Big Summer For Many NBA Teams, Cavs Included

Well, it’s now official. The Cleveland Cavaliers will have the 14th overall pick in next month’s NBA Draft, although it would have been an extreme long shot for them to have moved up.

The Cavs are the best team, record wise, in the league that didn’t make the playoffs, and with a young core of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen, this is an important off-season for GM Koby Altman and his staff.

However, it’s also an important summer for some of the league’s big market teams, and could anything those teams do influence the wine and gold?

What will the Los Angeles Lakers do? Yes, they have LeBron James, but their roster looks like one of a good team, in 2012. What do they do to surround James with the right kind of talent and can Anthony Davis ever stay healthy?

What of the Brooklyn Nets? Will they run back the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving show or totally restructure their roster, even moving the recently acquired Ben Simmons. They could be looking for a rebuild this summer.

The New York Knicks made the playoffs in 2020-21, but returned to their normal lottery spot last season. Are they satisfied with a Julius Randle and RJ Barrett combination going into the ’22-’23 season? And will they continue to hold Obi Toppin hostage?

What does this have to do with the Cavaliers? If those teams make big moves, cap space will probably be needed and perhaps Altman can pick up a nice piece for the Cavs because salaries do not match up.

Remember, that’s how Cleveland got Allen, a 23-year-old seven footer, who became an all star last season.

If you didn’t know, by rule, the Cavs cannot announce a trade of their first round draft pick before the selection is made. That pick is an asset though, and may be used to bring in a veteran player. We say veteran because we believe there is plenty of youth on the roster, so another young guy could be superfluous.

On the other hand, you might get an experienced college player who gets bypassed early in the draft because every team looks to project on players.

We have seen the Cavs linked to Kansas senior 6’5″ guard Ochai Agbaji. He could probably make a contribution right away, and at least one draft website compared him to Desmond Bane of Memphis. If he wound up being close to the player Bane is, that would be great.

The other player who seems like a good fit and may be available is Ohio State G Malaki Branham, also 6’5″. Just a freshman, he may take longer to be a contributor on a team that should have playoff asperations.

Altman also needs to decide on some bench players. It seems clear they don’t have a good handle on what to do with players like Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler, so it’s time to cut bait.

And no more roster spots for guys who can’t play, like Ed Davis, or bringing in someone like Kevin Pangos.

And make no mistake, barring injuries, the Cavaliers need to qualify for the real playoffs next season, meaning a best-of-seven series. No more play in games.

They made the giant leap to contender in 2021-22, and this young core of good players needs to get in the playoffs.

Can Reyes Change? A Big Question For Guardians’ Offense.

When the Cleveland front office acquired Franmil Reyes during the 2019, no doubt they loved his raw power. He belted 37 home runs that season between his time here and in San Diego, hitting 10 long balls in 51 games with the Indians.

Yes, Reyes was prone to strikeouts, the same as most young power hitters. He fanned 156 times against 46 walks, a 28.5% whiff rate with an 8.6% walk rate.

He was just 23 years old at the time, and we are sure the organization felt it could work with him to improve the contact and they might have a middle of the batting order force.

The COVID shortened year of 2020 seemed to bear that out, as his walk rate increased to 10% and his batting average jumped to .275 with an on base percentage of .344. He was previously getting on base about 31% of the time.

Keep in mind, that was a 60 game season, and the big man had just 241 plate appearances.

Last season, Reyes pulled an oblique muscle early in the season, but his strikeout rate increased to 32% and the walk rate dropped back a bit to 9.2%. It is concerning in that you would like to see both ratios decreasing, but it still wasn’t a cause for concern.

While it is still early in 2022, Reyes’ strikeout numbers are getting near Joey Gallo and Mark Reynolds’ territory.

His strikeout percentage has jumped to 41.1% and while that is troubling enough, the walk rate has also dipped to 5.7%. Reyes had an 0 for 26 slump earlier this season in which he was basically swinging at everything and obviously has an affect on these numbers.

He has hit better since the calendar turned to May, going 14 for 42 (.333) and an 833 OPS, but he still has fanned 16 times, walking just four times.

He got out of the slump and into a nice hot streak but hitting the ball where it was pitched and used the entire field, usually a panacea for ending a dry spell at the plate. It wouldn’t hurt to stay with that approach going forward.

Reyes is a big man, and strong enough to hit homers the opposite way without a lot of difficulty, if he can make contact.

