Guardians Can’t Get Traction, And Know When To Question Tito

Treading water. Two steps forward, one step back. Stagnant.

These are all words that can be used to describe the Cleveland Guardians’ season to date. They are 28-33 after 61 games, and almost half of their games have been decided by one run, 29 of them, and they are 12-17.

By the way, winning one run games is pretty much luck. Bad teams can do well in them. The Kansas City Royals are 18-43 for the season. They are 7-6 in one run games. The Oakland A’s are 8-11 in these contests, and they are 13-50.

Sixty games into the season, and the Guards haven’t swept a series, and they’ve only been swept in a series once, that by the New York Mets.

Because of all of the close games, the decisions made by Terry Francona become magnified by fans, and most of the second guessing comes from emotion. Never forget that the word “fan” is derived from fanatic.

And we understand the frustration. We have said many, many times that Francona is not infallible, he makes mistakes. All managers do, but we don’t watch every game of other teams, so people don’t see the mistakes.

When a team’s bullpen isn’t going well, particularly the back end of it, the failures get magnified. While Emmanuel Clase hasn’t been as dominant as last year, he still leads the league in saves, and he’s only allowed one home run and walked just seven batters.

Getting to Clase has been the issue. The two primary set up men starting the year, James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan, have been prone to the long ball, and giving up dingers turn around games in a hurry. Enyel De Los Santos has been getting the job done, but he coughed up a lead on in the opener vs. Boston.

So, what does the skipper do? Our guess is he will go back to Karinchak and Stephan, with some Sam Hentges mixed in. We’ll see how that works out.

To us, the more concerning thing is the continued playing of guys who simply aren’t producing. We understand it’s a long season, but 61 games have been played, and while we are not saying to release anyone, the continuation of writing their names in the lineup every day is an organizational problem.

The Guardians’ best position playing prospect is Bo Naylor, and he is playing at the highest level of the minor leagues. The current Cleveland catchers rank last in the American League in WAR (wins above replacement player).

Is the organization really telling us Naylor couldn’t help the big league club? We have noted that Naylor has walked 46 times at Columbus. Mike Zunino and Cam Gallagher have combined to walk 16 times. At the very least, Naylor would make less outs than the catchers in Cleveland.

The second lowest rank in WAR among positions is shortstop. The Guardians’ roster and minor league system are loaded with highly ranked middle infielders. Do the Guards need to play Amed Rosario each night or could we look at possible alternatives that possibly could do better.

If you want to question Francona or the front office about something, these latter two issues would be better things to complain about.

Keep in mind though, that usually their patience gets rewarded, like the use of Josh Naylor vs. left-handed pitching.

The easiest thing to second guess is bullpen usage, because if the pitcher who comes in doesn’t do their job, the Guardians lose. The problem is everything is magnified because the offense hasn’t been doing its job and every other game is decided by one run.

Close Games Equals More Burden On Guardians’ Bullpen

The Cleveland Guardians have played 36 games this season and a whopping 22 of them have been decided by two runs or less.

Cleveland is 8-9 in games decided by a single tally, and 5-2 in those decided by a couple of runs. Overall, the Guardians are 13-11 in these games and 4-8 in the other contests.

First, all of these close games are going to give a collective ulcer to the die-hard fans of the team.

Second, playing this many close games means it will be interesting to see what kind of toll it will take on the pitching staff, particularly the bullpen.

We know that Terry Francona has sort of the “caste system” for his relief pitchers. When the Guards are in the lead, he prefers to use James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, and now that he is back, Sam Hentges to set up closer Emmanuel Clase.

He uses Eli Morgan with a lead if one of the above needs a day off. He will use Nick Sandlin and/or Enyel De Los Santos after that group. That’s his current arrangement.

But in checking the American League leaders in appearances, you will see that Clase leads the league pitching in 20 of Cleveland’s 36 games and Karinchak is tied for second at 19.

