Tag: foster griffin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All three of them were here before the trade deadline.

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

The Guardians’ Front Office Swings Into Action.

Well, the Guardians certainly did not stand pat at the trade deadline this season. And that is good to see.

For us, the biggest move was trading four players, one of whom saw time in the bigs this season in Will Dion, to the Washington Nationals for 30-year-old left-hander Foster Griffin, an All-Star with a 12-3 record and a 3.06 ERA with 116 Ks in 129 innings this season.

He will slide into Slade Cecconi’s spot in the rotation giving the Guardians a solid starter in every game in which they take the field. The southpaw spent the last three seasons in Japan winning 18 games with a 2.57 ERA.

We also think getting Griffin helps manage Parker Messick’s innings. He’s already at 129.2 IP just four short of his career high. So, he may get skipped a bit to keep him fresh for the stretch drive.

This move comes after the front office dealt for Craig Yoho from Milwaukee to bolster a sagging bullpen.

Yoho is the guy Cleveland wanted, he had a 3.15 ERA with the Brewers in 20 innings, despite a strikeout to walk ratio of 13 Ks vs. eight walks. Last year, in limited action (8.2 innings) he walked nine. But in his minor league career, he fanned 193 hitters in 131 innings, including 29 in 23 frames at AAA Nashville this season.

As for the offense, when several reactions to a trade, particularly in baseball, are something like “well, at least we didn’t give up much”, that’s not a good thing. That’s the reaction of several people when the Cleveland Guardians acquired OF Jo Adell from the Los Angeles Angels for minor league catcher Zack Cozart.

First, the good news. Adell has some power. Since the beginning of the ’24 season, he’s hammered 73 home runs, His 19 dingers this year would easily lead the Guardians this season, as Kyle Manzardo has hit just 13 HRs.

As we said, that’s the good news.

The bad news is Adell has an obscene strikeout to walk ratio. This year, he has fanned 108 times against just 16 walks. For a comparison, Gabriel Arias has whiffed 55 times vs. seven walks. More good news, Adell has like three times the plate appearances.

The good news is Adell does have a career 793 OPS against southpaws, and this year, has killed lefties, hitting .303 with a 910 OPS. However, against right-handers, his career mark is just 654 and just 593 this season. Which means he should be taking the Brandon Guyer role.

It is doubtful the Guardians will use him that way though. Our guess is he will be in the lineup most days and will madden fans by whiffing in key situations.

A better move, in our opinion, was getting 1B/DH Nathaniel Lowe from Cincinnati. A left-handed bat, he has a career 775 OPS and a 798 figure vs. righties. Lowe will replace Kyle Manzardo, who was sent to Columbus along with David Fry.

Manzardo has been lost at the plate most of the year, and his strikeout rate soared from 25% to 32% this season. We have advocated for him to go down and rediscover his swing, because right now, Lowe figures to platoon with Rhys Hoskins, who frankly has been terrible vs. lefties.

Getting Manzardo right would allow Steven Vogt (and the organization) to platoon Lowe and Adell, which would seem to be a productive pairing.

The Guardians will probably stop there, but we would still like to see Angel Genao and Cooper Ingle with the big club to improve the attack. There is still some dead weight on the roster. Angel Martinez is really struggling, and we continue to maintain Petey Halpin is not a big-league bat.

However, we wanted the Guardians to get better at the deadline and no question, they look to be improved for the stretch drive.