Successful? Yes, But Still A Disappointment For The Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians’ season came to an end Monday night in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays. Two things were the primary causes of their demise, one was predictable (the offense) and the other wasn’t (the lack of starting pitching).

We have heard from many over the last month how the offense turned the corner after the deals at the deadline. We heard how they were fifth in the big leagues in that span in scoring runs. That’s one of the lies of dealing with statistics.

Using average runs per game is a solid metric, but in the Guardians’ case it doesn’t show how inconsistent the offense was. For example, in the playoffs, Cleveland had games where they scored nine runs twice and seven runs once in the 11 post-season games. On the other hand, they were shutout once, scored a single tally twice, and put up three runs three times. And remember, they won the deciding fifth game of the Division Series, 2-0.

After obtaining Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe on August 3rd, the Guardians were shutout seven times and scored one run twice in the last 49 games after the trades.

They scored seven times in winning the first game of the ALCS, then scored 11 runs in the last five. That simply isn’t going to get it done.

As for the starting pitching, Steven Vogt and Carl Willis used primarily seven starters for the entire regular season, perhaps the most stable rotation in the game. Until a late July game due to a rainout, they used only five starters when Logan Allen took the mound in a day/night doubleheader.

They traded for Foster Griffin and moved Slade Cecconi to the bullpen. Those were the seven until they started experimenting with using Daniel Espino as an opener for Joey Cantillo in September.

Then in their 11 playoff games, they used Parker Messick, who seemed gassed, for four starts, and Gavin Williams, magnificent in the deciding Game 5 vs. the White Sox, three times. The only other regular rotation piece used in a starting role was Griffin, who pitched in the opener of the ALCS.

Very, very curious.

Cantillo pitched just five innings in the post-season, less than reliever Shawn Armstrong, who by the way acquitted himself very well in the post-season. And by now, everyone is aware that Tanner Bibee, who lead the Guardians in starts during the regular season, faced three batters in the post-season.

This lack of usage took a major toll on the bullpen, with Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith getting just two games off in just two of the 11 contests. The wear and tear showed up for each as they gave up two-run homers in Game 6.

We understand Joe Torre and Terry Francona changed the game in terms of how relievers were used in October, but to ignore the starters wasn’t a good formula.

As a fan, this season ended the way every season since we’ve been following this team since 1965 has, without a World Series team. Hopefully, the franchise understands the goal shouldn’t just be winning the Central, it’s getting rid of the “not since 1948” stigma.

And hopefully, we will have a somewhat normal off-season, and the front office can look to improve the Guardians, but that is probably not in the cards with the owners and players not realizing what the real issue is (it should be about revenue equality).

There is good, young talent here (Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana), a resident superstar in Jose Ramirez, a pro’s pro in Steven Kwan, and a budding ace in Williams. Plenty to be optimistic about, but will the front office be allowed to spend and add to the core?

That’s always the question with the Dolan ownership.

It’s Down To A Three Game Series, But What Was The Bullpen Plan Yesterday?

We will go back to what we said after Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, It was never going to be easy.

Tampa Bay was the best team in the AL during the regular season. They are a good team, a very good team. Now it’s a best of three series with the Rays having the last two games in Florida.

After holding Tampa’s bats at bay in the first three games, they scored just 8 runs in that trio, Kevin Cash’s crew got their big boys going. Yandy Diaz started a rally in the third, scored their first run, and then capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the 9th.

Jonathan Aranda got the hit to deliver Diaz, and delivered another big hit, with the aid of Chase DeLauter’s error to score two more runs, part of a three-hit night for him.

And Junior Caminero broke a 1-1 tie in the 6th with a ringing double. The trio delivered six hits, Tampa had 11 and knocked in five of the seven tallies.

Steven Vogt left himself open to a lot of second guessing (not here, we thought it at the time) the way he used his pitchers after Shawn Armstrong opened the game putting up a scoreless first.