And if he can get back to where he was in the shortened 2020 season, he would be a great hitter to bat behind Jose Ramirez, someone who might make you think twice about pitching around the Guardians’ #3 hitter.

If he can’t, he’s a lower third of the order hitter, and more than likely doesn’t have a long future in Cleveland, particularly because the organization doesn’t have a lot of confidence using him defensively.

He’d be a threat in the 7-8-9 hole because if he connects, there’s a chance the ball will sail over the fence. But he can’t be counted on to hit in the middle of the order.

Terry Francona can’t afford to protect his best hitter with a guy who opposing pitchers know they can strikeout if they make their pitch.

The bigger question is can Reyes change his approach as a hitter. The two week stretch where he was red hot say he can, and we will see in the next couple of weeks whether or not he can sustain it.

Otherwise, Reyes might wind up on the list of all or nothing power guys. The Cleveland front office thought it was getting something better than that.

Plesac, Civale Need To Pick It Up In Guardians’ Rotation

When the 2022 baseball season started, most people figured the iffy part of the Cleveland Guardians would be their hitting. If they could muster enough offense, maybe Terry Francona’s squad could hang around and contend for a playoff spot.

To date, just the opposite has been true. The hitting attack currently ranks second in the American League in runs scored, trailing only the New York Yankees, while the pitching staff is 14th, second last, in ERA.

The starting pitching has been a disappointment.

The shortened spring training has made it difficult to evaluate the performances of the rotation, but right now, we would say the most consistent starting pitchers have been Cal Quantrill and Triston McKenzie.

Quantrill has a 3.93 ERA in six starts, allowing more than three earned runs just once (his last start in Chicago), and has given Francona at least 4-2/3 innings in each of his half dozen appearance.

McKenzie has made five starts with a 2.76 ERA. He’s allowed just four earned runs just once (vs. the Angels) and his lowest inning total was four, in his first start. His last two outings have had him giving Cleveland at least six innings.

While there have been concerns about Shane Bieber’s velocity being down about 2 MPH, up until his last start vs. Toronto, he’s been just fine. In his first five starts, he gave his team at least 4-2/3 (that was the season opener) allowing no more than three runs.

He also has the longest outing by a Guards’ pitcher this season, firing seven innings against Oakland. And he’s still allowed less hits than innings pitched, while striking out 29 against just nine walks.

The problems have been Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale.

Plesac started strong, throwing 5-2/3 scoreless frames in his first start against the Royals, and in his first three appearances, he went 17.2 innings allowing just three earned runs. However, in his last three outings, he has thrown 15 innings, giving up 14 runs, an 8.40 ERA. In those games, he has fanned just 10 hitters and walked eight.

Civale has given Tito just one good outing all season in six starts, that against the Blue Jays, and even in that one, he allowed four earned runs, although Francona admitted he probably left him in a couple of batters too long.

Friday night, he gave up two homers in the first inning against the Twins.

He has pitched into the sixth inning just once this season and has allowed at least four runs every time he has taken the mound. His defense has hurt him at times, in his first start, two of the four runs he allowed were unearned. But he needs to pitch longer in games, and better yet, keep opponents off the scoreboard.

The Guardians could give him some extra time between starts with two off days coming up, but will they?

We understand the trend in the grand old game is for starters to get through the batting order twice, but the Guards don’t set up their staff that way. They want starters to go at least six if at all possible, and quite frankly, we still think that’s the right way to do it.

The Guardians need to get Plesac and Civale straightened out if they want to be a factor in the playoff hunt. Konnor Pilkington acquitted himself very well in his first big league start against the Blue Jays.

He could be getting another chance soon if the incumbents don’t start putting up some zeroes.

Browns’ Schedule Game? Not Interested.

Tonight, the NFL will announce their 2022 season schedule, and it is a reflection of the giant place the league has in the sports’ consciousness that there is a prime time show based around telling fans who will play who and when on a weekly basis.

Another reason the NFL is the king.

Of course, the “unveiling” if you will, affects sports talk radio programming for Friday, because virtually every show will have a version the “schedule game”, in which everyone looks at the slate of games to determine what their favorite team’s record is.

Quite frankly, we would rather listen to recordings of William Shatner singing.

A bonus in Cleveland is it one less day spent discussing what the Browns will do with Baker Mayfield and/or how many games Deshaun Watson will be suspended. Although, if the Browns get several nationally televised games late in the year, people will take that as an indication that Watson’s suspension (if there is one in 2022) will be finished by then.

