on 4th and 3 with the score 10-3 and a little over three minutes left in the first half.

The road show continues next week in Philadelphia, but if there anyone left in the fan base or worse on the coaching staff that the Browns can generate any offense with Watson playing quarterback?

Trying to bring out the best in him when it wasn’t there to begin with seems to have derailed a season that should have been ending in a playoff berth.

A 1-0 Lead And More Thoughts On The Guardians/Tigers Series

We were concerned about the Cleveland Guardians’ offense coming into the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, but they showed us at least in the first inning yesterday.

The first five Guards reached base and all scored as a result of an error, Josh Naylor’s single and Lane Thomas’ three run homer. A 5-0 lead in the first? How sweet was that.

We felt going into the series that Steven Vogt might only need four innings out of his starters, and indeed, Tanner Bibee gave him 4-2/3 frames before giving up a single to Parker Meadows with two out, and the skipper went to the bullpen.

And at least in game one, the relievers were as dominant as they were in the regular season, covering 4.1 innings without allowing a hit.

Cade Smith looked like he did in his big-league debut, striking out all four hitters he faced and Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, and of course, Emmanuel Clase each threw an inning to give the Guardians a 1-0 lead in the series.

Another thought we had about this series is it reminds us of when the Indians took on Boston in the late 90’s, and the Red Sox’ pitching staff was led by Pedro Martinez. Martinez would pitch twice in the series, and you had the feeling Cleveland had to win any game the Hall of Famer would pitch.

Of course, we are referring to the likely Cy Young Award winner this year in the AL, Tarik Skubal. The left-hander will pitch in game two and game five if the series goes on that long.

Skubal isn’t quite Martinez, but he did go 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 192 frames. He hasn’t allowed more than a run in a start since September 6th against Oakland when he allowed two runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings.

Cleveland hitters will have their work carved out for them tomorrow at Progressive Field, particularly if the sun is shining and the late afternoon shadows will descend on the diamond.

The announcement of the roster for this series also caused some eyebrow raising. Although it wasn’t a surprise Nick Sandlin was left off the roster because of his propensity to give up home runs, and Ben Lively didn’t make it because the Guards only need three starters, it is a bit of shock that Alex Cobb will start game three.

Cobb hasn’t pitched in a game since September 1st due to fingernail and blister issues, and if Cleveland loses game two, you are giving him the ball in a pivotal game. Again, we know the Guardians only need three or four innings from a starter, and they will have Gavin Williams and/or Joey Cantillo to back him up, but it’s a bit head scratching.

We have always thought the even numbered games in a short series were most important until you get to the last contest, and tomorrow’s game is no different. If the Guardians can beat Skubal, they have command of the series. We aren’t saying it is won because we remember what happened in 2017.

The pressure will be on starter Matthew Boyd, a former Tiger, to keep the Detroit offense in check and either give the Guardians’ bats a chance to scrape out a run or two or get Skubal out of the game early by making him throw a lot of pitches.

With the off day again on Tuesday, no doubt Vogt will go to his bullpen early again.

All yesterday’s win means is the Guardians will not get swept and there will be two games in Detroit. We would be surprised if the Cleveland bats had another outburst like in game one.

Can Guardians Score Enough Runs To Win In October?

The prevailing thought for playoff success for the Cleveland Guardians is to get the lead after five innings and use their greatest strength, their bullpen to hold off the opponents and get the win.

Our biggest concern heading into Saturday’s Game 1 of the American League Division Series? Can they get a lead?

Before the All-Star break, the Guardians have a pretty good offense, ranking 5th in the AL in runs scored, averaging 4.8 runs per contest. When play resumed after the Midsummer Classic, it was a different story.

Since then, the Guardians ranked 11th in the league in runs scored, averaging a full run less than before the break at 3.8 per game.

The only Cleveland player with an OPS of over 800 in the second half is of course Jose Ramirez at 916 and Kyle Manzardo who had just 63 at bats. The perennial all-star batted .291 with 16 HR and 41 RBI in that period.

Only three hitters were even over 700, and of those only Josh Naylor would be considered an everyday player, and he batted just .240 with nine homers (717 OPS). The other two were David Fry (723 OPS) and Jhonkensy Noel (734) and the latter has gone 4 for his last 43 over the last month.

Keep in mind the league average OPS is 703, so the only everyday players above league average are Ramirez and Naylor.

In terms of batting average, the league average is .240 and in on base percentage it is .309.

Once again, Ramirez is getting on base at a .350 clip since the middle of July and Manzardo is getting on a third of his plate appearances in his small sample size. The only other regulars over league average are Steven Kwan (.316), Josh Naylor (.311), and Will Brennan also at .311.

Outside of the red-hot Tigers, who surged in August and September, the Guardians are the worst offensive team in the AL section of the playoffs, scoring 4.4 runs per game. Detroit is at 4.21, but we’ve already said how the Cleveland attack has waned since the first three months of the season.

And although Ramirez has been his usual incredible self, in the playoffs, most teams are not going to pitch to him in any situation where he can do damage, putting pressure on the elder Naylor and Lane Thomas, who will probably hit 5th.

Thomas had a pretty good September with a 770 OPS, but still struck out at a 32% clip in the last month.

Couple this with a starting rotation without a real ace (Tanner Bibee isn’t in the class of a Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez, or Corbin Burnes just yet), and you have to wonder can the formula laid out above work?

Let’s say the Guardians’ starter goes five innings and gives up two runs, can we be confident the bats will provide the three runs needed to hand the game over to the bullpen?

Look, it’s the post-season and anything can happen. Hopefully the offense gets back to the levels attained before the first of July, when the Guardians were 52-30 and were scoring almost five runs a night.

Most likely, it will be a struggle to put runs on the scoreboard, which means taking advantage of the opportunities the Guardians will get. We will see starting on Saturday.