Foster Griffin pitched 3.2 innings and allowed one run but was removed with two outs and no one on in the fifth because he wanted Daniel Espino to face Yandy Diaz. Diaz fanned, but Vogt left Espino on to start the 6th with a pair of left-handed hitters due in Aranda and Chandler Simpson.

Espino walked both of them and then gave up the double to Caminero to give the visitors the lead.

Why not just leave Griffin in? He was pitching well, and if you wanted Espino for Diaz, why not bring in Tim Herrin to start the sixth?

Later, we saw Matt Festa’s playoff debut, and he got three outs, but with the score being 5-3 heading into the top of the ninth, we weren’t confident with him getting three more. He didn’t, allowing the homer to Diaz that salted the game away.

While the Rays got their big bats going, the top five hitters for Cleveland went 3 for 19 and after hits by Kwan and DeLauter in the first, the Guardians didn’t get another hit until Travis Bazzana went yard in the 7th.

Nick Martinez pitched 13 scoreless innings against the Guardians in the regular season, and he baffled them again, allowing just the one run in 5.1 frames.

So, we would guess the Rays will use game one starter Drew Rasmussen tonight and he was very good in both the regular season and his two playoff starts. Again, it won’t be an easy task.

Remember, after the 7 runs scored in the first game, the Guardians have managed just 7 runs themselves in the last three contests. They will need to figure out a way to put some offense together along with the pitching doing better.

We will guess Vogt will go with Parker Messick tonight and some good news for the relief corps is with the rainout on Friday, Cade Smith, Erik Sabrowski, and Hunter Gaddis all have had two straight days off. That would seem to shorten the game considerably.

But we will also point out we are still worried about Messick, who hasn’t been as sharp in his last few starts, probably due to fatigue.

Have to lost confidence? No, but again, Cash has good pitchers at his disposal too. And the Guardians don’t want to have to win two more elimination games on the road again.

Sit Back And Enjoy The ALCS. It’s Supposed To Be Highly Competitive

It’s funny when you try to apply football thinking to baseball. After the 7-3 Game 1 win in the American League Championship Series by the Cleveland Guardians over the Tampa Bay Rays, people were starting to make plans for the beginning of the World Series.

The Guardians may get there, but it’s not going to be easy. The Rays were the best team in the AL over the 162 game regular season and swept the Yankees in the Division Series. They are a very good baseball team. That doesn’t mean Steven Vogt’s squad cannot beat them, it simply means it will not be that easy.

What we are trying to say here is coming home with a split of the two games in St. Petersburg is a good thing, and we will go a step further by saying it is unlikely the Guardians will sweep the three games at Progressive Field.

Because the Rays are a good team.

Kevin Cash’s crew ranked 4th in the AL in runs scored at 4.54 per game, compared to the Guardians 4.19. Neither team hits a lot of home runs. The Rays ranked 11th despite having Junior Caminero, who was second in the league with 42 bombs.

Cleveland was 13th with no Guardian hitting more than Angel Martinez’ 18 dingers.

The difference was batting average (we know, it doesn’t mean anything). The Rays led the league in this category at .258, 19 points higher than the Cleveland. Of the nine players with over 300 plate appearances for Tampa Bay, only three (Cedric Mullins, Taylor Walls, and Richie Palacios) hit under .250.

Cleveland had eight players with over 300 times at the plate, and only four (Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter, Brayan Rocchio, and Angel Martinez) hit OVER .250.

However, the Guardians were 4th in the AL in walks, while Tampa was 11th.

As we wrote the other day, the Guardians scored just eight runs in the six regular season games vs. Tampa, a total they have matched in the first two games in the ALCS. We also note all six of those games were played before the trade deadline and Cleveland lengthened their lineup a bit.