First of all, no one playing the game has any clue about injuries, when they will happen, and which players will be affected on any given week. Wouldn’t any Cleveland fan call the game against say, Buffalo as a loss, but if Josh Allen were to be out that week, it would certainly change the prediction for that contest.

Another thing not factored in is how the either team is playing. Let’s say you have a game early in the year against a team that struggled the prior year, but started out winning its first two or three games. That team is now playing with confidence and it becomes a more difficult task.

And add in if say the Browns lost the week prior. Teams that loses sometimes take a while to get going the following game. Remember how the Browns struggled in their week two game against the Texans a year ago after they lost the opener to the Chiefs? It took Kevin Stefanski’s crew about a half to start playing as expected.

We know that every year a team comes out of nowhere to make the NFL’s post-season. Last year it occurred in Cleveland’s own division, where Cincinnati went from 4-11-1 in 2020 to 10-7, a division title, and a Super Bowl berth in ’21.

Conversely, Seattle went from 12-4 to 7-10 from 2020 to 2021. Heck, the Browns themselves went from 11-5 to 8-9. Wonder what the schedule game people though about games against this trio of teams heading into last season?

We get that the schedule is fun to talk about and it fills a day of programming for the hosts who play a yearly game of the event, but let’s face it, there won’t be any surprises tonight. The Browns will play the same opponents it was announced they would face at the conclusion of the ’21 season.

The NFL schedule is formulaic, we can already tell you Cleveland will play the teams from the NFC West in 2023.

So, count us out on trying to analyze a group of games that won’t be played for at least four months. We can tell you this though. Roger Goodell thanks you for playing the “Schedule Game”.

Credit For The Ramirez Deal Should Go Only To Jose

They have been a lot of stories written about the negotiations between the Cleveland Guardians and Jose Ramirez as spring training was ending, and the resulting contract extension for the all-star third baseman, which will keep him in town through the 2028 season.

First, let us say we are thrilled Ramirez is staying. He is one of the top ten players in the game, with a trio of top three finishes in the AL MVP voting over the last five seasons. Baseball fans around northeast Ohio deserve to see someone play the majority of a great career in a Cleveland uniform.

We have brought this up before, but the last player to spend 10 seasons in the big leagues and only wear an Indians/Guardian jersey was Al Rosen, and he retired in 1956.

Other smaller market teams have their icons: Milwaukee has Robin Yount, Kansas City has George Brett. Colorado has Todd Helton.

Jose Ramirez can be that guy for northeast Ohio baseball fans.

And the credit for this is all on one person, and that is Jose Ramirez.

There is no question in our mind Ramirez could have received much more on the open market, figure between $25 and $30 million per year for seven or eight seasons. Texas gave Marcus Semien, who is two years older and not as good as a player, $175 million over seven years. You have to estimate Ramirez would have received over $200 million on the open market.

But he wanted to stay.

According to the stories by national writers, had Ramirez wanted to be paid commensurate with other players with his resume, he would have returned to Progressive Field this past week as a member of either the San Diego Padres or Toronto Blue Jays. The front office was fully prepared to trade him now in order to get the best return.

The Guardians management learned from the Francisco Lindor situation that moving a potential free agent prior to his walk year doesn’t yield the same market value.

However, Ramirez took a “discount” and wanted to remain in a Cleveland uniform, stating he wanted to retire here, go into the Hall of Fame as a Guardian, and win a World Series with the organization.

That’s the perfect news fans want to hear.

Mark Shapiro’s father, Ron Shapiro, who was an agent, said he told the athletes he represented there was a value in playing your entire career in one city. You become a part of that city and can tie yourself into that community.

Even though Bernie Kosar finished up in Dallas and Miami, look at how many local businesses want Bernie speaking on their behalf.

It seems like Ramirez felt the same, and we would bet we will start seeing Ramirez used in advertisements around this area soon.

Unfortunately, this signing isn’t going to make us feel any better about the ownership of the team. They simply did what any owner would do, keep a great player who made it very clear he wanted to stay, even taking less money to do so.

If you can’t do that as an owner, why are you even involved in professional sports.

Fans here should be thankful for Jose Ramirez. He is the reason this deal got done. No one else.

Early Season For Guards? You Have To Be Encouraged

It seems like yesterday that the Cleveland Guardians opened the delayed 2022 season in Kansas City, but after yesterday’s doubleheader against Toronto, the Guards have hit the 1/6th point in the ’22 campaign.

What have we learned? The biggest takeaway is what we knew going into the year. This is a very young team and therefore prone to streakiness, so a close to .500 record (13-14) makes sense. Our guess is that will stabilize as the year goes on.

