Guards Need Hitting And More Hitting This Off-Season

Well, it’s all over.

After a furious comeback, an MLB record for the Cleveland Guardians, coming back from a one-time 15.5 game deficit to win the American League Central Division title, the Guards lost two games to one in the Wild Card Series to their division rivals, the Detroit Tigers.

The season ends with another post-season appearance, but with the championship drought now at 78 years.

We are not celebrating because they failed. They didn’t even get as far as Steven Vogt’s crew did a year ago, when they got to the AL Championship Series. And you know what, the Vogt and his team aren’t celebrating either.

The Guardians should take satisfaction from the fact they did not lay down when faced with the huge deficit, something that other teams have done. And frankly it was something of a miracle for Cleveland to win the division because this was one of the worst offensive clubs in Major League Baseball, ranking 28th in runs scored and 29th in team OPS.

Cleveland batted .226 as a team the lowest in club history. The previous low for a full season was in 1968, a year the sport refers to as “The Year Of The Pitcher”. Baseball changed its rules, lowering the pitchers’ mound after that season.

The last time they had a team OPS this low was in 1991. The then Indians’ record that year was 57-105.

We have said it all season long. This club has three good hitters: The incredible Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Kyle Manzardo. Everyone else is frankly bad.

How bad was it? Well, the organization brought Chase DeLauter, who hasn’t had a big-league bat in his life, up to start the last two playoff games. And DeLauter wasn’t alone. In those games, the Guardians also played George Valera, who had 48 plate appearances and C.J. Kayfus, who had 138.

Remember, the Guardians traded one of their best hitters from a year ago because he was entering the last year of his contract. So, the organization did this to themselves.

As the organization enters the off-season, there simply has to be an emphasis on getting more hitting. Certainly, DeLauter, Valera, and Kayfus figure into the mix, but the Guardians should not put all their eggs into the “rookie” basket. And those four, along with another top prospect, Travis Bazzana, all hit from the left side.

They need a “professional” hitter, preferably right-handed to add depth to the lineup.

They also need to be truthful to themselves about some of the players on the roster. We heard several times on telecasts about the “breakout” year from Gabriel Arias. He batted .220, right in line with his .215 career mark, and although his OPS was a career high at 638, it is still way below league average.

Daniel Schneemann, at age 28, received the 7th most plate appearance on the roster. He had a very good month of May, but after June 1st, he hit just .188. Again, that’s over a four-month span.

Angel Martinez received the fourth most plate appearances on the team and his OPS was just 628. The problem was there weren’t any real alternatives and to be fair, Martinez was pretty good vs. lefties, with a 792 OPS.

More emphasis has to be put on getting on base. Cleveland ranked 29th in on base percentage in the major leagues. Only four players with more than 100 plate appearances got on base at even a 30% clip. Carlos Santana joining the Ramirez, Kwan, Manzardo trio.

Why do they need to be better offensively? On the top ten teams in the majors in runs scored, eight made the playoffs. Only the Diamondbacks and Mets didn’t get there, and both of those teams were in the mix in the last week of the regular season.

The Padres (18th) and the Guardians were the two teams making the post-season without having a good offense. Normally, the top run scorers get to play in October. The Guards can’t tempt fate in 2026.

Let’s hope ownership opens their wallets and the front office doesn’t rely solely on rookies to help.

Much Like The Entire Month, The Post-Season Clincher Was Unreal.

Somehow, it was fitting that the Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff spot last night on a hit batsman with the bases loaded.

When C.J. Kayfus got hit with a Robert Garcia pitch, the party was on, but probably somewhat muted because a win tomorrow means Steven Vogt’s crew will open the Wild Card Series at home on Tuesday.

The post-season clinching game was kind of a microcosm of the entire year. Vogt put Johnathan Rodriguez in the cleanup spot in the lineup, replacing David Fry. We said on social media that it was an odd choice, seeing the Rodriguez was only called up because of the Fry injury, and he had only amassed 70 plate appearances with the big club all year.

But there he was in the bottom of the first, hitting a two-run homer to give Cleveland the lead. And then, Rodriguez started the winning rally, drawing a two out walk.

Kyle Manzardo, who didn’t play against left-handed pitching most of the year, then blooped one into left field against the southpaw Garcia, sending pinch-runner Petey Halpin to third.

