Much Like The Entire Month, The Post-Season Clincher Was Unreal.

Somehow, it was fitting that the Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff spot last night on a hit batsman with the bases loaded.

When C.J. Kayfus got hit with a Robert Garcia pitch, the party was on, but probably somewhat muted because a win tomorrow means Steven Vogt’s crew will open the Wild Card Series at home on Tuesday.

The post-season clinching game was kind of a microcosm of the entire year. Vogt put Johnathan Rodriguez in the cleanup spot in the lineup, replacing David Fry. We said on social media that it was an odd choice, seeing the Rodriguez was only called up because of the Fry injury, and he had only amassed 70 plate appearances with the big club all year.

But there he was in the bottom of the first, hitting a two-run homer to give Cleveland the lead. And then, Rodriguez started the winning rally, drawing a two out walk.

Kyle Manzardo, who didn’t play against left-handed pitching most of the year, then blooped one into left field against the southpaw Garcia, sending pinch-runner Petey Halpin to third.

Texas intentionally walked Gabriel Arias, kind of an odd move with Arias’ swing and miss tendencies, to load the bases.

By the way, it was also the first time Garcia hit a batter the entire season.

Joey Cantillo, who started the season in the bullpen, and had two stints in the minor leagues during the season, was the starting pitcher in the game. He also was the starter on September 3rd, an 8-1 win over the Red Sox that started this stretch.

And of course, the bullpen played a big role with Hunter Gaddis getting four outs and Cade Smith getting five. They were the anchors of the relief corps most of the season, and the skipper leaned on them heavily.

Of course. There was something unexpected about the entire run the Guardians went on after losing their first two games in September. Winning 19 of 24 games is incredible in itself, especially when the Guards were pretty much a .500 team heading into that stretch.

Make no mistake, the run was accomplished with incredible pitching. Cleveland has allowed just 67 runs in the month, their previous low in a month in 2025 was the 101 allowed in June. That’s an unbelievable turnaround.

They won seven games where they scored three runs of less during the streak. That’s insane.

They got huge hits during the run from Kayfus, whose 2-run homer turned a 2-1 Kansas City lead into a 3-2 Cleveland win on September 11th.

Another rookie, George Valera, belted a big homer last Wednesday to get the Guards going in a 5-1 win. And Jhonkensy Noel, hitting .152 on the season, homered off Tarik Skubal, on September 18th.

And of course, Rodriguez last night.

They can finish the job today with a win that would give the team their second consecutive division title and their 14th since the three division set up which started in 1994, and their 15th post-season spot in the same time frame.

To be honest, we have no idea how this happened considering the offense is still among the worst in the majors, but who cares. It’s fun just enjoying the winning.

The off-season seems to go quicker when the Guardians are in the playoffs.

Series Sweep Points Out Guardians’ Warts

When you are in a race for a post-season spot, the prevailing wisdom is that if you just keep winning series, you will be just fine. And from the middle of July until last week, the Cleveland Guardians did just that, winning nine of the previous ten series they played.

It’s unlikely any team can continue to win each series, so occasionally losing two of three to an opponent isn’t a killer. However, getting swept by a team that is clearly out of the race, at home no less, is a blow to your playoff hopes.

Can it be overcome? Of course, there are still 39 games to play and frankly, if Steven Vogt’s squad rips off six or seven wins in a row, this past weekend’s performance against the Atlanta Braves will be forgotten.

But for right now, it felt like every weakness this ballclub has showed up over the weekend.

The offense didn’t show up with the Guardians scoring just five runs in the three games. On Friday, only two players, Steven Kwan who had two hits and Kyle Manzardo, who walked twice reached base.

Saturday, the Braves started lefty Joey Wentz, already on his third team this season, and allowed just three hits in six innings. The struggles vs. southpaws returned at an inopportune time. Brayan Rocchio homered to provide the only run, while the pure right-handed hitters went 0 for 11 in the contest.

And in Sunday’s finale, the defense played a part. Angel Martinez played second base for the first time since July 24th and made two errors and Manzardo lost a pop up in the sun.