It usually comes down to the offense for Vogt’s guys, and this series is no different. Can the Guardians scrape up enough runs to win? Jose Ramirez seems more like his usual self, so the top of the Cleveland batting order is kind of formidable, with DeLauter and Kwan doing their usual thing. With the top of the order getting on, it puts pressure on Jo Adell, who is 6 for 28 in the post-season, but without a homer and with 11 strikeouts.

Let’s face it, his at bat in the 7th in Game 2 with runners on 2nd and 3rd and two out was abysmal.

On the other hand, Patrick Bailey has been amazing thus far swinging the bat in the playoffs. His homer in Game three of the White Sox series jumpstarted the offense, and he tied Game 1 with a titanic blast. Overall, he’s 7 for 20 in the post-season, which no one could have seen coming.

The truth is these are two similar and pretty evenly matched teams, especially since the additions of Nathaniel Lowe and Adell, and the emergence of DeLauter.

The next three nights at Progressive Field should be electric. It’s October baseball after all.

Williams And Ramirez Propel The Guardians To The ALCS

We knew it was going to be tough, especially with Chicago going with Sean Burke, who has been very tough in his career against the Cleveland Guardians.

They needed a great pitching performance, and they got one from Gavin Williams, who pitched 5.2 one hit innings, striking out 12 White Sox hitters. It was utter dominance and filth from the American League leader in strikeouts.

We have believed all year that even though Parker Messick had a tremendous season, Williams is the Guardians’ ace and he showed it last night.

It was a disappointing regular season for the player who is perpetually in the mix for league MVP, Jose Ramirez, who broke his hamate box in June, and played in pain after he got back in the lineup.

But in games three and four, Ramirez started hitting. He put Cleveland on top in the penultimate game with a home run, and in the deciding game, he hit a two-run dinger in the fourth, off a pitch which was almost in the dirt and pulled it into the seats for the only runs Steven Vogt’s squad needed.

After Williams ran out of gas, the bullpen was excellent. Erik Sabrowski struck out Munetaka Murakami with the bases loaded and two out in the sixth.

We were a bit surprised the Vogt didn’t stay with Sabrowski to start the 7th, but we guess he wanted to avoid right-handed bats Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham, so he went with Hunter Gaddis, who struggled late in the year and earlier in the series.

Gaddis got four outs, all via the strikeout and got an extra out so Cade Smith didn’t have to go two full innings.

Then Cade Smith came on and got a huge out with two outs in the 8th, getting Miguel Vargas, the White Sox’ best hitter on a foul pop. Then he whiffed the side in the ninth to send the Guardians on to Tampa to take on the Rays in the League Championship Series for the second time in three seasons, and the 7th time in club history.

In total, Guardians’ pitchers struck out 21 Chicago hitters. You know there are only 27 outs in a game.

So, Cleveland is now four outs away from the World Series. They lost 5 of 6 against Tampa Bay in the regular season, scoring a grand total of 8 runs. The Rays only scored 20.

The Rays put the ball in play (unlike Chicago), they run, leading the league in stolen bases. The scores of the games during the regular season? 3-2, 1-0, 3-0, 1-0, with the outlier being an 11-3 Rays triumph. All of those game occurred before the trade deadline.

The Guardians will need to execute on offense, move runners, and maybe utilize the running game a bit more. And they will need Foster Griffin and Tanner Bibee, although the former did a great job in Game 3. It would not be a shock to see that pair start the first two games of the series.

The season continues for the Guardians. Baseball in mid-October. The only thing better is playing in late October.

How Can A 9-5 Game Be A Nail Biter? It’s Guards’ Ball!

After the Beatles broke up in 1970, one of the first singles produced by drummer Ringo Starr was a song called “It Don’t Come Easy” (written by George Harrison, by the way). That song perfectly describes Game 4 of the AL Division Series in Chicago last night.

The Guardians staved off elimination again with a seesaw 9-5 verdict to force a fifth and deciding game in Cleveland on Saturday night.