Texas intentionally walked Gabriel Arias, kind of an odd move with Arias’ swing and miss tendencies, to load the bases.

By the way, it was also the first time Garcia hit a batter the entire season.

Joey Cantillo, who started the season in the bullpen, and had two stints in the minor leagues during the season, was the starting pitcher in the game. He also was the starter on September 3rd, an 8-1 win over the Red Sox that started this stretch.

And of course, the bullpen played a big role with Hunter Gaddis getting four outs and Cade Smith getting five. They were the anchors of the relief corps most of the season, and the skipper leaned on them heavily.

Of course. There was something unexpected about the entire run the Guardians went on after losing their first two games in September. Winning 19 of 24 games is incredible in itself, especially when the Guards were pretty much a .500 team heading into that stretch.

Make no mistake, the run was accomplished with incredible pitching. Cleveland has allowed just 67 runs in the month, their previous low in a month in 2025 was the 101 allowed in June. That’s an unbelievable turnaround.

They won seven games where they scored three runs of less during the streak. That’s insane.

They got huge hits during the run from Kayfus, whose 2-run homer turned a 2-1 Kansas City lead into a 3-2 Cleveland win on September 11th.

Another rookie, George Valera, belted a big homer last Wednesday to get the Guards going in a 5-1 win. And Jhonkensy Noel, hitting .152 on the season, homered off Tarik Skubal, on September 18th.

And of course, Rodriguez last night.

They can finish the job today with a win that would give the team their second consecutive division title and their 14th since the three division set up which started in 1994, and their 15th post-season spot in the same time frame.

To be honest, we have no idea how this happened considering the offense is still among the worst in the majors, but who cares. It’s fun just enjoying the winning.

The off-season seems to go quicker when the Guardians are in the playoffs.

The Times Should Be A-Changing For The Guardians

We talked about the Cleveland Guardians needing to do well heading into the stretch in the schedule that started this past weekend against the Texas Rangers. They had nine games against the Marlins, Braves, and Diamondbacks.

At the time, they were 61-56 and just six games behind the Tigers in the AL Central, and more importantly were just a half game behind New York for the last playoff spot in the American League.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain, going 3-6 in those series and then following that up by getting swept in a three-game set at Texas. Losing nine of twelve isn’t conducive to staying in a playoff chase.

So now, Steven Vogt’s crew is 12.5 behind Detroit and has fallen into third place in the Central behind the Royals, and they are now six games out in the wild card chase and behind Kansas City and the Rangers in the standings.

In a week, we will be in September and to us, they can’t be more than five games out at that point to be considered on the edge of the playoff hunt, so they are going to need to have an excellent homestand against the Rays and Mariners.

The offense had been feasting on some of the less accomplished pitching staffs in baseball, but that production ran out in the series against Atlanta and Arizona. All three National League teams on the schedule ranked near the bottom of the ERA standings, and the Guardians did put up 17 runs vs. Miami.

But the Braves held Cleveland bats to five runs in the trio of contests, and the Guardians only scored 10 runs vs. the D-Backs. Texas has the best ERA in the AL, so it shouldn’t be a surprise Steven Vogt’s crew tallied just three runs in Arlington.

We have been saying for some time now that this team only has three legitimate bats, and one of them, Steven Kwan, hasn’t been very good since the All-Star break, hitting just .231 with a .285 on base percentage.

It doesn’t take calculus to tell you if you only have three decent hitters out of nine and one of those guys isn’t hitting, a team is going to have trouble scoring runs.

If this team has any chance to pull off a winning streak, the organization shouldn’t be clinging to any hope the group currently on the roster is going to be able to put something together.

Doing that is grasping at straws looking at the best outcomes for some of these guys instead of looking at five months of numbers.

C.J. Kayfus has been solid since coming up to the majors and his 705 OPS, while not great, is better than anyone on the team not named Jose Ramirez, Kwan, or Kyle Manzardo. It’s a low bar, granted, it’s also 100 points higher than Nolan Jones.

We have seemingly heard about George Valera for years as a prospect, and he had a delayed start to the season because of injuries, but he’s hitting .278 with a 893 OPS at Columbus in 24 games, why not see what he can do?

The same is true with the bullpen, do we really need to see more of Matt Festa and Kolby Allard? Why not take a look at some arms at Columbus?

Isn’t doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result one of the definitions of insanity? That’s what is feels like for a supporter of the 2025 Cleveland Guardians.

