Guardians’ Offense Needs To Rebound As Calendar Turns

Man, has this year and this baseball season flown by. The season enters it’s final month (yes, I know there are four regular season games in October) on Thursday, and the Cleveland Guardians are still in the thick of a post-season race.

They lead the Central Division by a game and a half, and before people make snarky comments about the relative strength of that division, be advised the Guards are just 2-1/2 games behind Tampa Bay for the third best record in the AL, behind just the beasts of the league, Houston and New York.

Terry Francona’s squad has 36 games remaining, 24 of them being played at Progressive Field, where the Guardians have gone 35-24, despite scoring less runs per game than they do on the road. Cleveland hitters have a 685 OPS at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, while they have a 702 OPS on the road.

Their pitchers are also better at home (3.60 ERA vs. 3.74 on the road).

So the hitting has step it up, particularly this week with two fellow post-season contenders, Baltimore and Seattle come to town.

For the season, Cleveland averages 4.2 runs per game, but over the last 12 games, that figure has dropped to 3.5, and over the last 25 contests, they are scoring just 3.76 per game.

Oddly, the offense for the catchers, which had been abysmal, has come alive in this span. Austin Hedges has hit .214 over the last month (not good unless you consider he’s batting .183 for the year) and Luke Maile has hit .361 with a 994 OPS in that span.

Josh Naylor has been in a slump, batting just .203 in the last 28 days (518 OPS) with just a single home run, and Amed Rosario has cooled off too, with a .257 batting average, although he’s hit four dingers this month.

We really liked Owen Miller’s hitting numbers in the minor leagues, but he appears to have lost his confidence at the plate and it’s tough to justify putting his name in the lineup, particularly when he plays at first, and he makes mistakes due to inexperience at the position.

Gabriel Arias has been getting time at first in Columbus, and although he’s batting just .231 at AAA, he does have 12 homers. The other downside is a 63:15 strikeout to walk ratio. It might be grasping at straws, but swapping them out might just help.

We think Myles Straw is just suffering through a deplorable offensive season, but he is an elite defender in centerfield. And we have no idea why he hasn’t tried bunting with his speed.

Will Benson has struggled since his recall (4 for 30), so it might be time to see Will Brennan, who has had a tremendous minor league season, batting .308 at AAA with a .369 on base percentage and 817 OPS. Between Columbus and Akron, he is hitting .309 with 10 HR and 95 RBI.

His strikeout to walk ratio? 59:47, meaning he fits right in with the contact approach the Guardians have.

Why not give Brennan some time in center, and if you have the lead, bring Straw in for defense?

As we head down the stretch, the Guardians’ offense has to get back on track. They can’t make a trade, so it has to happen from within. Maybe these moves can help. It’s been tougher to score at home this year, and they have a ton of games there the rest of the season.

Guardians Among The Best At Their Positions

We are a big fan of the website, baseball-reference.com, and we look at it at least once a day, qualifying us, we guess, as a baseball nerd.

In their version of WAR (wins above replacement), the Cleveland Guardians rank in the top three in the American League in four positions: Second base, shortstop, leftfield, and third base.

It is probably shocking that the hot corner is the spot they are third, behind Boston (Rafael Devers) and Houston (Alec Bregman), because Cleveland’s best player, Jose Ramirez mans that position.

It would probably also surprise you that the Guardians leader in WAR is not Ramirez, but Andres Gimenez.

Disclaimer alert here: One of our problems with WAR is that it is weighted to middle of the diamond players. Still, it is something to use in comparing players and their importance to a team.

When the Guardians acquired Gimenez in the trade that sent Francisco Lindor to the Mets, we felt he was the key to the deal. He was a top prospect and came to the big leagues at age 21, hitting .263 with a 732 OPS in 49 games of the COVID shortened season.

We did not anticipate this kind of season though. Now 23, he made the All Star in his first full big league season and should get Gold Glove consideration at second base.