When pitchers show fatigue, it usually affects command and perhaps that’s why starter Parker Messick walked four hitters in his 2.1 innings, and that he couldn’t get through four or five innings set in motion in essence a bullpen game, and some questionable decisions by Steven Vogt.

Trailing 2-0, the Guardians bounced back on homers by Patrick Bailey and Jose Ramirez to take a 3-2 lead. So, Vogt brought in Tanner Bibee for the first relief appearance of his career. We understand the why, the skipper wanted length, but Bibee hasn’t had a good year, and didn’t pitch well in September.

He walked two of the three hitters he faced, including the leadoff man, and Vogt had to go to Tim Herrin, who gave up a hit to load the bases, and then hit a batter and gave up a sacrifice fly, and poof, the lead had disappeared and Cleveland trailed 4-3.

Eventually, Erik Sabrowski was summoned after another base on balls and got the third out.

Then, the Cleveland bats went to work. It started with Angel Martinez, who is 0 for 15 in the series getting hit by a pitch and then stealing second. Five hits and two walks later, the Guardians put six runs on the board to take a 9-4 lead. The big blows were the game tying double by Travis Bazzana, a single by Bailey to put them ahead, and a two run single by Jo Adell.

Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis, who has been shaky as of late, actually restored order.

We also didn’t like trying to use Cade Smith for two innings. These guys aren’t Strat-O-Matic cards, fatigue is a factor. At the time, we would have left Gaddis in to get one or two more outs. Which brings up another question.

If you don’t think Matt Festa can get three outs without giving up four runs, then why is he on the post-season roster?

The point is we would have limited Smith to one inning. And Vogt had to use Gavin Williams to close it out.

So, now it’s a winner take all game Saturday night. No doubt the Guardians will see Sean Burke, who pitched 5.1 innings of one hit ball in Game 2 and has a 2.56 ERA in his career against Cleveland with 46 Ks in 36.2 innings.

That’s a tough task.

Gavin Williams will start for the Guardians, but likely with a shorter rope since he pitched yesterday. But it would not be a surprise if everyone pitches, but that’s a deciding game for you.

After losing the first two at home, the Guardians fought back, and need to get that first win in front of the home folks.

Guardians Stay Alive. Can They Do It Again Today?

The Cleveland Guardians live to play another day. They staved off elimination in the AL Division Series with a 9-3 verdict over the White Sox and earn another chance to avoid being sent home, trailing the series two games to one.

Steven Vogt’s plan to use the opener/bulk combination of Daniel Espino and Joey Cantillo, which worked so well (at least for Cantillo) in September backfired as Espino walked the leadoff hitter and then gave up a hit, and with one out, a Kyle Teel double to put the Pale Hose on top 1-0.

Kudos to Foster Griffin coming in and restoring order, striking out Tristan Peters with men on 2nd and 3rd, and then he got eight out, seven of them via the strikeout and allowing just one run, giving the offense the chance to produce.

We said before the series because of all of the left-handers Chicago was going to use, Jo Adell needed to be a factor. Well, his bases loaded triple with the game tied at 1, gave the Guardians’ life and a three-run lead.

And after the Sox closed the lead to 4-2, Jose Ramirez manufactured a run, doubling, stealing third, and scoring on a ground ball by Chase DeLauter. That is vintage Ramirez.

The bullpen after Griffin did cause some anxious moments. When Cantillo did come into the game in the fifth (props to Shawn Armstrong getting two outs in the 4th), he immediately gave up a leadoff hit and a walk. He got Munetaka Murakami to ground out, before Teel hit a bullet to Travis Bazzana, who doubled off the runner on second.

After Cantillo retired the last two hitters in the sixth, he walked Braden Montgomery, and Vogt brought in Hunter Gaddis to face lefty killer Randal Grichuk. But Grichuk singled, and then Gaddis hit the next two batters to make it 5-3.

Miguel Vargas hit a rope to Ramirez, who threw him out at first.