The starting pitching was shaky. Joey Cantillo, who sent to AAA prior to Sunday’s game, went five innings Friday night and allowed just one run, but he walked it in. No Cleveland pitcher has completed six innings in a start since Gavin Williams’ almost no-hitter vs. the Mets.

That was on August 6th. That’s a week and a half ago.

As we said, Cantillo walked in a run and had four free passes in his five innings. Logan Allen walked three in his 4.2 innings on Sunday. Tanner Bibee has walked four hitters in each of his last two outings.

Besides putting men on base, the walks drive up pitch counts and increases the toll on a bullpen that is leaking oil.

Nic Enright, who has pitched well, gave up a game winning home run in the series finale. Kolby Allard has given up runs in his last two relief stints. Carlos Hernandez came into a 1-0 game on Friday in the ninth and allowed an insurance run.

He also got battered in the 13-4 loss to Miami last Wednesday.

And weirdly, despite the starters not going deep in games and some of the relievers not getting the job done, one pitcher, Jakob Junis has appeared in just one game over the last ten days.

It appears Vogt is going to have to pull another rabbit of his hat to put together another run.

It doesn’t help that the front office has dealt him a shorthand. Think about how many players currently on the 26-man roster, who probably aren’t major league caliber players.

We think about players like Santana, Nolan Jones, Hernandez, perhaps Matt Festa. Talk about replacement level.

But does the organization have anyone ready in AAA to replace these guys? That’s the sad commentary.

Guards Need To Continue Hot Streak For Another Six Weeks

The Cleveland Guardians are very much in a race for a post-season spot. However, it will not be easy to attain. It may be trite to say, but their chances really hinge on how they play over the next few weeks.

In that time, Steven Vogt’s squad will play several teams who are either in the playoffs as of the moment or have aspirations of getting there. That stretch starts next weekend with a series in Texas, who sit just three games behind Cleveland.

Then comes Tampa Bay, four games behind the Guards, followed by Boston, who is three games ahead of Cleveland and currently in possession of a playoff berth and Seattle, just ahead of the Red Sox.

We are lifelong fans of the Guardians and despite being critical of the team at times (usually directed at ownership), we would like nothing more to see Vogt and the players overcome the odds and play meaningful baseball in October.

Our heart says it’s possible, but our head says it’s not likely.

To us, it feels like this group has succeeded using smoke and mirrors all season long. The team’s won/lost record based on the number of runs they scored and allowed is 57-635, six games below the Guardians’ actual record of 63-59.

That six-game difference would indicate a lot of luck has worked in favor of the team.

We look at the offensive numbers. Despite scoring a lot of runs since their 10 game losing streak, Cleveland still ranks third from the bottom in the American League in runs scored. They are second worst in getting on base, third worst in slugging percentage, and tied for 12th in home runs.

Everyone wants to talk about the pitching factory in Cleveland, and over the years it has churned out a lot of good ones, but this year’s staff isn’t among the best in the league. They rank 8th in ERA, above the league average, but it’s still 3.89. Now, it is kind of jumbled and with a great six weeks to finish, they could rise to as high as 2nd or 3rd, but some of the ancillary numbers aren’t great either.

The Guardians have walked the 4th most hitters in the AL. Control has been an issue for several pitchers, like Gavin Williams, who leads the league in bases on balls, and Joey Cantillo seems to have control issues regularly.

They are around league average in striking hitters out. The one area they have been good is they have kept the ball in the park, allowing the fourth fewest homers in the AL.

The Guardians have already been on a pretty good roll, winning 23 of their last 33 contests. They have 40 games remaining, so can they extend this streak to a point where they win 50 of their last 72?

Again, anything is possible, but they are really going to have to continue to play at the rate they’ve been at since the losing streak for the rest of the season.

We saw the Tigers go 47-28 last season after July 4th. Heck, last year the Guardians won 38 of their first 57 games.

So, it is possible. And we will continue to hope for it to happen. That’s why they play the games, and as Terry Francona (and others) always said, you can only win the game you are playing today.

Yes, the Guardians have played well over the last month or so. The reality is they are going to have to play even better down the stretch, meaning the offense needs more players swinging it, and the pitching staff needs to be dominant.