All this after he hit .218 (633 OPS) a year ago.

His on base percentage (.375) has been propped up by becoming a magnet for pitched balls (16 HBP), but after having a strikeout to walk ratio of 31:4 in April and May, since then it is 51:19, still not great, but an improvement.

Amed Rosario seemingly doesn’t get on base enough (.320) to hit second, and doesn’t have a lot of pop either (.409 slugging percentage with just 36 extra base hits), but he has been a huge factor in the Guardians’ rise to first place to date in the AL Central.

Last season, he was frankly below average defensively at short, the most important position in the infield, but he has improved to the point he makes the routine plays. With the Guardians’ glut of middle infield prospects, we don’t know how long Rosario will play his current position, or even remain with the Guardians, but he has made a big impact on this team.

We discussed bringing up Steven Kwan at the end of last year (with Oscar Gonzalez), but he was in the lineup on Opening Day, with only Terry Francona seemingly being surprised, and hasn’t let go of the job.

He has done what we thought he could do, that is make contact and get on base. He has a .372 on base percentage and has walked more than he has struck out. And he has a respectable .393 slugging percentage. He’s been a perfect table setter for this lineup.

And of course, you have the remarkable Ramirez, who probably will finish in the top three of the MVP voting for the fourth time in the last six years.

He leads the AL in doubles, is second in RBIs, tied for sixth in triples, and second in extra base hits. And let’s not forget, he is the undisputed leader in the clubhouse. The way he plays the game rubs off on everyone on the roster.

These four players have had tremendous seasons. Looking at them in no way minimizes the contributions of others, but this quartet have been among the best in the AL at their respective positions.

Tough Spot For Guardians’ Newest Rookies

The Cleveland Guardians started the season using Steven Kwan in left field and Andres Gimenez at second base, and by the end of the first weekend were using Owen Miller everyday as well.

That trio is 24, 23, and 25 years old, respectively.

As the season went on, we saw more young players. Oscar Gonzalez (24) and Richie Palacios (25, and since sent back to AAA) both contributed to the team’s success.

Since the beginning of July, the Guards called up Nolan Jones (24), Will Benson (24), and Tyler Freeman (23) to the big-league roster.

The organization wants to look at these players, but one thing complicates this philosophy: The Guardians are a game ahead of the Minnesota Twins and in first place in the AL Central Division.

There are always ups and downs with young players. Kwan, for example, had a poor May, hitting .173, but he made adjustments and has batted over .300 in each month since.

Miller had a torrid first month of the season and had a decent July, but has struggled otherwise and at this point hasn’t figured out what pitchers are doing to him.

So, Terry Francona is charged with the task of getting the three newest Guardians the playing time they need as young players, while continuing to win ballgames. And that’s not easy.

Right now, it’s tough to write Jones’ name in the lineup, but if he’s on the roster, you have to.

The rightfielder started great going 9 for 27 before the all-star break. Since then, in 61 plate appearances, Jones has hit .203 with one homer, and has fanned 22 times against just two walks.

Right now, he might be too selective, taking a number of fastballs in the strike zone for called third strikes.

It really hasn’t been fair for Benson, who since his call up on August 1st, has only played in 12 games, getting more than one at bat in just seven of them. He’s gone just 3 for 25 and has fanned nine times in 28 times at the dish.

That’s why Gonzalez has become pretty much the everyday guy in right, with Benson and Jones filling in when he DHs and with Benson getting some time in centerfield to give Myles Straw a breather.

Freeman gets into the lineup with Jose Ramirez is the DH and has spelled Amed Rosario a couple times as well. He’s been okay, going 5 for 22 with three walks and getting hit by three pitches. He has struck out just once, true to his minor league numbers, but outside of a ringing double to left a few days ago, he hasn’t been driving the ball.

It just shows why teams don’t like to bring up prospects unless they can get regular playing time and it also shows it is easier to rebuild and develop players when the team isn’t having success.

