Remember, MLB Post-Season Isn’t Supposed To Be Easy

Friday, the Cleveland Guardians will take the field in the American League Wild Card Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, trying to stop some recent post-season trends.

First, the Guards will be trying to break an eight-game losing skein in the playoffs. After winning the first two games of the Division Series against the Yankees in 2017, they lost the last three, and then lost three straight to Houston in the same round in 2018.

In 2020, Cleveland made the post-season in the truncated season, and lost both games in the best-of-three series vs. New York.

So, it has been a long time since October 6, 2017, when Yan Gomes knocked in Austin Jackson with the winning run in the 13th inning to put the Tribe up 2-0 in the best-of-five series.

With Bryan Shaw recently designated for assignment, the only member of the current team to have played in that game is Jose Ramirez.

This series won’t be easy, and really, it shouldn’t be. We have narrowed baseball to the best teams in each league, and there are only 12 teams still taking the field. None of the games the rest of the year will have the Kansas City Royals or Los Angeles Angels involved.

Cleveland has a slight edge offensively, scoring 4.28 runs per game, ranking 6th in the AL, while the Rays cross the plate 4.12 times per contest, 11th best in the league.

Pitching wise though, the Tampa is 3rd in the Junior Circuit in ERA, just ahead of Terry Francona’s group. The three starting pitchers the Guardians will face are no pushovers.

In game one, Tampa will go with Shane McClanahan (12-8, 2.54 ERA, 194 strikeouts in 166-1/2 innings), who started the All-Star Game for the American League. He’s a southpaw, and the Guardians hit 17 points less, and have an OPS as a team that is 68 points worse against left-handers than righties for the season.

Of course, it’s not as though Cleveland is starting a slouch, going with Shane Bieber who went 13-8 with a 2.88 ERA. In the second half, those numbers are even better (9-3, 2.48). Bieber does pitch better on the road, going 5-5 with a 3.22 ERA at Progressive Field.

McClanahan actually pitched better on the road but made eight less starts there.

Bieber has made one post-season start, pitching 4-2/3 innings giving up seven runs to the Yankees in 2020.

Game 2 features Tyler Glasnow, who missed most of this year recovering from Tommy John surgery (two starts allowing one earned run in 6-2/3 frames) against Triston McKenzie (11-11, 2.96 ERA). McKenzie’s ERA was a half run lower in the second half and was better at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario this season.

And if there is a deciding game on Sunday, Tampa goes with Drew Rasmussen (11-7, 2.84 ERA) while Francona counters with Cal Quantrill (15-5, 3.38).

You can see neither team has a decided advantage in the pitching department, even at closer. While Emmanuel Clase was tremendous (42 saves, 1.36 ERA), Pete Fairbanks had a 1.13 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 24 innings this season.

It is likely going to come down to executing on offense, moving runners over and taking the extra base when the opportunity arises.

Although the networks seem to have banished this series to non-rating game times, this might be the most intriguing series to watch.

It won’t be easy. But it’s the playoffs, it shouldn’t be.

Five Big Wins For Guardians This Year

It was an improbable road to the Central Division championship for the Cleveland Guardians. Most folks thought Terry Francona’s squad would be around the .500 mark, yet here they are, poised to begin the playoffs Friday at Progressive Field.

All the victories, and it appears they will win more than 90 games, are important, but to us, some were more relevant than others.

Here are our five most impactful triumphs for the Guardians this season.

Game 3, April 10th: Cleveland 17, Kansas City 3

After scoring one run in the first two games, the Guardians exploded for six runs in the first and four in the second, highlighted by Oscar Mercado’s grand slam home run. Owen Miller started at first for Bobby Bradley, who started the first two games, and Steven Kwan went five for five in a portent of things to come.

Miller had three hits and four RBIs and became a fixture in the lineup for a while. Bradley never got back in the lineup, and this was the first step toward a more contact-oriented approach for the Guards’ offense.

By the end of that week, Yu Chang came down with COVID, and he never got his job back either, as Andres Gimenez became a fixture.

Cleveland scored 27 runs over the next three games.