Stephan is 21st appearing in 16 contests.

With the Guardians treading just below the .500 mark early in the season, we understand their need to put as many games in the win column as they can, so Francona wants to use his best guys, and maybe the best closer in the league to lock down a W.

And despite Clase’s “struggles” this year, this shows how good he is. He hasn’t pitched at the dominant level he did a year ago so far, but he still has a 1.86 ERA, allowing just 15 hits and five walks in 19-1/3 innings. Oh, and he leads the AL in saves with 13.

Clase led the junior circuit in games pitched a year ago with 77, but right now, he’s on a pace to pitch in 90 of them. Now, we know that’s not going to happen, and Clase is also pretty economical in the number of pitches he throws. In his last five appearances, he’s thrown no more than 13 pitches.

Two things need to happen if the Guardians keep winning. First, it would be a huge help if they could win games by four or five runs over the next few weeks. That would enable Francona to lessen the workload of his primary bullpen guys, using them just enough to keep them fresh.

Adding Hentges to the mix has helped lately.

Or the skipper may have to expand the late game usage for pitchers like Sandlin and De Los Santos. We understand though they have to earn the confidence of the manager. Sandlin, in particular needs to command the strike zone and throw quality pitches.

The starting rotation seems to have picked it up over the last couple of weeks, covering at least six innings on most nights. But playing this many close games will take a toll on the Guardians’ relief pitching.

Just another reason to hope the offense comes out of the collective funk it has been in over the last four weeks.

Close Games For Guardians Mean Added Pressure For Bullpen

At the end of last season, the Cleveland Guardians knew if they had a lead after six innings, the game was effectively over. Their bullpen was dominant, led by closer Emmanuel Clase. Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak combined to take care of the seventh and eighth, and Terry Francona had Sam Hentges, Enyel De Los Santos, and Nick Sandlin if needed to bridge from the starter to the set up men and closer.

It is also said the most volatile part of any team is the relief pitching, and just because it happened a year ago doesn’t mean it will happen again.

It’s still early, so Francona and Carl Willis are still trying to decide how to use some of the pieces of the ‘pen and integrate a couple of new hurlers into the mix.

Last season, Cleveland relievers threw the fifth least innings of any bullpen, the third least in the American League behind only Houston and Seattle. The non-starters pitched 37.7% of the innings played by the Guardians.

So far this season, that number is up to 43%. There are several reasons for the high total, and one of them is the Guards have played four extra-inning games to date, which is 25% of their schedule.

Another reason is right now, Cleveland has two inexperienced starting pitchers in the rotation. Hunter Gaddis has made three starts and pitched into the sixth inning just once, while Peyton Battenfield made his first career start last week and threw just 4-2/3 frames.

Add in Zach Plesac’s one inning outing in his season debut, and Cal Quantrill getting into the sixth for the first time in three starts in his last outing, and the relievers have had to soak up a lot of the workload.

We have always maintained there are two things a relief pitcher cannot do: Walk people and give up home runs. Cleveland pitchers in total have walked 44 batters in 2023, 25 of them have come from the bullpen.

Clase, who walked just 10 hitters all last season, has already issued four in nine innings this season. De Los Santos has issued four free passes in ’23, after allowing only 17 all of 2022.

The home run numbers are similar. Guardians’ hurlers have allowed only 14 homers this season, a total that ranks tied for 5th in the AL for the fewest coughed up. Unfortunately, the relievers have allowed eight of the blasts, with Sandlin and rookie Tim Herrin each giving up a pair.

We think De Los Santos should be the secondary set up man if the normal three who close out games (Clase, Karinchak, and Stephan) are unavailable because any of them have worked two days in a row. We have the most confidence in him out of everyone else.

Sandlin still falls behind too many hitters and Herrin is a rookie, but he does have electric stuff.

Another thing that magnifies the results of the bullpen is that the Guardians have only won one game this year by more than two runs, the 9-4 victory against Seattle on the second day of the season. There isn’t much room for error for a guy like Herrin to work with.