From now until the end of the season, the Guardians have to find playing time for Jones, Benson, and Freeman, and find it in situations where they have a chance to succeed. That’s not easy.

On the other hand, when these guys do get in the lineup, they have a pressure to perform, and that’s good. While they are playing, they are learning how to win.

That’s what team sports is all about.

Let’s Talk Some Baseball And Hoops. Please?

We have said throughout the years we were an anomaly in northeast Ohio. This is football country, but our favorite sports are baseball and basketball.

Make no mistake, we are fans of the Browns and watch each and every game, but our passion rests more with baseball and hoops. We’ve had season tickets to both the Indians and Cavaliers over the years, but never the Browns.

The reason is mostly because we feel football is better watched on television rather than in person, and sitting out on a cold day in November and December has a lot to do with that, we aren’t going to lie.

The reason we bring this up again right now (we’ve done it before) is the play of the Guardians and the amount of discussion in the area about them. They’ve been very surprising to be sure, contending for the division title and post-season berth despite most folks predicting (including us) around a .500 finish for Terry Francona’s squad.

Listening to sports talk radio around town, the Guardians are largely ignored. In fact, everything besides the Browns is largely ignored, something the football team generated when they made both sports talk radio stations the “Home Of The Browns”.

Very smart on their part for sure.

At one time, Cleveland was one of the largest cities in America. Now it’s one of the smaller cities to have three major league sports franchises. This area ranks 34th in terms of metropolitan areas by population.

The areas in the same class (30-40th) that have professional sports are as follows (using the big four sports (baseball, football, basketball, hockey as the model. Sorry, soccer enthusiasts):

30. Cincinnati (Reds, Bengals)
31. Kansas City (Chiefs, Royals)
32. Columbus (Blue Jackets)
33. Indianapolis (Colts, Pacers)
34. Cleveland (Browns, Guardians, Cavaliers)
35. Nashville (Titans, Predators)
36. San Jose (Sharks)
37. Virginia Beach/Norfolk
38. Providence
39. Jacksonville (Jaguars)
40. Milwaukee/Green Bay (Bucks, Brewers, Packers)

We are taking liberties with the last one because Milwaukee and Green Bay are about as far apart as Cleveland and Columbus.

The point is we should be privileged to have three pro sports teams, and all three should be hold interest for sports fans in the area. However, at times we get the feeling Browns’ fans could care less if either the Guards or Cavs or both moved elsewhere.

We understand that some of the issues the baseball team has are self-inflicted. They don’t do a good job of marketing and the game day experience at Progressive Field isn’t high on the fun meter.

And while the whole “Mustard losing in the hot dog race” is meant to be fun, it would be nice if the Guardians’ staff put that much energy in hyping up their first place baseball team.

Back to sports talk radio, they should offer more balance. The Cavs and Guardians aren’t in season much at the same time, but there are things to talk about in the off-season for both, especially right after the season ends.

And it would seem to us, talking some baseball and hoops might just be more entertaining than discussing the punter situation or fourth wide receiver for the Browns.

It’s a three sports town and we should be thankful and appreciative. At times, we treat two of the teams like a necessary evil.

Guardians In The Mix, Not Unusual Really.

Last season, the Cleveland Indians finished under .500 for the first time in manager Terry Francona’s 10 years at the helm. They finished 80-82, the worst mark since the 2015 team went 81-80.

When you think about it, since the team moved out of Municipal Stadium, they have had a very good record for success. The most games the franchise has lost was 97 in Eric Wedge’s last season as manager in 2009.

They’ve lost over 90 games just three times since 1993, and that was done three times in a four-year span: 2009, 2010, and 2012. The last of those seasons led to the firing of Manny Acta and bringing Francona aboard.

Cleveland has had just three men heading up baseball operations in this timespan: John Hart, Mark Shapiro, and Chris Antonetti. And as you can see by the records, they have never had to tank to get back into contention.