Let’s all collectively cross our fingers.

Looking At Guardians’ Battles With Just Over Two Weeks Left

When spring training started for the Cleveland Guardians, there were a few position battles to watch, and the makeup of the starting rotation was unstable. With the exhibition slate about half over and the regular season starting in a little over two weeks, here is an update.

Second base. We think the front office was hoping rookie Juan Brito would take the spot, although others figured Gabriel Arias would get a good shot since he is out of options.

Brito has struggled to date, going 2 for 21 with seven strikeouts, but two homers. More than likely, we will go back to AAA to start the year. Most insiders think Arias will be the opening day starter, but he hasn’t set the world on fire, going 6 for 24 with just one walk.

Perhaps the guy who should get the gig is Tyler Freeman (8 for 19 with 3 doubles and a home run). We like Freeman, who has always hit in the minors, and last year played mostly in centerfield, and we will get to that later.

Our opinion? We think we know what Arias is. He has some pop in his bat but doesn’t make enough contact. Sometimes, the front office ignores evidence.

Rightfield/Outfield. Steven Kwan is the leftfielder. Now it gets complicated. Lane Thomas will be somewhere in the outfield on an everyday basis. The Guardians were no doubt hoping Chase DeLauter could be a factor, but injuries got in the way again.

Going into camp, the hope was rightfield would be a platoon of Will Brennan and Jhonkensy Noel. We aren’t a fan of the former because singles hitters who don’t walk are kind of useless.

And our concern about Noel is the swing and miss in his game, and he has fanned 10 times in 26 plate appearances this spring.

If Arias wins the 2B job, does Freeman become involved here as the platoon partner for Brennan? We think Freeman is a hitter (Bo Naylor is another) who didn’t mesh with Chris Valaika last season, and perhaps he is getting back to his natural swing/approach at the plate.

A long shot would be Johnathan Rodriguez, who had a cup of coffee with the big club last year. He is just 3 for 15 and a home run, but has walked seven times.

Starting rotation. Coming into camp, Tanner Bibee and newcomer Luis Ortiz were the only locks. Through three appearances in Arizona, Gavin Williams looks like he did as a rookie and seems to have sewn up a spot. Williams has fanned 16 in eight innings, allowing just five hits and a single run.

Ben Lively has had three solid starts and would seem to be the fourth starter. The hope was Triston McKenzie would claim the fifth spot but walked five batters in an outing and gave up seven hits in 3.2 innings yesterday. His WHIP is 2.21.

Who gets that spot? Joey Cantillo has been starting but has walked six hitters in six innings. On the other hand, Logan Allen has been strong, giving up just one run in 10.2 innings, striking out 10 and more importantly walking only two and only allowing one home run.

Rookie Doug Nikhazy is the sleeper, although we would expect him to open at Columbus. The southpaw has pitched seven innings allowing just one hit thus far. However, Allen has faced the more experienced hitters thus far.

The lack of minor league options though probably puts McKenzie on the roster anyway. Perhaps he’s used as a mop up option until he can find the strike zone.

The Guardians always seem to paint themselves in a corner with these players who have no options left. We would like to see them trust their judgment a little earlier in the process.

Guardians Still In This Series, But Need A Win Tonight

Former Browns’ coach Marty Schottenheimer used to say no game was “must win” unless if you lose you are eliminated from playoff consideration. On that basis, today’s game three of the American League Championship Series isn’t that, but it’s pretty darn close.

The Guardians are down two games to none in the series, but it’s a best-of-seven series, so they aren’t dead yet, but you can get out the shovels if they can’t win tonight at home.

The big weaknesses that plagued the regular season, starting pitching and the offensive are again the culprits in dropping the first two games of the series.

In the post-season, the Guardians are 3-0 when they scored four runs or more and 0-4 when they tally three runs or less. They’ve put up just five runs in the first two games of the ALCS.

As for the starters, we knew Steven Vogt would rely heavily on the bullpen throughout the playoffs, but in game one, Alex Cobb pitched just 2.2 innings and Tanner Bibee went just 1.1 in the second game. That has caused the skipper to use guys in higher leverage situations than he wanted too.