Game 29, May 9th: Cleveland 12 Chicago 9, 11 innings

This was the Josh Naylor game. After losing 7 in a row to the Yankees and Angels, Cleveland won 7 of 9, going into Chicago.

The Guardians trailed 8-2 going into the ninth, but got two back on a Gimenez home run and an error. With two outs, Miller singled to load the bases, and Josh Naylor hit a grand slam off All-Star closer Liam Hendricks to tie it, and hit a three-run shot off Ryan Burr to give the Guards a 12-9 lead in the 11th.

Cleveland lost the next two, but this one demonstrated the Guardians never thought they were out of a game.

Game 61, June 19th: Cleveland 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 3

Francona’s club started a key nine game trek to Colorado, LA, and Minnesota by sweeping the Rockies and splitting the first two with the mighty Dodgers. Jose Ramirez missed the last two games of the series, including this one.

Trailing 3-2 going into the top of the 8th, the Guards tied it on a pinch-hit double by Richie Palacios, and then scored two off LA closer Craig Kimbrel on a Gimenez single and a sacrifice fly by Ernie Clement, subbing for Ramirez.

Emmanuel Clase pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, and the Guardians wound up 7-2 on the trip.

Game 101, July 31st: Cleveland 5, Tampa Bay 3

The Guardians were going with a bullpen game because Aaron Civale was hurt, while the Rays started All-Star Game starter Shane McClanahan.

The Guards worked the southpaw hard, making him throw 96 pitches in 4-1/3 innings, scoring three in the 2nd and two in the 5th. Myles Straw had a two-run single in the second, and Austin Hedges had the single in the fifth to provide the cushion.

Unsung hero Kirk McCarty threw 3-1/3 frames allowing one run, before Eli Morgan, Trevor Stephan, and Clase finished off Tampa.

Game 136, September 9th: Cleveland 7, Minnesota 6

Cleveland took the division lead on August 10th and had a four-game edge on August 25th before a disastrous stretch against Seattle and Baltimore, where they lost 8 of 10.

Heading into Target Field with a two-game advantage, the Guards took an early lead on a Naylor single and a three-run homer by Oscar Gonzalez. That lead stretched to 7-0 after four and a half before the Twins rallied with two runs in the 5th, 6th, and 8th innings.

The 8th inning was highlighted by Twins’ skipper Rocco Baldelli checking James Karinchak’s hair for sticky materials.

Clase finished it in the 9th and the Guards swept Minnesota, practically ending Minnesota’s hopes.

All wins were important to be sure, but to us, these had deeper meanings for the 2022 Guardians. Hopefully, more important ones are still on the horizon.

Why Do The Browns Get Most Of Our Sports Love?

We have said many times that our favorite sports are baseball and basketball, making us a minority in a city that presents itself as a football city.

That doesn’t mean we don’t follow and root for the Browns, we certainly do, and find it crazy that there are people in town who are die-hard followers of the brown and orange, but pay no attention to the Guardians or Cavaliers.

We are lucky to live in a city with three major league professional franchises and we don’t take that for granted.

Our question though is why do the Browns get so much love and loyalty in northeast Ohio, and do they deserve it?

For older fans like us, it could be because the Browns were the only winning team in our youth, that being the late 60’s. The Cleveland Browns were one of the premier franchises in the NFL from the time they entered in 1950 until basically 1970.

At that time, there were no Cavaliers (started in 1970-71) and the Indians were just starting a malaise that lasted from 1960 through 1993.

After pretty much a dormant period in the 70’s and early 80’s (excluding the Kardiac Kids season of 1980), the Browns reemerged as Super Bowl contenders in the late 80’s, led by Bernie Kosar, Hanford Dixon, Frank Minnifield, etc., coming up just short in some of the most excruciating ending to seasons you could imagine.

However, if you were growing up in the 90’s, the Guardians and Cavaliers have been far more successful than the Browns have since returning to the league in 1999.

And maybe that’s it. Perhaps the loss of the team for a few seasons has created a fear that if people aren’t zealous in their support of the Browns, they will move again.

Or maybe we are just grasping at straws.

Since 1995, the Indians/Guardians have made 12 post-season appearances (likely to become 13 with this season) and have played in the World Series three times, losing twice in heartbreaking circumstances.