They have made 12 post-season appearances, three of them resulting in World Series appearances. We have said many times that in our youth, when publications did the composite World Series records, Cleveland sat at 2-1 since 1954.

They are now 2-4, but the 1990 version of us never thought the 2-1 would change. But this team has been in as many Fall Classics in the last 27 years than they were in the first 54 seasons they played.

Hopefully, there will never be a 41 year drought between American League pennants again.

Because the Cubs and Astros bottomed out and quickly won a World Championship, that became the way for other teams to be competitive again. Really though, how has that worked for other franchises?

The Tigers haven’t made the playoffs since 2014, and have had just one winning season (2016). And it doesn’t appear they are closer to being over .500. Pittsburgh made the post-season in 2015, they’ve been over .500 just once since then.

It’s not limited to just smaller markets either. The Los Angeles Angels have played three post-season games since 2009, and haven’t reached the break even point since 2015, despite having the best player in the game in Mike Trout.

Our point is that it’s real easy to do what the Cleveland baseball organization has done in the Jacobs/Progressive Field era. And they’ve evolved in how they built the team over team.

In the ’90’s, they were a hitting machine with players like Albert Belle, Hall of Famer Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel.

When the Dolan family bought the team, they wanted to build around pitching, and in the Francona era, they’ve done just that. There are been four Cy Young Awards since 2007 for organization, starting with C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee in back-to-back years, and two more in the teens for Corey Kluber.

Offensively, it appears they have shifted to players who make contact and put the ball in play. They have struck out the least amount of times in the American League. And at least this season, it has worked because the Guardians are leading the division, something no one predicted at the beginning of the year.

Can they win the Central? They have a chance, and that’s something fans could have said pretty much every season since the new park opened on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

A lot of other fans bases would love to have that consistency.

Analyzing The Guardians’ Recent Moves

While the Cleveland Guardians did not make any trades at the August 2nd deadline, they certainly made a number of roster moves.

Will Benson, the team’s first round pick in 2016 was elevated to the big leagues on August 1st, replacing Alex Call. Call has been subsequently DFA’d and was picked up by the Washington Nationals.

The club then called up infielder Tyler Freeman to take Ernie Clement’s roster spot, and then in a shocking move, they cut ties with slugger Franmil Reyes last Saturday. Reyes was picked up by the Cubs a couple of days ago.

And we can’t forget Hunter Gaddis getting the call up to face Houston last Friday night. Although it didn’t work out in that game, we are sure we will see Gaddis again soon.

The Guardians continue to get younger and also keep playing good baseball, moving into a tie for first place in the AL Central with Minnesota on Tuesday.

Bringing up top prospects is a double edged sword because while it’s great to have them on a roster, it does not do them much good if there is no playing time. If you got better by watching, then we’d have a bust in Cooperstown right now.

So Terry Francona has to balance getting these recent additions some at bats and at the same time, continuing to win. At least that’s what we fans hope. The front office may care more about player development than making the post-season.

Freeman seems the easiest fit. Clement wasn’t contributing much at the plate (491 OPS) and the skipper seemed intent playing him vs. left-handed pitching even though he hasn’t had any discernable success against them.

Freeman can take those at bats, and if he can be in the lineup three or four times a week, he should be fine. He’s played in three games to date, going 2 for 8 with two walks.

Benson’s promotion was a little more curious. At the time, it was thought he was going to get some time at first base, and that might still be the plan, but he hasn’t played there yet. And as an outfielder, if he plays, he would seem to take away playing time from Nolan Jones.

Maybe he plays some in center, giving Myles Straw some time off, but the organization loves Straw’s defense, so that’s difficult to see.

And Jones fits in the same category. He needs to be in the lineup at least three or four days per week. Right now, Benson looks a little overmatched, striking out in half of his 12 plate appearances.

The roster might be better served with say, a third catcher, right now.

The Reyes release was a stunner. He had a poor season to date and with the Guards in the race, it was tough to put him in a lineup. He was supposed to bring some pop, but he was slugging just .350, less than Owen Miller.