That has caused some hiccups. Rookie Joey Cantillo came in game one and threw four wild pitches. For those questioning Vogt for going to Cantillo that early (and we were one of those people) understand he likely would have had to bring Cantillo in at some point. He used his best four relievers to the max in the last two games of the Tigers’ series, and no doubt they needed an extra day off.

And in game two, the bullpen was forced to cover 6.2 frames, and it could’ve been 7.2 if the Guards had taken the lead. He correctly used Cade Smith with the bases loaded trailing by two in the second to get out of the jam, which he did allowing just one more run to score.

The point is if either starter could get through four innings, it’s a much better situation for the bullpen. It’s that simple.

As for the offense, Cleveland has just three players with more than one hit in the two games: Brayan Rocchio, who continues to have a tremendous playoff, Steven Kwan, and Josh Naylor. New York has five.

The Yankees have seven extra base hits, the Guardians have just two, the home runs by Rocchio and Jose Ramirez. Cleveland hitters have struck out 21 times, New York hitters just 16.

The Guardians have problems in right field, where Jhonkensy Noel and Will Brennan have combined to go 2 for 25 with one walk in the seven games. And at catcher, Bo Naylor and Austin Hedges have combined to go 0 for 23.

We know Bo Naylor is struggling but pinch hitting for him early in a game just means more at bats for Hedges, who is on the roster for defense and leadership, but is a terrible hitter.

It’s not that the offense hasn’t had opportunities, they were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on in game two. Someone, anyone, needs to come through with a big hit.

Let’s be clear. Right now, this series is not over. A win in game three put the Guardians right back in it. There is pressure on Matthew Boyd to provide some innings and with four days off, no doubt, Emmanuel Clase is prepared to get Vogt at least five outs.

The Guards need a spark offensively. Kwan and Rocchio have gotten on base. They need someone to step up and drive them in.

Anatomy Of Bullpen Usage For The Guardians

When the Cleveland Guardians recent five-game winning streak ended on August 3rd with a 7-4 loss to the Orioles, there were quite a few comments on social media (yes, we know) saying Steven Vogt and his staff didn’t really try to win that game.

That’s because when rookie Joey Cantillo left the game after four innings, trailing 3-2, Vogt went with Pedro Avila to pitch 1.2 innings, and Nick Sandlin for a third of an inning to get the Guardians through six innings.

Still losing at that point, Xzavion Curry came on and after a scoreless seventh, he gave up four runs in the eighth and the game was out of reach.

The social media managers couldn’t fathom why Vogt didn’t use one of his better relievers to keep the score at a one-run deficit.

First of all, we are sure when Vogt went to Curry for the 7th, he wanted him to keep the game right there at 3-2. We are doubly sure Curry did not want to give up runs either because his spot on the roster was tenuous at best.

He’s since been DFA’d and picked up by the Miami Marlins.

But to get to the 7th inning on August 3rd, we need to go back to the previous Sunday, when Vogt used his best relievers to score a series win in Philadelphia, a game which coincidentally, Cantillo also started. It was his first big league start.

Cantillo went 3.1 innings and with Kyle Schwarber, who had already hit two bombs off the rookie, coming up, Vogt went to Cade Smith, who struck him out.

That began a busy week for the bullpen. In the subsequent game, Tanner Bibee went six, and with a 7-0 lead, the skipper used Pedro Avila for 1.1, Scott Barlow for 2/3, and Hunter Gaddis to finish it off.

The only eyebrow raiser there was using Gaddis with a then 8-2 lead.

The following day, Gavin Williams shut out Detroit for five, but used 90 pitches in doing so, meaning the ‘pen had to cover four innings. Tim Herrin, Sandlin, Cade Smith, and Emmanuel Clase finished off the game, which until Cleveland scored in the 8th and 9th, was a 2-0 affair.

Following a day off, Cleveland beat Baltimore 10-3, but it was a 5-2 contest heading into the bottom of the 7th. Ben Lively gave the team six frames, so Vogt used Smith, Herrin, and Sandlin to finish.