With A Tough Stretch Coming Up, Guardians Need These Players To Keep It Going.

There are just 45 games remaining in the Major League Baseball season for the Cleveland Guardians, and the schedule is going to ramp up one more time starting a week from Friday.

Starting with three on the road against Texas, Steven Vogt’s crew will have 20 games in a row against solid opponents. After coming home from the Lone Star state, the Guardians have a six game homestand against Tampa (57-62) and Seattle (66-53 and currently in a playoff spot).

That is followed by a trip to Boston (65-54 and a playoff team) and four in Tampa, before coming home for four more with the Royals (58-60).

Continued success against those teams will bode well for the Guardians heading into the homestretch.

But the team is going to need some contributions from players who either haven’t had an opportunity or haven’t performed up to standards to date. We would like to see these guys step up.

First and foremost, they need Tanner Bibee to start pitching like he did in his first two seasons with Cleveland. His ERA is those two seasons were 2.98 and 3.47. This year, he is a full run worse at 4.60. His strikeouts are down, and his walks are up. He’s already tied his career high of 22 home runs allowed.

Gavin Williams, Slade Cecconi, and even Logan Allen have been pretty consistent for Vogt, but right now, Bibee seems to have that one inning he can’t reel in. If he can give the Guardians four solid starters down the stretch, it would be huge for the rotation and for the bullpen, as he would provide someone else who can get deeper into games.

Erik Sabrowski and Nic Enright are two guys who must continue to pitch well out of the bullpen. Sabrowski got a late start to the season, but since being activated has a 1.15 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 15.2 innings, allowing just eight hits. With Tim Herrin struggling in 2025, Sabrowski has become the left-hander Vogt leans on late in games.

The only other lefty, Kolby Allard is more of a long man, an innings eater. He’s been very effective (2.63 ERA in 48 innings), but we would guess the skipper doesn’t want him in a high leverage situation against the opponents’ best left-handed hitter.

Enright, a righty, has a 1.96 ERA over 23 innings, and is gaining the manager’s trust in late innings.

With Hunter Gaddis not pitching at the level he did a year ago, and Emmanuel Clase under suspension, these two guys have to continue to do well out of the Cleveland bullpen.

We saved the most difficult thing for last, another bat to step up. C.J. Kayfus has made an impact in his brief time here but needs to keep it going. He already has five RBI, one less than Johnathan Rodriguez (in 42 less plate appearances) and the same number as Austin Hedges.

He also has four extra base hits, the same number as Will Wilson and Jhonkensy Noel had with the team.

But they could use someone else to contribute regularly. Vogt has been platooning Daniel Schneemann and Angel Martinez in CF and having success, and Brayan Rocchio is hitting .293 (737 OPS) over the last 28 days.

Having those trends continue could pay big dividends in this upcoming stretch.

Much Like The Off-Season, Inactivity Is The Word For Guards’ Front Office

The trading deadline came and went. The Steven Kwan rumors were hot and heavy. Ultimately, the Cleveland Guardians pretty much stood pat on Thursday, and the inaction confused us.

First of all, even with Emmanuel Clase now suspended, the Guardians were still just 2.5 games out of the third wild card spot in the American League. Yes, losing Clase was a blow, not only to the team, but because he was reported to be a huge trade chip, but still, it’s not as though the bullpen didn’t have depth. They could and can stay in the race without their closer.

We continue to reiterate the Guardians biggest problem is their offense and really, it dates back to last season. The front office did nothing to address this problem and that’s what makes the deadline a frustrating one to us.

The Guards did make two moves, trading Shane Bieber, who has been out all year recovering from Tommy John surgery last year, to Toronto, for the Blue Jays’ fifth ranked prospect in right-handed pitcher Khal Stephen, who has spent most of the year at the Class A level, but was recently promoted to AA.

He is currently on the IL with what is reported to be a minor shoulder issue.

In 17 starts in the minors this season, he has a 2.06 ERA with 99 strikeouts and just 18 walks in 91.2 innings. Considering Bieber hasn’t pitched with Cleveland this year, and if he pitched well, he would most certainly decline his option for next year, you can’t fault the front office for the move. It’s a solid return.

They also traded reliever Paul Sewald to Detroit for a player to be named later or cash. He’s been hurt of most of the season and reportedly the Tigers picked up the contract. It’s the kind of move the Guardians’ ownership loves to make.