With Josh Naylor’s leg injury, he needs to get at bats at the DH spot, and using Jose Ramirez at that spot also helps him get a partial day off too.

We agreed with sending Reyes to AAA because his power potential is something the Guardians need. They are 14th in the AL in home runs. The theory would be get him fixed in the minors and have him ready for 2023.

Obviously, there were other things involved that led to Cleveland just cutting ties with the big man right away.

There is a reason teams don’t just bring up every prospect as soon as they have success at AAA. There has to be a fit on big league roster because for most young players, to doesn’t do their career any good to come up and sit on the bench.

Let’s see if Terry Francona can find the delicate balance for Freeman, Jones, and Benson.

For Guardians’ Success? It’s Up To The Starters

The baseball season is now into August. The trading deadline has passed, so you can only improve your team though what you have in your farm system or by getting improvement from players currently on your roster.

It’s now August 9th and the Cleveland Guardians are still just one game out of first place in the AL Central Division and just two games behind in the race for the third wild card spot in the playoffs.

The Guardians’ front office didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline, so they will have to improve from within, and surprisingly, the biggest area for improvement needs to come from what everyone thought was a strength coming into the 2022 season: The starting rotation.

And unlike last season, the biggest factor hasn’t been injuries. Outside of Aaron Civale, who will come off the injured list tomorrow, the other members of the rotation have all made their scheduled starts.

In terms of WAR, the only team getting less out of their starters is Detroit. By comparison, last year, despite Shane Bieber, Civale, and Zach Plesac all missing considerable amounts of time, the rotation ranked 9th in the AL.

And in 2020, the shortened season which also saw Bieber winning the Cy Young Award, the Cleveland starters were the best in the American League.

That season, we felt the team had a chance to win in every single game because of the starting rotation, which was comprised of Bieber, Civale, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, and Plesac, with Triston McKenzie joining after Clevinger was dealt.

This season, we only have that feeling when Bieber, McKenzie, and Quantrill take the hill, and the latter has had a penchant for giving up leads when the offense gives him run support.

For all of the discussion of Bieber’s drop in velocity, he’s given the Guardians a chance to win in 18 of his 20 starts to date. He’s still allowing less than a hit per inning and striking out the same, with 126 K’s in 124-2/3 frames this season.

When McKenzie stays away from the three run home run, he has shown “ace” stuff. He’s allowed just 90 hits and 33 walks in 128 innings, to go with 121 punch outs. He has done his best work against the best teams in the league, New York and Houston, going 22 innings allowing just one run in three games against them.

Quantrill, who pitched so well in the second half last year as a starter, has made 21 starts and has been spotty. We don’t like the quality start stat (6 IP, 3 runs or less) because that’s not that good, but in only six outings this season has Quantrill pitched at least six frames and allowed two runs or less.

He’s given the Guardians innings, and generally keeps the team in the game.

Plesac actually has more of those games than Quantrill (he has eight), but lately, he’s been a mess. In his last five starts, which have only covered 23 innings, he’s allowed 18 runs (7.04 ERA). He’s suffered a lack of run support all year, and right now he seems to be trying to throw the perfect pitch every time.

He walked five in his last start vs. the Astros.

Civale got off to a slow start (9.85 ERA in his first six starts) and got hurt pitching his best game of the year to that point (6-1/3 IP, 0 ER on May 20th vs. DET). He missed a month, and looked much better, allowing 10 runs in 22 innings in four starts (4.09 ERA).

His last start was July 13th against the White Sox when he pitched one inning.

Our point is if this team has any chance to contend, the starting pitching as a whole has to be much better. Both Quantrill and McKenzie were fabulous over the weekend, combining for 14 scoreless innings.

But everyone has to contribute on a turn by turn basis. If the starting pitching can get back to the way they’ve performed in the past, this Guardians team can hang in there until the end.

And they will justify the front office’s decision not to add a starter at the deadline.