That shouldn’t be held against them, see our earlier comments about the Browns of the late 1980’s.

The Cavaliers have played for the championship of their sport five times in this span, and cashed in 2016, the only professional title in a major sport the city has seen in the last 58 years.

The Browns? They made the playoffs twice since 1999.

That’s why we don’t understand the undying loyalty of sports fans in this area.

What about ownership? We understand baseball fans here don’t like the Dolan family because they rarely go “all in”, but it’s not like the Haslams or Gilberts are on the same par as Bill Veeck.

Haslam has had business issues and is very impulsive. How many regime changes have the Browns gone through since he bought the franchise? Gilbert inherited LeBron James, but he did everything he could to bring a championship to the city.

We understand the midwest is by and large a football haven. The NFL has it’s roots right in Canton, which is why the Hall of Fame is there. High school football is a big deal in Ohio, so the leaning toward the pro football team is understandable.

Again, we aren’t saying to not root for the Cleveland Browns. We would love nothing more than a Super Bowl berth for them. But, they certainly don’t give fans here a great deal to be proud of, instead they have given us a tremendous amount of anguish.

We guess the heart wants what the heart wants, even if it doesn’t make a great deal of sense.

Guards Have A Lot Of Rookies, But They’ve Contributed Greatly

Part of the charm of baseball is it seems simple enough to the average fan, so it is easy to think they know more than the manager of their favorite team, in this case, Terry Francona.

We do it too, so we aren’t going to get on a soapbox and proclaim Francona doesn’t know what he’s doing, but on the other hand, we have said this before, Tito is not the Pope, he is not infallible.

For example, the Guardians use Owen Miller kind of as a platoon player when he has not demonstrated much success against southpaws, hitting .214 against them with a 606 OPS.

When Cleveland faced three lefties vs. the Angels earlier this week, Miller was in the lineup all three games, going 5 for 10. Of course, he did!

And while fans like us can sit there and say the Guardians need to go 5-4 in this stretch of nine games (they are currently 3-1) which will probably decide the AL Central, the reality is Francona’s philosophy has been just win the game you are playing today, because really, that’s all you can control.

He talks to his team, in fact, the entire 40-man roster in spring training telling them they are all part of this, and the team will probably need contributions from each player during the long 162 game season.

Although we advocated for Oscar Gonzalez late last season (and Steven Kwan as well, not enough patting ourselves on the back), he wasn’t even on the 40-man roster when the team gathered in Goodyear in March, but what a contribution has he made to this team.

Kirk McCarty looked to be an “organizational arm” coming into the year, but he’s put together several solid outings in long relief to help the team. He doesn’t seem to have outstanding stuff, but he’s been an unsung part of the 2022 Guardians.

Cody Morris has always been a highly regarded prospect, but he’s been called upon to make four starts (including today) in September in a pennant race. He hasn’t been great, but in his last two starts, he’s given the Guards a chance to win.

Richie Palacios has been up and down several times this season, but he’s contributed some huge pinch hits, a tough role for the young player. It will be interesting to see what his role will be in 2023.

Nolan Jones ultimately struggled to make contact at the big-league level, but when he first was called up, he gave the offense a much-needed jolt, which was needed at the time. No doubt he will complete for a permanent job next season, but the organization couldn’t afford patience while in the middle of a division race.

Tyler Freeman provided a big hit this past week, Will Benson made a fine catch at Target Field. Most of the young players who had received an opportunity this season have contributed.

That says a lot about Cleveland’s player development system, and that these guys are prepared when they arrive in the Guardians’ clubhouse.

So yes, Steven Kwan gets a lot of attention and rightly so, he should finish in the top three of the AL Rookie of the Year voting, but there have been a number of rookies who have contributed to the success of this team.

It’s not just having 15 MLB debuts, they have made an impact as well.

Nine Games To Settle The Central.

In about a week we should have a pretty good idea about whether or not the Cleveland Guardians will win the American League Central Division and qualify for the post season.

Starting with tonight’s make up game with the White Sox, the Guards will play nine straight contests against Chicago and Minnesota, the two teams battling them for the division title.