We wonder how long the skipper keeps going to Gaddis, who hasn’t pitched well over the last few weeks. Perhaps Armstrong or maybe even Espino takes the late inning right-hander role for a bit.

Also wondering if the Guardians stay with Angel Martinez, who is coming out of the dugout swinging, and is now 0 for 12 with seven strikeouts. Martinez is streaky, so maybe today is the today he snaps out of it and gets a big hit, but the temptation has to be there to go with someone else, perhaps Petey Halpin or David Fry.

Cleveland now gets to start Parker Messick and Gavin Williams on their regular rest in the last two games, but that guarantees nothing. They have to put runs on the board and both pitchers need to be sharp.

Cade Smith pitched two innings, but only 20 pitches, so he will be good for Game 4.

We know this has been the mantra for the Guardians over the past few weeks, and it’s simple. Win today and bring the series back to Progressive Field.

Yesterday, it was Adell, Ramirez, and Griffin. Who will be the hero today?

Thoughts On Game 2, Backs Against The Wall For The Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians haven’t done much easy all season long, so why should the playoffs be any different. Steven Vogt’s team has there back firmly against the wall after dropping Game 2 of the Division Series at Progressive Field by a score of 4-3.

They now have to win the rest of the games of the series, or they will watch the upstart White Sox celebrate in front of them, and then cleaning out their lockers.

The Guardians got off to a quick start with a hit by Steven Kwan, a walk to Jose Ramirez, and Chase DeLauter moved them over on a groundball. After they scored two runs on an error, they have runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. A chance to add on without getting a hit.

Instead, Angel Martinez and Travis Bazzana whiffed. Martinez HAS to put the ball in play there. If you aren’t going to hit the long ball, you have to take advantage and execute when opportunities are available. Time and time again this season, the Guardians have failed to move runners with outs.

In the last week of the season, Nathaniel Lowe had three sacrifice flies and was heralded for having a professional at bat. It’s called a “sacrifice” fly for a reason. The hitter is deliberately giving himself up to get the run home.

Another big play was Erik Sabrowski’s wild pitch in the sixth which moved two Chicago runners into scoring position, and they scored on Braden Montgomery’s double to right. Sabrowski threw a bad pitch, but it was a fastball, and Patrick Bailey didn’t/couldn’t block it.

We know Bailey has won multiple Gold Gloves, but frankly, we don’t see why? Is it because of his pitch framing? We see a lot of balls get past him. Perhaps we are spoiled by catchers like Sandy Alomar Jr., Yan Gomes, and Roberto Perez, but we don’t see that kind of defensive prowess.

Lastly, only three runs scored in the two games for Cleveland. The Guardians had the worst offense of any team qualifying for the post-season, and the second worst, Boston, was eliminated in the wild card round. Conversely, four of the top five teams in scoring runs made the playoffs, and although the Cubs (1st) were knocked out, the Brewers, White Sox, and Dodgers are still alive.

It is difficult to go far without being able to produce runs no matter how good your pitching and defense is.

As for the Guardians, it’s not impossible to win three straight in the Division Series after losing the first two, but to go on the road makes it more difficult. Cleveland did have a better record on the road (44-37) than they did at Progressive Field (41-40) this season.

Perhaps there is an omen there.

Bullpens Are Key In The Playoffs. Guardians Are No Exception.

It used to be that starting pitching dominated in the post-season. We think about Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Mickey Lolich in the 60’s, Catfish Hunter in the 70’s, and even as late as 1988, Orel Hershiser was dominating in the playoffs and pitched the Dodgers to a World Championship.

In the 90’s, starting pitching was still very important, but Joe Torre kind of revolutionized the use of the bullpen when he basically asked his relievers to get one more out than normal. For example, he wanted Mariano Rivera to get four outs instead of three, and asked the same of his set up guys, trying to make it a six-inning game.