When 28-year-old right-hander Carlos Hernandez was designated for assignment by the Tigers, the Guardians did sign him. He has struggled this season with the Phillies and Detroit, pitching to a 6.69 ERA, and in his career has a 5.17 mark.

Control has been an issue for him with 144 walks and 262 Ks in 292.2 career innings pitched. Hopefully, the Guardians’ pitching coaches can work their magic.

Both moves saved money, but management didn’t use the savings to help the current roster. The same formula we saw last off-season.

So, Guardians’ fans will get to see the same putrid offense they have seen all season long, filled with players who have below average OPS.

They did call up prospect C. J. Kayfus (finally) yesterday. Between appearances at Akron and Columbus this season, the left-handed hitter hit .300/.390/.539/930, with 14 HR and 54 RBI.

Johnathon Rodriguez was sent back to AAA. He didn’t show much again, but the move seems to make a bigger logjam on the roster, which has been a problem all year.

Kayfus is a first baseman but has been getting time in the outfield at Columbus. This gives Steven Vogt three options at 1B/DH in Carlos Santana, Kyle Manzardo, and Kayfus, and another player on the roster who can only DH in David Fry.

His options in RF are Kayfus and Nolan Jones, both left-handed hitters. He also has a catcher he definitely has to pinch-hit for in any meaningful late game situation in Austin Hedges.

That’s tough on him.

Again, this was created by the front office when they signed Santana in the winter. They knew about Manzardo’s position inflexibility and Fry’s injury situation then.

Hopefully, Kayfus provides an offensive spark these last two months, because despite the inaction at the deadline, the schedule isn’t difficult in August, and the Guardians should still be in contention on Labor Day.

There were bats that could have helped on the market. Randal Grichuk isn’t great, but he’d be an upgrade in the outfield. So would Mike Yastrzemski. Both went to the Royals.

Oh yeah, the Royals are owned by John Sherman, remember him?

If Guards Want To Move Up, They Need To Score More

There is a logjam for the wild card spots in the American League and the Cleveland Guardians are in the midst of it.

The Seattle Mariners currently hold the sixth spot in the AL with a 51-45 record, and there are six teams within 5 games of them, including Cleveland who is 4.5 out with a 46-49 record.

How jumbled are the standings? If the Guardians win Friday night when they return to action at home against the Athletics, they could be in the #8 spot, able to jump the Royals, Angels, and Twins.

It’s no mystery how they can climb back in the race if they so desire. They have to score runs. They are currently third from the bottom in putting runs on the board, ahead of just the Royals and White Sox.

They are also ninth in ERA, but their team mark of 4.02 is better than the league average of 4.07.

If the Guardians’ front office wants to take care of the offensive problem, they will likely have to make some very difficult decisions.

They would have to take some risks, but since we belong to the “can’t be any worse” mindset, we would be willing to take the chance.

The toughest decision might be what to do with Carlos Santana. Clearly, the organization loves him, he has been traded for once and signed as a free agent since leaving originally after the 2017 season. He has been in the trade rumor mill over the past few weeks.

But really, what will you get for the 39-year-old first baseman? Since June 1st, Santana has batted .189 with 4 HR and 12 RBI. And perhaps what is worse, he has walked just 13 times with 30 strikeouts.

If the front office cannot find a trade partner, will they have the stomach to just release him? The Guardians have to start making the transition to have Kyle Manzardo, who has a much higher OPS than Santana, play first base, and also to look at C.J. Kayfus, who has a 921 OPS at Columbus.

The other obvious choices to upgrade would be at catcher, shortstop, and two of the outfield spots.

We doubt any change is coming behind the plate. The organization values defense and handling pitchers very highly, but even with that, the offense they are getting from the position is ridiculous. It’s getting to the point when Bo Naylor or Austin Hedges takes a walk, it’s a victory.

Angel Martinez has shown some pop lately (slugging .481 over the last month) playing mostly CF, but his 61:9 strikeout to walk ratio doesn’t bode well.

Another option would be to have Nolan Jones, who has hit .267 since June 1st, play more in CF with of course the people’s choice, Chase DeLauter coming up to play some rightfield. Jones has also drawn 13 walks in this period with 26 strikeouts.

Of course, the obstacle there is the health of DeLauter and also Juan Brito, who would provide a better bat than Will Wilson.