The offensive has improved, or has it? Cleveland ranks 2nd in the AL in runs scored per game at 4.68, trailing only the Yankees. However, remember the streakiness we discussed? Terry Francona’s squad has been held to two runs or less in 11 of the 27 games, and have scored 17 runs, 11 runs, 10 runs twice as well.

They are 1-10 when they score two or fewer, so when they get to three, their record is 12-4. Pretty good, eh?

In the off-season, we said the ability to get on base had to improve for Cleveland, and to date it has. The Guardians are 3rd in the league in on base percentage.

Last year, only Jose Ramirez and Myles Straw had OBPs of over .350. So far this season, there are five players with over 50 plate appearances (beside Ramirez and Straw, Owen Miller, Steven Kwan, and Andres Gimenez) who are getting on base 35% of the time or more.

Miller has already walked more this season than he did in all of the 2021 season.

And though we doubt Miller can continue to hit .353 or Kwan can hit .319, we also don’t think Franmil Reyes will continue to hit .204 even though his strikeout to walk ratio is an unsightly 43 to 3.

To be fair, we also don’t think Andres Gimenez will stay over .340 and Josh Naylor won’t hit over .300 either, but both should be in the lineup everyday.

The organization has shifted from the big swing players to guys who can put the ball in play, and we think that is a great move in the right direction.

They started scouting players with good contact rates in amateur ball a few years ago, figuring they can develop power easier than teaching players to make contact.

Surprisingly, the Guards’ team ERA is third last in the American League at 4.03. They have held opponents to three runs or less 11 times, going 8-3 in those games.

Part of the problem has been the slow start of Aaron Civale, who has a 9.45 ERA, but did turn in his best outing of the year Thursday night against Toronto. Zach Plesac has also struggled in his last two starts, allowing 10 ER in 8-2/3 innings.

The bullpen has stabilized. Emmanuel Clase had a bit of a struggle early but has looked like himself in the last week or so. Trevor Stephan and Nick Sandlin have emerged as the bridges from the starter to Clase.

Lefty Sam Hentges, pretty terrible last year as a starter, has thrived as a reliever, pitching 13 innings and allowing just one run. Most of his outings have been in low leverage situations, but that could change soon.

This is a fun team to watch for the most part, and we are intrigued to watch these young players develop. Also, there is no curious veteran playing for the most part, unless you are not an Amed Rosario fan (and we aren’t, really).

Hanging around .500 will keep you in the mix for a playoff spot for a while, and that’s what you want from the squad.

So far, so good for the Guardians.

Shooting, Toughness Are The Needs For The Cavs

The NBA playoffs have reached the second round, and there is a percentage of fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers pointing out that the two teams they lost to in the play-in tournament went 1-8, validating their opinion the Cavs are better off with the lottery pick.

Our point continues to be a seven game series would have shown them the type of ball being played in the playoffs, and they would have grown as a team by it.

We didn’t think going in the wine and gold could have beaten either Miami or Boston, but the experience would have done them a whole lot of good.

We felt too many times during the regular season that the Cavs wilted against more physical teams. In the NBA, sometimes this happens with young teams. Instead of matching the physicality of the opponent, they wilt, they change the style of play that helps them win.

That’s not a recipe for success.

Sometime this month, the annual draft lottery will be held, and unless the Cavaliers are extremely lucky, they will have the 14th pick. Still, this pick is a trade asset and that’s probably the best use of it, since the team is already one of the youngest in the NBA. We don’t see how adding another inexperienced player helps next season.

Cleveland needs players who can make shots on the perimeter, particularly from beyond the three point line. They had a respectable percentage from long range, ranking 15th in the league, but their attempts ranked 22nd in the Association.

The players who took the most threes, Kevin Love, Darius Garland, and Lauri Markkanen, all made them at a better rate than the league average of 35.2%. But the latter was just barely over that mark.

So, the only real three point threats were Love and Garland. They get Collin Sexton back, and he can score, but he really isn’t a long range marksman. Perhaps they will get some improvement from him in that area next season.

Beyond those three, the next most threes were taken by Cedi Osman (35.7%) and Ricky Rubio (33.9%). A couple of players who supposed are on the roster for their shooting, Dean Wade and Dylan Windler, seem hesitant to take the shot. That doesn’t help the floor spacing.

So GM Koby Altman needs to find a consistently good outside threat, and one who has the confidence to shoot when he is open.