It takes time to develop a bullpen and having all the close games means the growing pains that go along with it get closer looks.

In the meantime, mixing in a few 6-1 or 7-2 victories would really help the principal relievers get some needed rest.

Guards’ Last Week In Our View

We are sure he wasn’t the first to say it, but former Indians’ broadcaster, the late Mike Hegan used to say if a team can win three out of every five games, they will be doing just fine. If a baseball team plays at this pace, they win 96 games and now, with the expanded playoffs, will be playing in October.

The Cleveland Guardians have done just that after 10 games, winning six of them. The odd thing and probably a bit troubling is four of the six victories have come in extra innings.

The good thing is they still count.

If not for the extra-inning games, the bullpen would be rested after the second run through the rotation as all five starters gave Terry Francona at least five innings, with Zach Plesac giving the Guards seven on Sunday. The shortest outing was Cal Quantrill’s five on Saturday night.

Hunter Gaddis really helped out in this regard with six one-hit innings in the west coast trip finale in Oakland on Wednesday. He will get a bigger (and better) test tonight against the Yankees.

Offensively, the Guardians continue to put pressure on opposing pitchers because they get men on base, leading the AL in walks in the young season.

The middle game vs. Seattle was frustrating because the Guards only scored two runs, but they had nine hits and six walks in that game, and more often than not, if you put 15 men on base, you will score more than two runs. They just couldn’t come up with the big hit.

Sometimes the big hit is a home run, and the Guardians ranked second last in the American League in long balls last season, and unfortunately, that hasn’t changed through ten games this year. Cleveland is tied with Detroit for the least homers with just five.

No doubt part of that is the Guards haven’t exactly played in balmy weather this far, whether it be in Seattle, Oakland, or Progressive Field. Cleveland is fourth in doubles and lead the league in triples but are still fourth from the bottom in slugging percentage.

Part of that is Josh Bell’s slow start (3 for 35). Bell was signed to give the Guardians some much needed power, but right now, it hasn’t shown up. On the plus side, Bell has drawn eight walks, so hopefully the home runs and extra base hits are on the horizon.

One troubling area thus far is the lack of blocking pitches by the new catching trio. Hopefully, it is just a matter of the newcomers not working with the pitchers until spring training, but the Guardians lead the Junior Circuit in wild pitches with 11.

Last year, Shane Bieber had five all season. He has three in two starts in 2023. Emmanuel Clase had four in 2022, he has two already in ’23. We mention both of those hurlers because the wild pitches cost them both a run in the past week.

Bieber’s success is dependent on getting ahead in the count and then throwing a wicked breaking pitch in the dirt. If the catchers can’t block that pitch, it’s a big issue. Hopefully, as Mike Zunino, Cam Gallagher, and Meibrys Viloria work with the staff more, this number will start to go down. And Zunino did do a much better job last night.

Cleveland pitchers aren’t wild. The leaders in walks allowed are both relief pitchers, with Clase and Enyel De Los Santos each issuing four.

When it starts costing the team runs, it gets magnified, and as we said two of the wild pitches came back to haunt the team this past week.

Previewing Guardians And Yankees

The Cleveland Guardians will face a much stiffer challenge in the upcoming American League Division Series, and we don’t think that is breaking news.

First, the Guards will head to Yankee Stadium for two games in the Bronx, whereas all three games against Tampa Bay were scheduled for Progressive Field.

Secondly, the Yankees are a better team than the Rays, winning 13 more games in the regular season. They also won seven more than Cleveland, including five of six in head-to-head meetings.

While the Rays were 11th in the AL in runs scored at 4.11, New York led the AL averaging almost a run more per contest at 4.98, and they were second in the league in OPS as a team, behind only Toronto.

Pitching wise, while Tampa was third in team ERA just ahead of Cleveland, New York is second at 3.30.

