Guardians’ Front Office Needs To Be Honest. With Themselves

The worst thing any business can do is lie to themselves. The world is constantly changing, and smart people learn to adapt and change. If you don’t it’s a matter of time before you get stuck in the mud and your competition passes you by.

Professional sports is no exception, and the front office of the Cleveland Guardians have a chance to reexamine their evaluation of certain players before the trade deadline this week. We hope they have not started this process today.

We trust that they haven’t, but we also hope they are taking an honest look at the current roster.

If they do, then they will see a position player roster made up of two all-star caliber players in Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan, a player with some pop and promise in Kyle Manzardo, and seemingly a bunch of journeyman players.

Their job would be to figure if any of that latter group can become everyday players.

We think the two players who could do this would be Angel Martinez and we also believe Brayan Rocchio could do that as well.

We have said before that Martinez, a switch-hitter, has a concerning strikeout to walk ratio, which is currently at 71:13. In AAA, it was a much more manageable 85:35 and in AA it was 101:49. Perhaps he is giving too much credit to big league pitchers.

He’s also fourth on the team in extra base hits, behind Ramirez, Kwan, and Manzardo. If he can walk more often, he will be a solid everyday player.

As for Rocchio, we realize we are going out on a limb here. Last year, he had a 614 OPS and this year, it’s even worse at 559. We think the approach Rocchio has taken at the plate since returning to the big leagues can be sustainable, and that’s a 735 OPS.

And if he doesn’t work out, you have Angel Genao, who is hitting .272 at Akron and is one of the top 100 prospects in the sport.

Moreso, they need to take an honest look at players like Nolan Jones, Daniel Schneemann, and Johnathan Rodriguez.

Schneemann looks like a solid utility man. He can play 2B, 3B, and SS (serviceable, but he scares us) and the OF. He has a little pop too, with 14 HR in 489 plate appearances. But he’s not really a good hitter (679 OPS) and his on base percentage is around .300.

Jones’ fans still point to the 20 home runs he hit with Colorado in 2023. His critics point to his almost 600 plate appearances since with six long balls. We jokingly referred to him as Will Brennan who walks more.

Brennan’s issue is he’s a singles hitter who doesn’t walk, which makes him kind of a useless offensive player. But Jones doesn’t get on base enough to offset the lack of pop. He has just 15 extra base hits on the year. Rocchio has 14 in 115 less times at the dish.

Rodriguez has received the least chances of the trio with just 106 plate appearances over two years, but has just a .161 batting average, a 533 OPS and 33 whiffs. He hits the ball on the ground a lot, 68.3% of the time. It’s hard to get extra base hits doing that.

He’s been great at the AAA level, with a 925 OPS, 47 homers and a decent K/BB ratio. But he has to start hitting the ball on a line or in the air more often.

And we’ve already addressed the issue with Carlos Santana. He’s been an excellent player over the years for the Guardians, but right now, he’s blocking a lot of players, including Rodriguez.

We are sure the offices on the corner of Ontario and Carnegie are very busy this week. Hopefully, the folks still think a playoff spot is attainable this year.

Any Deadline Move Needs To Help The Offense

The Cleveland Guardians have rebounded nicely from their 10-game losing streak a few weeks ago by winning 11 of their next 14 contests.

The offense has perked up scoring 4.5 runs per game since July 1st after averaging less than three a game in June. Part of that is the schedule. Cleveland hitters have faced two of the worst pitching staffs in the American League as of late (Athletics and Orioles), and another that ranks in the bottom third in the league in the White Sox.

Despite the recent surge, the Guardians still rank 13th in the AL in scoring. That’s third worst.

So, if the Guards want to make a run at a post-season spot, the front office needs to address the hitting.

Right now, the league average OPS is 718 and to date, Cleveland has three hitters who are above that figure, and we are sure everyone knows they are Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Kyle Manzardo.

We also think to have a solid batting order on most nights, a team needs at least six, and hopefully seven hitters can put together solid at bats. Right now, Steven Vogt doesn’t have that luxury.

In Thursday’s loss to Baltimore, the only game the Guardians dropped in the series, Vogt used Will Wilson (since sent back to AAA) and Austin Hedges, because Bo Naylor needed a day off.

Wilson and Hedges are terrible hitters. And since you only get 27 outs in a game, you have to figure the pair will account for 6 of those, two innings worth, meaning you better get some runs from the other 21 outs.

As a comparison, let’s look at the Houston Astros, who rank 7th in the AL in runs scored. They have six batters with over 250 plate appearances and OPS over the league average. The Los Angeles Angels are eighth in runs scored and they also have six hitters with that many plate appearances and an OPS over 718.

One more team to look at, the Yankees, who lead the AL in runs scored, have seven guys that qualify under this criterion.

To be fair, Angel Martinez has been hot, and his OPS is up to 687. We like that he is showing more pop, but our concern is his walk to strikeout ratio, which is currently at 13 walks vs. 69 strikeouts.

That’s not the profile of a good offensive player, but if he can develop some patience and strike zone judgment, he could fill one of the three spots needed.