They also need toughness, as we alluded before. You would have to think this comes from a veteran player, someone who isn’t going to let his younger teammates get pushed around.

While the Cavaliers have height, they don’t have much bulk. They need some of that, not only inside, but on the perimeter. Some of that will come from the younger players getting older, their bodies maturing.

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff talks a lot about “grit” and “fight”, and early in the season, the Cavs had that, but there is something to be said about physical play as well, and many nights, particularly late in the year, Cleveland seemed to fall short.

Again, the draft pick is nice, but it would be a surprise if Altman found someone in the middle of the draft who can make an impact on this team next season.

That leaves the trade market, but would the Cavs give up the assets that other teams want?

Browns’ Draft? Not Excited, But Not Bad

We think everyone can agree that a draft without a first round pick cannot be considered sexy. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be impactful.

The Cleveland Browns traded its first round pick (and those for 2023 and 2024) for QB Deshaun Watson, and then traded down from the 44th pick, and the people who love the NFL Draft around town went crazy.

We still believe there is a portion of the fan base around the city who assume everything the Browns do is stupid and everything the Ravens and Steelers do is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Cleveland has a pretty solid roster and the likelihood that someone picked over the weekend would be projected to have a starting spot on the 2022 team was slim to begin with.

So, how did GM Andrew Berry and the local gridiron team do in the draft?

Their first pick was CB Martin Emerson of Mississippi State at pick #68. While cornerback was not a position of need for the Browns, in our view, you can never have enough good corners, and we know it will remain to be seen if Emerson is just that.

The scouting report on Emerson is that he is better in man-to-man coverage than zone, and it feels like the Browns don’t play enough of that style of defense. Maybe they will start, although that probably goes hand in hand with stopping the running game better.

The draftniks seems to like the next choice, 6’7″, 270 pound Alex Wright out of UAB. He will probably be a pass rusher in Cleveland. The problem for him according to scouts is inconsistency. Like cornerbacks, we feel you can never have enough guys to go after the opposing team’s passer.

We really like the pick of David Bell in the third round. We’ve seen a few Purdue games and he stood out. Does this translate to success in the NFL? That remains to be seen, but he played against big time competition and succeeded. And he’s a big target at 6’2″, 210 pounds. He seems like a slot receiver, which the Browns need.

Everyone loves the choice of Perrion Winfrey because the draft “experts” had him ranked as a second round pick, and the Browns got him in the fourth round. The scouting reports say he has great athleticism for a man his size (6’4″, 292 pounds). Earlier, we said the Browns needed help stopping the run. Hopefully, Winfrey can help there and put pressure up the middle on opposing QBs.

We can’t end this without looking at the most controversial choice, drafting K Cade York from LSU at #124. We saw one expert say this was not an area of need for the Browns, to which we would ask if he watches the games.

We have no problem with this pick. Chase McLaughlin was one of the worst field goal kickers in the NFL last season, and Cleveland lost six games by six points or less.

Does picking York this high make him a surefire success in the pros? Of course not, but he winds up being as good as Phil Dawson, it’s a great pick.

Think about this, if all of the current players were put into a draft today, where would the Ravens’ kicker, Justin Tucker go? He might go in the first round, he’s that much of a weapon.

Time will tell if any of the players drafted by the Browns this past weekend can contribute. Many will be special teamers at least for the first year.

It was a depth draft for Cleveland. Hard to get too excited.

Guardians’ Roster Needs Trimming, They Have Plenty Of Choices

After today’s game in Oakland, the roster of the Cleveland Guardians must be reduced from 28 to 26, although there is no limit on the number of pitchers, and we all know how Terry Francona loves relief pitchers.

It doesn’t seem like it will be a difficult decision for the Guards’ front office to remove two players, as quite frankly, they have more than a couple of players on the current roster who could be replaced.

The Guardians currently have 14 pitchers on the roster and we don’t think that will change. They have Anthony Castro on a rehab assignment after being placed COVID list, and the question is will he be back when he is ready.

The man who replaced him, Enyel De Los Santos has looked good, and if he stays, room will have to be made on the 40 man roster. The logical move, if De Los Santos stays, is to put James Karinchak on the 60 day injured list, retroactively.

Or, the front office could bring Castro back, keep De Los Santos, and make a move with Logan Allen. The southpaw continues to struggle in most appearances. He has a 4.50 ERA, but has allowed 9 hits and 3 walks in six innings of work.

Among the everyday players, it would seem that Bobby Bradley is the odd man out. Bradley hasn’t had a huge opportunity this season, but he certainly hasn’t done much with the chance he has had, going 2 for 17 with nine strikeouts.