The next night, Cleveland won 8-4, but it was 2-1 heading into the 5th, and the manager, clearly not totally confident in Carlos Carrasco, pulled him after 4.1, so again Smith was used for 1.2 IP, followed by Barlow (.1), Avila (.2), Gaddis and Clase (each an inning).

That game was on a Friday night, meaning in a six-game span, Smith pitched four times totaling 4.1 innings, while Barlow, Sandlin, Gaddis, Herrin, and Clase were all used three times.

The Guardians’ starters have had trouble eating innings all season long, and if the team is going to get where it wants to go this season, it is incumbent on Vogt and Carl Willis to take care of the relief corps, the strength of the team.

That means, sometimes, when the Guards are trailing the manager has to have “live to see another day” attitude. That means pitching Avila, Eli Morgan, and perhaps Peter Strzelecki in higher leverage situations.

It’s also those pitchers’ opportunity to earn the skipper’s trust. Smith began the year pitching in lower leverage situations, for example.

It does not mean the manager isn’t trying to win, but these guys aren’t Strat-O-Matic cards, you can’t run them out there every day. There will be a time to do just that. It’s called the playoffs.

Hopefully, all of these relievers will still have something in the tank when October comes around.

Guardians Struggles Are On Both Pitching And Offense

The Cleveland Guardians are in a mid-season malaise. Since June 25th, a period of 40 games, Steven Vogt’s crew has gone 17-23. And note that many games is a quarter of the season, so not really a small sample size.

Most teams go through a stretch like this during a season, so it is not a sign that Cleveland isn’t a good team, after all they still have the third best record in the American League, just a game behind the Orioles.

But the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals have gotten hot, trimming what was a nine game lead on that date (June 25th) to 2-1/2 games. Based on the recent past, it would have been crazy to think the Central Division would have three of the five best records in the AL, but here we are.

The Guards put together a five-game winning streak a little over a week ago, beating Philadelphia to end that series, taking two from the Tigers, and then winning the first two vs. Baltimore (yes, the team with the best record). Since then, they’ve lost seven of their last eight.

When your offense and pitching are both failing, you end up with a long losing streak.

Right now, the Guardians are having issues scoring runs. In the last four losses, they haven’t put up more than three runs a game. And it’s tough to win that way.

But the starting pitching woes, which isn’t a recent problem, has reared its ugly head once again. In the seven-game streak, the most innings pitched by a Cleveland starter was the 5.2 hurled by rookie Joey Cantillo.

Here are the innings pitched by starters over these seven games: 4, 4, 5, 5, 4.1, 5.2, 4.2. And for all the people out there who think Vogt is giving away games, you cannot have Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Emmanuel Clase, and the other primary bullpen pitchers covering five innings every game.

Another annoying habit is the lack of shutdown innings from the pitching staff. Every team the Guardians scrape up some offense and get a lead, the pitchers give it right back, and that goes for starters and relievers. Even Smith has done it.

At the trade deadline, although there weren’t many decent starters moved, we felt it was curious to have the Guards’ brass cast their lot with two pitchers who haven’t thrown a big-league inning this year in Alex Cobb and Matthew Boyd.

It’s now the 11th of August, and those two moves have netted the Guardians the 4.2 innings thrown by Cobb Friday night.

Meanwhile, Paul Blackburn, who the Mets traded for from Oakland at the deadline has given them two starts of six innings.

Perhaps Cobb and Boyd are mainstays during the last six weeks of the season for Cleveland, but so far, they haven’t cured the biggest problem the Guardians have had in 2024.

And when your rotation is shorthanded, and the reliable hurlers don’t succeed, you have a long losing streak. Cleveland’s rotation was built around Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Ben Lively. Bibee missed a start with shoulder inflammation, and Williams and Lively didn’t pitch well.

What Cleveland needs, despite the hitting issues, is a starting pitcher who will go out and put up zeros. Williams did that for the most part last night. Get a well-pitched game, a game where the pitching staff puts up a “0” after the Guardians score.

It isn’t time to panic, but it is time to turn things around. It’s a big advantage to have one of the two best division winning records once the season ends.