And Cleveland fans certainly remember Terry Francona’s masterful usage of the bullpen during the 2016 post-season, using Andrew Miller in a variety of roles, and he was so effective he was the MVP of the League Championship Series.

We bring this up because it will be interesting to see how Steven Vogt will use the bullpen in these playoffs. Of course, the anchor for the Guardians will be Cade Smith, who tied for the league lead in saves, and in several occurrences, was counted on to get four outs.

That will probably be the case in the upcoming Division Series as well.

But who else does Vogt count on heavily?

Hunter Gaddis has carried a big load for this team over the past three seasons, but he’s been in a bit of a slump over the last couple of weeks, allowing 12 hits and two home runs over his last 7.1 innings. Perhaps the rest before Saturday’s Game 1 rejuvenates him. On the other hand, maybe the 230 appearances (including the playoffs) over the past three years have taken its toll.

Right now, the reliever that gives us the most confidence behind Smith is left-hander Erik Sabrowski, who has allowed just 26 hits in 48.1 innings this season with 76 strikeouts. During the last two months of the regular season, the southpaw has given up just 5 hits in 17.1 innings and just one run with 24 Ks.

However, the one concern is his control. He walked 26 hitters this year and nine of them over the last two months. And he had one appearance where he came in and walked four hitters in a row. He pitched decently in the ’24 playoffs and last year had a poor outing in his one appearance against the Tigers.

We assume we will see a lot of Tim Herrin, and we admit that makes us nervous because of his proclivity to walk hitters. Over the past two seasons, he’s issued 58 free passes in 99.1 innings. We will repeat our mantra: Relief pitchers cannot walk people and cannot give up home runs.

We wonder if the wild card might just be Daniel Espino. Espino was used as an opener in September and for the year fanned 25 hitters (with 7 walks) in 15.1 innings. Vogt may use him in combination with Joey Cantillo again, or in the 6th or 7th innings.

Shawn Armstrong might get some opportunities as well. Armstrong had two different stints on the injured list during the season but returned to make three scoreless outings in the season’s last week.

Even though the relief corps is key, getting innings from the starters is still important. In Vogt’s first year, we thought he took starters out perhaps too early even if they were pitching well. We understand the concept of replacing a starter too early rather than too late, but eating innings is important too.

Guardians Winning Shouldn’t Be Taken For Granted

We are critical at times of the Cleveland Guardians’ organization, mostly due to the lack of funds given to the front office by ownership. At some point, not winning a World Series in 78 years should be something the entire organization wants to rectify.

On the other hand, you have to tip your caps to the run this franchise has been on since 1995. the Indians/Guardians have played in the post-season 16 times. They’ve made the playoffs nine times since 2013.

We understand the post-season has expanded since the move to three divisions in 1994, but not many franchises have played in October more often than Cleveland.

The consistency of putting out competitive teams year in and year out should not be minimized. Since ’13, the fewest wins for this franchise in a full season is 80, two games below the .500 mark. There has been no tanking, no sacrificing a season for the greater good.

Cleveland has been host to 14 consecutive years of average baseball at the very least, and a team good enough to be in the World Series at the very best.

We have mentioned many times our first memories of Major League Baseball was in 1965, and the Indians finished fifth in the American League with a respectable 87-75 mark. They would not win that many games in a season again until ’95, when the AL Champions raised the fourth pennant in history with a 100-44 mark.

They finished at .500 in ’66 despite winning their first 11 games of the season, and finished third in ’68 with a, 86-75 record. The next time they won more than 81 contests was 1986. Eighteen years later.

And that season was sandwiched by two 100 loss years.

So, while we won’t be satisfied until the Commissioner’s Trophy is being raised in the middle of the diamond by the Guardians’ owners, we also aren’t going to be angry because they won the AL Central or qualified as a wild card.

Do you know what the chances of winning it all are if you don’t make the playoffs? That would be 0.