As for shortstop, although Brayan Rocchio has hit better since his recall (.257 batting average with a 783 OPS), we would bet when Gabriel Arias is ready, he will take over at that spot.

Of course, they could also move a bullpen arm for some immediate offensive help. In the regular season, you have to score runs to make the playoffs. Improving on the third worst offense in the AL is a necessity if the Guardians are going to climb back in the wild card race.

That is if the front office is interested in doing that.

Buyers Or Sellers? That’s the Guardians’ Big Quandry

The All-Star break arrives for the Cleveland Guardians and all other major league teams following today’s game. And with the trading deadline on the horizon at the end of this month, teams have to decide if they are buyers or sellers.

Of course, the Guardians’ front office, like most organizations won’t admit to being one or the other, they will reason they are trying to improve their teams for this year and the next few seasons.

Because of the wild cards in both leagues, the Guardians are still in the race for a playoff spot, sitting just 4.5 games out of the last playoff position. On the other hand, since June 1st, Cleveland is just 14-23.

The schedule seems to be favorable for a while. As it currently stands, the Guardians don’t play a team over the .500 mark until they travel to New York to play the Mets. Until then, resume the schedule with the Athletics, Orioles, Royals, Rockies, and Twins.

They will also enter the break having played 52 games on the road, compared to just 43 at Progressive Field. That of course means, they will play 38 of the final 67 contests at home. The bad news there is right now, the Guards are under .500 on the shores of Lake Erie.

We have reviewed in the past how the Cleveland front office kind of only adds to the roster when they are ahead in the standings. They generally don’t try to get better when they are trailing in the standings.

So, it would seem the first 10 games out of the break will be key for Steven Vogt’s crew. Winning seven or eight of these games would probably narrow the gap between Cleveland and the current team with the sixth seed, the Tampa Bay Rays.

If they do fall out of contention, the Guardians need to make deals for major league ready prospects, getting players who are 2-3 years away should not be an option.

Why?

First, they have to maximize Jose Ramirez who is 32 years old. The front office should be thinking about how long Ramirez will remain one of the games’ top players. Second, the biggest issue with the current roster is the hitting.

We would all like to see Chase DeLauter with the big club, and C. J. Kayfus deserves a promotion as well. But the system isn’t loaded with hitters, particularly from the right side. And if the team wants to be a contender again in 2026, they need to add some offense.

And while the Guards still are the youngest pitching staff in the AL, they are only the 7th youngest team among the hitters, although that ranking is due in part to Ramirez and 39-year-old Carlos Santana.

Antonetti and Chernoff are in a tough place. No matter what they decide, buying or selling, they are going to irritate fans and possibly players.

So maybe the best course of action is to maybe move a couple of veterans to make room for some youngsters and also deal from a strength (bullpen?) to get some young bats that can help right now.

That’s why that duo gets the big cash, to make decisions like the one coming up.

And Now, The Guards’ Bullpen Is Leaking Oil

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. That’s the story of the Cleveland Guardians this season.

The offensive troubles are well documented. The Guards have fallen to 13th in the American League in runs scored. They don’t get on base, now 13th in the league in on base percentage, and they have no pop, ranking 14th in slugging percentage.

They are particularly awful against left-handed pitchers, and there isn’t any help on the horizon from the minor leagues perhaps the best hitters in Columbus, Chase DeLauter and C.J. Kayfus, both swing from the left side of the plate.

Again, by now every fan of the team is aware of that.

However, over the past few weeks the mainstay of last year’s squad, the relief pitching has started to spring a leak. It’s not surprising because of the workload put on the bullpen a year ago, but it seems to have happened.

We know Emmanuel Clase struggled early in the year, but since Steven Vogt gave him a little break and used Cade Smith to close at the end of April, he’s been pretty much back to being that guy.

Since May 1st, Clase has pitched 22.1 innings and has put up a 1.21 ERA. He has allowed 18 hits, a little high for him in that span, but has fanned 24 and one of Clase’s biggest strengths, hasn’t allowed a home run.

Smith has been solid as well, appearing in 36 games with 53 Ks in 34.1 innings and a 2.36 ERA. But he’s been down over the last few days with a back injury.

The rest of the relievers seem to be sucking wind at this point. Hunter Gaddis was so good last season, but over his last three appearances has allowed eight runs in 2.2 innings. And even before that, he allowed 10 of his 17 inherited runners to cross the plate.