The magic number going into the single game against the Pale Hose is 18, as Cleveland leads Chicago by three and the Twins by five. The Guardians and Twins have 21 games left, while the Sox have 19.

Also important is their no longer is a tie breaking game to qualify for the playoffs. If their is a tie in the standings, the season series is the determining factor and Terry Francona’s squad needs just one victory against each of these two teams to get that edge.

After a 10 game stretch against Seattle and Baltimore where the club went 2-8 and tallied just 16 runs, the Guardians have roared back by winning eight of nine, including a huge sweep of Minnesota at Target Field.

The starting pitching and the back end of the bullpen have been tremendous in this stretch, with the rotation providing 51-2/3 innings allowing just 13 earned runs, a 2.26 ERA, and that includes rookie Konnor Pilkington allowing four runs in five frames on Monday against the Angels.

Remember, Pilkington is filling in for injured starters Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale.

The bullpen, led by Emmanuel Clase (Death. Taxes. Clase), James Karinchak, and Trevor Stephan have simply dominated opponents in this stretch, and really we should also include southpaw Sam Hentges in this group as well.

Clase had a rare bad outing against KC in the last game there, walking three hitters (one intentionally) and Karinchak allowed a two run homer after his hair products were called into question by Twins’ skipper Rocco Baldelli in Minneapolis.

Stephan has allowed four earned runs since August 1st, and overall this year, has struck out 72 batters in 56-2/3 innings, and has given up just three home runs. Hentges has given up just one runs since the end of July and he’s allowed three dingers on the season as well.

Overall, Cleveland relievers have pitched 467-1/3 innings with a 3.14 ERA and 47 home runs allowed. We hate to pick on Bryan Shaw, but if you remove his numbers from these statistics, the ERA drops to 2.81 and the long ball total is 39.

If this trend can continue, the balance of the schedule would seem to be in good hands.

Offensively, it would be nice if Jose Ramirez got on one of his hot streaks, but until then, rookie Oscar Gonzalez has been doing the job.

Gonzalez has hit four homers in September, slugging .596 and even walking four times this month (he’s only walked 12 times since his call up). His three run homer in the first inning in Minnesota got Cleveland off to a good start, and another homer Tuesday vs. Los Angeles was the difference in the game.

Remember, since they have the division lead, going 4-5 or 5-4 in these nine games is perfectly fine, it just takes the nine games off the schedule.

Let’s hope the pitching continues as it has over the last week or so and the hitting provides just enough runs.

Guards In An Old Fashioned Pennant Race.

When the Cleveland Indians dominated the American League Central Division from 1995-2001, winning six titles in seven seasons. They usually won by a pretty good margin:

1995: 30 games
1996: 14.5
1997: 6
1998: 9.5
1999: 21.5
2000: lost by 5 games
2001: won by 6

Even in the Terry Francona era, when the team won by 8 games in 2016, 17 games in 2017, and 13 games in 2018.

So there haven’t been a lot of “pennant races” in the recent past. Perhaps the closest thing fans experienced is the race to get to the wild card game in 2013 when the Tribe overcame a 4-1/2 game deficit on September 1st, going 21-6 in that month and qualifying for the playoffs on the last day of the season.

Well, the Guardians are in a race right now.

They lead the Central Division by a game and a half over Chicago and 3-1/2 over Minnesota today and play the Twins six more times and the White Sox four before the season ends with a nine game homestand vs. Tampa Bay (3) and Kansas City (6).

If you ever longed for “meaningful baseball” as a fan or media person, here you are. It is very likely there will be high stakes each and every time the Guardians take the field for the rest of this season.

And by the way, Minnesota and Chicago also have six games between them remaining including a three-game set to close the year in the Windy City. The Pale Hose seem to have the easiest path, schedule wise, as outside of the games versus the other contenders, the only likely playoff team they will play is San Diego.

Cleveland has the three against Tampa, and both the Twins and Guards have the Angels, who have a bad record, but also have Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.

As for Francona’s squad, they have to cobble together 2/5ths of a starting rotation going forward, losing Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac to injuries. When Cleveland comes home on Monday to start a nine game stretch at Progressive Field, they are probably looking at the first two contests where the bullpen will have to play a significant role.