We have seen the 1986 Minnesota Twins, who finished at 85-77 and were outscored by their opponents by 20 runs during the season, win the Fall Classic.

The next season, the Dodgers who won 94 games in the regular season but with a lineup decimated by injuries, defeat the powerful Oakland A’s in a five game World Series.

In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals won a paltry 83 games but beat the Tigers in five games to be World Champs and in 1973, the New York Mets went 82-79 in the regular season, beat the mighty Cincinnati Reds in the League Championship Series and took the A’s to a seventh game before falling.

Sometimes we don’t know how the Guardians’ do it, because trying to make the playoffs with one of baseball’s worst offenses usually doesn’t work out, but here they are again, in the tournament to determine baseball’s champions.

The consistency of putting together teams that can compete well enough to advance past the regular season should not be pooh-poohed. As someone who watched also-rans for 30 years, seeing Cleveland playing in the post-season doesn’t get old.

On this, the organization should take a bow.

Trade Pieces Were Needed, But Guardians’ Biggest Boost Came From Guys Already Here

There is no question the Cleveland Guardians’ front office took a big swing at the August 3rd trade deadline acquiring two bats in Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe and a starting pitcher in Foster Griffin. There is no question the team needed hitting, in fact they are still ranked 12th in the AL in runs scored.

The question is how much the newcomers impacted the success of the team, and the Guards have gone 25-16 since August 4th.

Our favorite deal was the one bringing Griffin to Cleveland and that hasn’t been as impactful as hoped. In his eight starts, he’s pitched to a 5.19 ERA and has allowed 55 hits in 43.1 innings. He’s gone just six innings in two of those starts, not exactly the inning eater we thought he would be, as he went that long in half of his 22 starts with the Nationals.

To be fair, his numbers are skewed a bit by his start on September 9th vs. Baltimore when he gave up a eight runs in 2.1 frames, and it wasn’t as though he was hit hard. Without that start, his ERA would be 3.73.

However, he hasn’t been a guy that Steven Vogt can count on to provide a solid start when he takes the bump. If the Guardians reach the Division Series, can he be trusted to get a start?

Nathaniel Lowe has upgraded the left-handed platoon at first base. Kyle Manzardo had a 684 OPS prior to the trade, and while Lowe has a 654 OPS overall with Cleveland, against right-handers, he has hit .241 and a 704 OPS, driving in 20 runs with five homers. Manzardo had 39 ribbies through the end of July.

The veteran is still just 4 for 42 against southpaws but did deliver a big sacrifice fly vs. a lefty in the series opener against Boston. He’s a solid veteran bat and a good defensive player at first base. He was picked up in the last hour of the deadline and has provided length to the batting order.

We were not thrilled with the deal for Jo Adell, not because of what the Guardians gave up (minor league catcher Jacob Cozart), but because he’s really a platoon player. He struggles vs. RHP and that’s been the case with Cleveland, as he’s hitting just .200 (24 for 120) with 36 strikeouts.

He has been more selective with the Guardians (15 BB in 186 PA vs. 16 BB in 456 PA with the Angels) and he has been a run producer with 31 RBI in 44 games. Ideally, if Steven Vogt wants to play him every day, he probably shouldn’t hit in the middle of the order vs. righties, but it’s not as though the skipper has a lot of options.

Adell and Lowe get a lot of credit for the offense being better since the deadline, and the Guardians have averaged almost a run more per game in August and September. But you can’t forget Steven Kwan hitting .355 with a .440 on base percentage in the second half, and Chase DeLauter batting .310 with a .467 slugging percentage during the same time frame.

And you can’t forget Travis Bazzana’s last month where he has a 964 OPS.

All three of them were here before the trade deadline.

The front office couldn’t stand pat at the deadline and they didn’t. They also brought in players who could help, and they have. But the resurgence of Kwan and the continued development of DeLauter and Bazzana have perhaps made more of an impact.