Bradley’s biggest problem might be his lack of versatility, he can only play 1B or DH. And Owen Miller and Josh Naylor seem to be better options at first.

Who is the other player to go? We doubt it will be Yu Chang right now. Chang is on a rehab assignment right now, so the club doesn’t have to make a decision on him right now.

Unless there is a IL move with Amed Rosario, it might be Ernie Clement who goes to Columbus. He’s hitting just .182 (8 for 44) and has just three walks. He made the opening day roster due to his versatility, but he’s played 2B, 3B, and LF primarily, and Terry Francona has plenty of options at each of those spots.

And it might help Clement to get every day playing time.

The roster has other problems right now.

Right now, Franmil Reyes, one of the three solid offensive players the Guardians had coming into the season, is unplayable. He’s 0 for his last 25, and isn’t hitting in tough luck, because he was fanned 17 times in that span. He leads the AL in striking out.

The other problem is starter Aaron Civale, who hasn’t thrown a pitch in the fifth inning of any of his four starts this season. He’s had some poor defense behind him for sure, but opposing hitters are also hitting .349 against him.

He’s made just four starts, so small sample size, but the Guardians have alternatives too, currently Eli Morgan, although he’s a candidate to get sent out at some point in time because he needs to get stretched out to be a starting option.

There’s also Konnor Pilkington, who is in the process of building up innings at Columbus after starting the year in the Cleveland bullpen.

Two players have to be off the roster before the Padres come to town on Tuesday. No doubt, the Guardians have plenty of choices to make as to who will no longer be on the roster when the Guards start their homestand.

Guardians: Walks Down, So Is The Run Count

Heading into the 2022 baseball season, our biggest concern about the offense of the Cleveland Guardians was the inability to get on base.

It looked like this improved in the first six games of the year, when the Guardians drew four or more walks in five of the first half dozen contests.

And the team scored seven or more runs in four of those games.

However, since then, Guards’ hitters have drawn four or more bases on balls just once (Monday night in Anaheim, they were shutout anyway), and have only scored more than five runs twice.

And one of those games was an 11-1 win over the White Sox in which the opponents committed four charged errors, and it could have been more.

After the initial six games, Guardian hitters have had a game with 15 strikeouts and no walks, 12 punchouts and one walk, and 10 K’s with two walks.

Cleveland currently sits fifth in the AL in on base percentage, mostly because they have the second highest batting average in the league (.253, my how the game has changed).

They are 11th in drawing walks, so really not that much improvement.

Myles Straw leads the Guards in walks with 10, followed by Steven Kwan with nine, and Jose Ramirez with seven. This trio has a little more than half the free passes Cleveland has received through the first 17 games of the season (26 out of 50).

The best strikeout to walk ratios belong to these players:

Batting average OPS
Kwan 6:9 .341 956
Ramirez 7:7 .353 1.151
Straw 14:10 .261 .669
Owen Miller 8:5 .450 1.300

As you can see, if you know the strike zone, you can be a better hitter. Compare those figures to these–

Batting average OPS
Oscar Mercado 14:0 .185 655
Franmil Reyes 30:3 .161 430
Austin Hedges 13:3 .125 405
Andres Gimenez 11:1 .286 804

Gimenez is the only Guardians’ hitter with a poor strikeout to walk ratio that is putting up good numbers.

On Monday, Reyes came to the plate with runners on first and second and no one out, and actually had a 3-0 count, before swinging at two pitches out of the strike zone. That’s probably the worst at bat by a Cleveland hitter this season to date.

Certainly, with Straw, Kwan, and Ramirez at the top of the lineup, for the most part, they are making opposing pitchers work to get outs. They see a lot of pitches in most plate appearances.

The rest of the lineup save for Miller? Not so much.

It is odd that notorious hacker Amed Rosario, is tied with Miller at five bases on balls, but he is usually up there swinging if a pitch is close, and that causes him to get himself out at times.

Meanwhile, the three players who have poor numbers at judging a ball from a strike, Mercado, Bobby Bradley, and Yu Chang have combined to strikeout 22 times without drawing a walk. Again, most of that has been done by Mercado.

For the offense to pick up again, the Guardians’ hitters have to be more selective and stop swinging at bad pitches. We know, easier said than done.

And Reyes has to be better. We know he can be streaky, and part of the reason is his idea of the strike zone. Teams have already started to pitch around Ramirez. The opponents have to pay for doing that.