And the back end of that ‘pen has been worked hard recently, and could use a couple of blow out victories.

Emmanuel Clase pitched in three straight games last week, had one day off, and uncharacteristically blew a save at Kansas City. After last night’s save, he’s pitched on six of the last eight days.

James Karinchak has done the same, and he struggled a bit Friday night, giving up his first home run of the season after Twins’ manager Rocco Baldelli had the umpire run his fingers through the relievers’ locks.

Francona certainly has his pecking order when his team has the lead, but going forward he will need Enyel De Los Santos, Bryan Shaw, Nick Sandlin, and Sam Hentges to pitch in during close games to keep Clase, Karinchak, and Trevor Stephan fresh.

That’s the downside to the plan, when the Guardians are on a winning streak, the primary trio gets overused, and particularly this season where wins by five runs (just 15) are not plentiful.

And Monday and Tuesday, he will also need the inexperienced Cody Morris, Konnor Pilkington, and Kirk McCarty to step up and give the team quality innings.

It will be a challenge for sure and should be fun for the fans. A real pennant race, with tension filled games, scoreboard watching, etc.

We also ask the front office to do whatever they have to do to get people in the seats. This team deserves that.

In the meantime, have fun!

Analyzing The Guards’ Offensive Woes.

The Cleveland Guardians raised their record to 66-56 on August 24th when they beat San Diego 7-0. Since then, it has not been pretty for Terry Francona’s squad and ugly for the offense.

Cleveland has lost 8 of 11 since that win, scoring more than three runs in a game just three times (all of the wins) and being shutout four times in that span.

Seven of those contests were against Seattle, with the Mariners taking six, but we would not say the Guardians were dominated, but their hitters were. Two of the games went to extra innings, and in three others, Mariners’ hitters could muster only three runs in each game.

They’ve had more than one extra base hit in just four of the last 11, winning three of the four. And they have just three home runs, all coming in wins–Jose Ramirez connected in the 4-3 win at Seattle, and Josh Naylor hit one in the 5-1 win over the Orioles, and another in last night’s win over Kansas City

The Guardians don’t walk much (enough) as a team any way, ranking 12th in the American League, but the base on balls have hard to come by too. They’ve drawn more than three walks in just two games, but Sunday night’s game was one, as they drew five, but two of those were intentional in the 10th inning.

They’ve had nine hits in half of the games, but without mixing in some doubles, triples, and homers, it’s very difficult to score unless you string hits together, which currently they are not doing.

The Guardians don’t hit the long ball but are 6th in the AL in doubles and 3rd in triples, so they have extra base hit ability, but it has disappeared as of late.

It doesn’t seem like any more help will be coming from the farm system either. Despite the offensive issues, when the rosters expanded to 28 on September 1st, the Guards brought up Ernie Clement, who was hitting .238 in AAA, and was sent to the minors because he hit .203 with the big club.

Clement seems to be superfluous on a roster that already has Owen Miller and Tyler Freeman on it, especially when the latter has problem getting at bats.

Nolan Jones and/or Will Brennan (.360 OBP/801 OPS) would seem to be better fits, particularly with Oscar Gonzalez in a bit of a slump and Myles Straw in a massive one.

We’ve all seen the numbers on Straw. He’s hit .159 (382 OPS) since the All-Star break, and we’ve said this repeatedly over the years, it doesn’t matter how good you are defensively (and Straw is very, very good), if you can’t hit, you can’t play regularly in the major leagues.

Apparently, unless you play for Cleveland.

We aren’t sure if Will Benson can succeed in the bigs, but he’s received just 42 plate appearances over the last month, so it’s not like he’s received a real big chance.

We also know about the offensive issues at the catcher’s spot, except for Luke Maile’s hot August nights (nod to Neil Diamond), so the 8th and 9th spots in the batting order have become designated outs for opposing pitchers.

The frustration for fans is the lack of activity by the manager or the front office. We respect and acknowledge Francona’s impact on this team, but we’ve also said his biggest weakness is his patience can turn into stubbornness.

Despite all this, the Guardians are still tied for first in the Central. If they can start scoring runs again, they can still be playing in October.

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.