Last season, Tim Herrin allowed just 39 hits and 25 walks in 65.2 innings. To date this season, he’s walked 17 and allowed 22 hits in 27.2 frames.

Because of these struggles, and an injury to free agent signee Paul Sewald, Vogt has been using journeyman Matt Festa in higher leverage situations. He has a 5.48 ERA in his 25 appearances.

Jakob Junis is another free agent signed this winter, and although his numbers are decent (3.96 ERA in 33 games), he’s allowed 42 hits and 12 walks in 36.1 innings. It seems like every time he comes in, he allows a hit or two and/or a walk, and is immediately in trouble.

Erik Sabrowski has been activated from the injured list and should be able to help Herrin against left-handed hitters. Koby Allard is another lefty, but he seems best suited to giving the Guardians some length if the starter gets knocked out early.

The point is this team doesn’t get leads often because of the hitting, but unlike last year, when Vogt goes to the bullpen, it’s no longer automatic.

The front office tried to get some help for the bullpen in Sewald and Junis, with the former having closer experience. He should be back soon and hopefully can take some of the responsibility from Gaddis until he gets back to form.

If it’s not one thing, it’s something else for the 2025 Guardians.

This Trip Means A Lot For The Guardians At The Deadline

This shapes up as a big trip for the Cleveland Guardians. They’ve already started by losing the first two games of a nine-game sojourn to the west coast where they will play San Francisco and the Athletics, as they like to be called, following the set in Seattle.

Steven Vogt’s squad has lost seven of nine and 12 of their last 18 contests and the offense continues to struggle. In those 18 games, the Guards have scored three or less runs in more than half of them (10!) and outside of Wednesday’s 11-run explosion against the Reds, haven’t scored five runs since the calendar switched to June.

Why is it a big trip? Because the trade deadline is coming up at the end of July and the Guardians are 9.5 back in the AL Central Division and currently would not make the playoffs if the season ended today.

Many people have speculated about the team making a move to improve the roster at the end of July, but history tells us the organization only adds when they are ahead, in recent years they haven’t made a move to try to get a wild card spot.

Think about 2023. Cleveland was two games behind Minnesota on July 26th and in the next few days moved Amed Rosario, Aaron Civale, and Josh Bell, and the only big leaguer received in return was Noah Syndergaard.

In the pandemic season of 2020, the Indians were a game behind the White Sox in the division and traded off a starting pitcher, Mike Clevinger, who had a 3.18 ERA to the Padres in the megadeal that netted Cleveland six players, but at the time only Josh Naylor was a regular when he arrived.

And the year prior, when the Tribe was just three games out of the division lead on July 31st, the front office moved another piece of the rotation, Trevor Bauer, for some offensive help in Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig, but at the time, we felt that was a deal made more with the following season in mind, rather than trying to win the division.

Both those moves in 2019 and 2020 were made more with the future in mind.

From now until the deadline, the Guardians play more teams in contention than out of it. They really don’t have an also ran on the schedule until they go to Chicago to take on the White Sox on July 11th, followed by home games against the A’s and Orioles.

Where will this team be in the standings by then?

They continue to rank at the bottom (SS and CF) on second to last (RF) at three positions around the diamond, and the pitching, lately the hallmark of the franchise ranks 11th (by WAR).

As most people thought, the bullpen has suffered a regression. Hunter Gaddis has allowed 63% of inherited runners (10 out of 16) to score, and Tim Herrin, who last year had a 1.92 ERA and allowed just 39 hits and 25 walks (0.975 WHIP) in 65.2 innings, has allowed 20 hits and 16 walks (1.521 WHIP) in 23.2 frames in 2025.

There seems to be more holes right now on this roster than a single trade would be able to fix, and we don’t see the front office (ownership, that is) opening its wallet to make several moves.

Juan Brito is starting to play in Arizona rehabbing, so maybe he can be here in a few weeks. At what point, do C. J. Kayfus and Chase DeLauter make appearances in Cleveland?

Lane Thomas is back again, and he will help, particularly vs. lefties, which the Guards have had real problems with, but his history shows he doesn’t hit righties very well.

Unless some of the hitters get hot, we would guess the Guardians will be sellers in a month and a half.

What’s weird is we remember playing in the ALCS just last season.