You are supposed to play better teams as you move on in the post-season, so this is nothing to be surprised about, but the Yankees are a much better offensive ballclub. There is no Aaron Judge in the Rays’ batting order.

As for the season series against the Bronx Bombers, remember the Guards made their only trip to New York way back at the end of April. In fact, the starting pitcher for the first game of that series was Eli Morgan, making his only start of the year.

He was following in that game by Logan Allen, Tanner Tully, and Konnor Pilkington. It was that long ago.

The second game of the series was the contest where there was an altercation between Myles Straw and the fans in the bleachers after Steven Kwan was hurt. Emmanuel Clase blew the save, making his ERA for the season 7.71.

The last game was a blowout, a 10-2 Yankee win, with Aaron Civale taking the loss. Civale was really struggling at the time.

The three-game set in Cleveland involved a rainout (surprise) and a doubleheader on Saturday, in which Kirk McCarty started the first game, a 13-4 loss. Civale started game two and was losing 2-1 going into the seventh before he tired and the bullpen allowed four runs.

In the finale, Triston McKenzie pitched a masterpiece, going seven, one hit innings, and Clase survived an error in the ninth to save it. That dropped his ERA to 1.31 on the season.

A little bit of a difference, eh?

It is interesting to note the Guardians saw Garrit Cole and Nestor Cortes, the game #1 and #2 starters each twice in the six regular season contests, while the Yankees saw Cal Quantrill and McKenzie each once. Shane Bieber, who will toe the rubber Thursday night, did not pitch against New York during the season.

That alone could account for Cleveland’s 1-5 record this year.

And for what it’s worth, both Quantrill (6.1 IP, 3 runs) and McKenzie pitched well against the Yanks.

Can the Guardians win this series? Sure, they are a much different team than they were in early July when the two teams last met. Heck, Oscar Gonzalez didn’t have an at bat against New York.

However, the offense is going to have to produce. We doubt scoring three runs in two games will win anything.

That’s why the play the games, right?

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!

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?

Early Or Not, Guardians Deserve A Chance To Compete

In the last week or so, we’ve read and heard some things about the Cleveland Guardians being ahead of schedule. These people are saying the front office felt like 2023 was the year they could contend for the post-season again.

Our guess is if these folks are in the know, meaning they have talked to high-ranking officials in the Cleveland front office, they are setting up supporters of the team for a disappointing trade deadline.

Look, the truth of the matter is the Guardians are a very young baseball team. Statistically, they are the youngest team in the majors, a half year younger than Pittsburgh among everyday players, and they have the youngest pitching staff in the big leagues, almost a year younger than the Tigers.

We are sure that president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff will not and should not break up the Guardians’ young core, players like Jose Ramirez, Andres Gimenez, Josh Naylor, Triston McKenzie, and Emmanuel Clase. Those guys seem like the foundation for the next few seasons.

On the other hand, the fact is the Guards are sitting just a game out of first place and we are in late July. Future contention isn’t a given either. You don’t know about injuries, poor seasons, and like it or not, the way the ball bounces in a given year.

We are sure the Cleveland brass is looking at ways to help this year’s team. The organization still has a glut of middle infielders both at the big league and high minor league levels, and the last we checked, you can still only play one shortstop and one second baseman per game.

So eventually, the team has to make a decision about Amed Rosario, Gimenez, Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, and Brayan Rocchio. We have been on record in feeling Arias would be the first one of this group moved.

With Aaron Civale out until August, the Guardians could use another starting pitcher and another bullpen arm wouldn’t hurt, with Eli Morgan and Bryan Shaw leaking oil.

Right now, Cleveland might have Kirk McCarty starting Tuesday night at Fenway Park, which is a scary proposition, considering he’s allowed six homers in 12 innings at the Major League level this season.

Of course, that’s due to the rainouts, but the replacement for Civale is rookie Konnor Pilkington. The southpaw has been okay, but he’s hasn’t produced like the other starters.