Disappointed That Guardians Don’t Add At Deadline

The Major League Baseball trading deadline has come and gone and the front office of the Cleveland Guardians decided to sit it out, making just one small deal for a minor league pitcher.

It’s a curious decision to be sure, especially since the Guards remain just one game behind Minnesota in the AL Central Division race, and the Twins upgraded their pitching staff, trading for a starter (Tyler Mahle) and two relievers on Tuesday.

We weren’t expecting a big blockbuster involving the organization’s best prospects, but we don’t believe anyone can question the Guardians have several players on the current roster that do not perform to big league standards.

To us, it means the front office is fine still using Bryan Shaw (and his 5.63 ERA) and Kirk McCarty on “bullpen days”. With Aaron Civale still on the shelf, why not go out and get a starting pitcher? Our guess is he will miss at least two more turns in the rotation. Are they really going to keep using the Shaw/McCarty model?

And catcher continues to be an offensive hole. We have said many times we understand the organization values defense behind the plate. When they had guys who played great defense and hit .220, that was fine. Austin Hedges is hitting .173 (521 OPS) and Luke Maile is at .206 (602 OPS).

Why not upgrade the hitting at that spot?

Also, although it has nothing to do with the baseball operation, it is still a business that needs customers. We are sure there are many members of the fan base (we would be one) that aren’t happy the front office decided not to make some kind of move when the team has a legitimate chance at the post-season.

We laughed when we heard Terry Francona’s comments about the players deserving to “keep their jobs” based on the way they have played this year.

That’s great, but it’s also not how it works.

Since the front office didn’t strike a deal, then it’s time to see even more young players. The first step happened yesterday when Tyler Freeman was called up, replacing Ernie Clement, who was being used (somehow) as a platoon bat vs. lefties when he was hitting .200 against them.

Many people have said there was no deal for a catcher because of the presence of Bo Naylor, now at AAA. If that’s true, then bring Naylor up right now. He has a 928 OPS at the AA and AAA levels in the minors this season. Why not see what he can do?

As for the pitching staff, either make Konnor Pilkington the fifth starter now, or perhaps try Peyton Battenfield (6-5, 3.31 ERA at Columbus) in that role.

And why not take a look at Nick Mikolajchak in the bullpen? He’s 4-2 with four saves and a 3.15 ERA at AAA, striking out 33 in 34 innings pitched. We’d rather see him than Shaw, McCarty, or Anthony Castro, a reliever Cleveland keeps bringing up when they shuffle their bullpen.

If this season is about seeing what the young players can do, and to date, those young guys have been pretty impressive, then go all in on them.

Once again, the Guardians are telling you next year matters more than the present, and unfortunately, that seems to be the case a lot lately.

At one game out, that’s a difficult agenda to push.

Having Prospects Is Great. Winning Is Even Better

Tuesday is baseball’s trading deadline, and this year, with the Cleveland Guardians just two games out of first place in the AL Central Division, the team should be looking to add to the roster by August 2nd.

It is funny listening to Guardians’ fans though, how many don’t want the team to be buyers, and in some cases, they want them to be sellers, accumulating more prospects.

Some of that we equate to the age of the person having that opinion. It’s easy to keep looking to the future when you are young.

However, we started following this franchise in 1965. At that time, it was only 17 years since the Indians won a World Series and only 11 seasons since they were last in the Fall Classic. At that point, we loved the players on the team (my favorite was Sam McDowell) and didn’t realize most of them just weren’t very good.

Finally, the team got to be very good, thirty years later, getting to the Series in 1995 and 1997, trying to break a 37- and 39-year drought since a world title team was in the city.

They were oh so close in both ’97 and 2016 (68 years since 1948), and to be fair, since the rebirth of the team when they moved to Jacobs/Progressive Field, the franchise has been very competitive, more often than not.

Let’s face it, it’s easy to keep building a team, it’s tougher to try to take that last step and win.

Chris Antonetti went for it in ’16, dealing for Andrew Miller and almost landing catcher Jonathan Lucroy. And as we all know, the team made it to extra innings in game seven of the Series.

We understand the Guardians have a bright future. They have perhaps the best farm system in all of baseball, and at times that’s a portent of things to come. And we certainly don’t want them to mortgage that future to go all in for 2022.

After all, they are just two games over .500, even though they are only two games out.

Still, there are clearly positions the organization could upgrade without dealing one of the systems’ top 10 prospects. By WAR, the Guardians rank near the bottom at both catcher and starting pitchers.

And even if the roster is improved incrementally, it’s still better, and really that’s all you want, although we are sure some folks would like the Guardians to deal for the best players available.

However, we find it silly to read about trading players like Shane Bieber for a boatload of prospects. The organization already has a problem figuring out who they will put on the 40-man roster this off-season, they simply have too many candidates.

And why would you pull the plug on this season? Those folks will tell you they probably aren’t getting the World Series this season, but in reality, the odds are pretty low any team will get to the Series in any given season.

Even the Yankees this season, as dominant as they have been, currently only have a 33% chance of reaching the Fall Classic.

Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff have to balance trying to make the playoffs this year with the bright future the organization has. With their track record, they deserve our trust.

At some point, you have to try to win. There’s no parade for having a great farm system.

Our Guardians’ Bullpen Confidence

One of the things about the Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen is outside of Emmanuel Clase, the group has kind of been in a state of flux all season.

Clase has been remarkable since the first two weeks of the season, and showed the entire baseball world how great he has been in the All-Star Game, when he struck out the side against the National League on ten pitches, earning the save for the AL.

The right-hander has allowed just 23 hits and six walks in 43 appearances this season, compiling 21 saves and a 1.31 ERA. However, the way Terry Francona and Carl Willis has gotten to Clase has changed a bit.

Early in the season, the Guards used Nick Sandlin and Trevor Stephan to set up, and mixed in Anthony Gose when a lefty was needed.

We should also mention there has been another constant, using Bryan Shaw in any role other than as the closer.

Gose proved to be prone to walks (14 in 21 innings) and the home run ball (he’s allowed four) and so Sam Hentges, who struggles with command too, started to be used in his place, but recently, Hentges hasn’t received a lot of work.

Sandlin couldn’t find the plate and Eli Morgan emerged as “a weapon” as Francona called him, able to work multiple innings. But he too as found a need to adjust as he’s allowed 11 earned runs in his last 15 innings.

Stephan had a rough stretch, but recently seems to have straightened himself out, and probably is back to being the pitcher of choice in the 8th inning of a close game.

Enyel De Los Santos is a guy who seems to be underused. He’s really had just two bad outing all season, and overall has a 2.87 ERA with 36 whiffs and 11 walks in 31-1/3 innings. There are times the skipper goes to Shaw, when De Los Santos would seem to be a better choice.

The Guards are also working back in James Karinchak, who missed most of the season, but in seven appearances totaling 8-2/3 innings, has struck out 16 and walked four. In his last five games, he hasn’t allowed a run in 6-2/3 frames. giving up three hits and fanning 13.

Based on all of the information currently at hand, here are our bullpen confidence ratings right now:

Clase (that goes without saying)
Stephan
De Los Santos
Sandlin
Hentges
Shaw
Karinchak
Morgan

This list is very fluid to say the least. We’d like to rank Karinchak higher, but you never know when he’s going to lose control. If he can demonstrate he can find the strike zone consistently, he’d be right there with Stephan.

And as good as Morgan was early in the year, right now, we would avoid using him in a close game. Maybe we will move him up if he can put up more zeroes.

Hentges seems to walk (or at least fall behind) the first hitter when he comes in the game and Shaw is prone to the long ball and the walk, two no-no’s for relief pitchers.

We guess what we are really saying is it would be nice if the front office got an extra arm for the bullpen by the trade deadline. Right?