There have been rumors about dealing DH Franmil Reyes, citing lack of conditioning or perhaps the willingness to get in better shape. More likely, the Guardians figure Josh Naylor can play more often if he’s not on his feet defensively, and Reyes’ increased strikeout rate this season has made it easier to put him on the bench.

Even though the Guardians are ahead of schedule, that doesn’t make it okay for the front office not to improve the club. Maybe they have benefited from being in a division without a great team, but here they are, right in the thick of it with less than 70 games to go.

And you can’t underestimate the boost it can give a team when they know the front office believes in it enough to add to the roster.

In 1995, Cleveland didn’t need to do anything at the deadline, they are ahead by 20 plus games, but GM John Hart traded for Ken Hill anyway. The players said it signaled the organization wasn’t satisfied with making the playoffs, they wanted the ring.

So, whether they are on schedule or not, the front office should be willing to give this 2022 edition of the Guardians a chance to compete for the post-season. You go for it when you have a shot.

Guardians’ Bullpen Issues Tough To Ignore

The Cleveland Guardians have a problem with an unlikely spot, the pitching staff. For all the talk about the team’s “pitching factory”, the club currently ranks 10th in the American League in staff ERA.

The starting pitching hasn’t been dominant, but for the most part, it’s been pretty good. Four of the five starters have ERA’s under 4.00 and Aaron Civale is the lone starter who doesn’t, but he’s been good in three of his four starts.

Zach Plesac is 2-6 record wise, but has pitched at least six innings and allowed less than three earned runs in six of his last seven starts. And Triston McKenzie has been prone to the gopher ball this season, but he was dominant against the Yankees to close out the last home stand and yesterday in Kansas City.

The real problem has been the bullpen. Outside of Emmanuel Clase, it doesn’t seem that anyone trusted by Terry Francona and Carl Willis is going a good job.

Against Boston, New York, and even Detroit, there were many instances where the starters left the game in a very competitive situation, only to see relief pitchers take a one or two run ballgame and letting the opponent put it out of reach.

We have said over the years that the two things relievers cannot do is give up home runs and/or walk people. The first helps teams get back in the game, the latter gives the opponent hope of getting back in the contest.

The two leaders in allowing the long ball out of the Guardians’ ‘pen are two pitchers Francona seems to really trust: Eli Morgan and Brian Shaw. Both have allowed a half dozen dingers, Morgan in 38-1/3 innings, Shaw in 28-1/3.

Morgan was dominant until a June 11th outing vs. Oakland in which he allowed a grand slam home run. Including that performance, he’s pitched 10-2/3 frames and allowed four home runs. You simply can’t use pitchers who give up that many home runs in the late innings.

He has blown four leads in that span.

Then you have the pitchers who can’t throw strikes consistently. Nick Sandlin has walked 18 hitters in less than 20 innings, and we don’t think anyone feels comfortable that James Karinchak is going to come in and throw strikes either.

Left handers Sam Hentges and Anthony Gose (now on the IL) have had issues with control, as has Shaw (which really makes you wonder why he is used in high leverage situations).

That leaves Enyel De Los Santos and Trevor Stephan has guys Francona should find reliable, but as of late, he hasn’t turned to them, and we find that curious.

Stephan gave up a run on the fourth of July to Detroit, the first run he allowed since June 12th. And he pitched out of an incredible jam against the Twins in the 10th inning to help Cleveland win 11-10.

De Los Santos was part of the problem giving up late runs in close games over the past two weeks, but generally, he’s been pretty good, and he’s only allowed two home runs all year.

If Cleveland wants to stay in the race, and they should, they are only 3.5 games out, they have to solve the bullpen issue and get Clase, who should make the All-Star Game, some help. There are always relievers available the trade deadline, but can the current group hold on until then.

Bad bullpens make good teams look bad. Hope that is not happening to the 2022 Guardians.