The question is will the front office go out and get a solid bat this week before the deadline. They have prospects at the A level that could draw some interest to a team out of contention, but would the organization be willing to do that?

We saw folks on social media heralding the return of Gabriel Arias from the IL, but he’s a below average bat, his 658 OPS is below Daniel Schneemann.

And speaking of Santana, it appears he is showing that Father Time remains undefeated, but knowing how the organization feels about him, we ask if the team has the stomach to move on from him?

We hate to depend on a rookie, but we would like to see if C. J. Kayfus can be more productive than the veteran.

And we will repeat, the profile of this front office is they do not add to stay in contention, but on the other hand, do they have anyone another team will be interested in come Thursday?

We know about guys like Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, etc., but the Guardians are not in a position to deal them. And we don’t think teams have an interest in Lane Thomas either.

If the Guardians want to stay in contention for a spot in the tournament, they need to add to the offense. They simply don’t have enough hitting for the last two months.

Guardians At Halfway Point, Teetering On A Cliff

The Cleveland Guardians have hit the halfway point of the 2025 schedule and it’s not looking at though they can return to the post-season.

Steven Vogt’s squad was sitting at 25-17 on May 13th after beating Milwaukee, but since have struggled mightily, going 15-24 in that span. The offense has been mediocre at best. In the month of June, they have scored four runs or more in just ten games, and currently rank 12th in the American League in runs scored.

The pitching has been inconsistent at times, but still ranks ahead of the league average ERA at 3.93.

But back to the hitting. When you look at this team, seriously, how many good hitters do they have? Of course, there is the incomparable Jose Ramirez, a perennial all-star, and Steven Kwan, one of the best leadoff men in the sport.

Kyle Manzardo’s walk rate has dipped in June (just two free passes), but he looks like he has potential, tied for the team lead in homers (13) and third in RBI (33).

Beyond that? Daniel Schneemann has been a surprise, but this month has dropped to .196 with just one homer and overall, his OPS is just a little above league average.

For us, there isn’t anyone else on the team that we can see a path to being an above average hitter, and having only three players like that on a team pretty much ensures you are going nowhere.

The frustration is that this team went to the AL CS a year ago and was just three wins away from the World Series. They’ve had some bad luck, true, but as we have written many times, they also traded one of their best hitters in 2024.

FYI, they weren’t a good offensive team a year ago.

There’s been some bad luck. David Fry provided some offense last year (804 OPS), but had to have elbow surgery, can’t play in the field, and probably needed more than the 33 at bats he received rehabbing before he was activated. He’s currently 6 for 40 with 19 strikeouts in 44 plate appearances.

Their closest hitting prospects to the major leagues, Juan Brito and Chase DeLauter had injuries where they missed significant time. Both are back in action, and the latter seems poised to make his big-league debut anytime now.

With others, the organization has done some miscalculation. Lane Thomas has been made an everyday player, when his career mark vs. right-handers is a 672 OPS. Carlos Santana was signed after Josh Naylor was traded, and right now, he is producing like someone who is 39 years old, which he is. His OPS is below league average and in June, he is batting .163 with two home runs.

Gabriel Arias was supposed to provide some pop, but his contact problems haven’t been resolved (he leads the team with 88 whiffs), and he has only six home runs.

Bo Naylor looked promising in ’23 when he came up and hit .237 with 11 homers (809 OPS), but since has batted .190. He is tied with Ramirez for third on the team in walks, which is a good thing.

Rightfield, centerfield, and shortstop rank among the worst in the league in terms of production.

And perhaps the worst development recently is the defense is falling apart. This team makes way too many defensive mistakes, resulting in extra outs being needed, extra pitches by the guys on the mound, and extra baserunners for opponents.

Perhaps all of the defensive shifting has taken its toll on the team.

As an old coaching friend once told me, starters are starters for a reason.

The good news is the Guardians are at .500 and there is still half a season to go. We saw what the Tigers did last season, and Cleveland isn’t buried like Colorado or the White Sox.

But thinking this is going to turn around with the same players and style of play is probably foolish. Where is the “Guards Ball” the team advertises?

We have speculated about trading Emmanuel Clase, with the bullpen being a strength for the Guardians. We hate saying that, but this lineup simply isn’t good enough.

Right now, this team looks listless, and while it is true teams that aren’t hitting tend to look like that, we believe it goes beyond that. Something has to change in the second half.

Sometimes, Looking Within Is Needed

Lately, there has been a great deal of conversation about possible trades for the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer and also about the roster makeup of the Cleveland Guardians.

This led us to think about the front offices of both teams.

Both of those teams are very successful, at least by Cleveland terms. The Cavs won a title nine years ago, and basically rebuilt the team following the 2017-18 season, LeBron James’ last season in wine and gold, to a point where they had the best record during the regular season in the Eastern Conference this past year.

They’ve been to the NBA Finals five times during the 21st century.

As for the Guardians, they have made the playoffs six times in the last nine years and of course went to the World Series in 2016 and played in the League Championship Series a year ago.

All of that success said, both groups can fall prey to perhaps the biggest weakness any organization can make, and that is overrating the talent they have.

It’s easy to do, we get that. When you draft a player, you do a crazy amount of research on them and in your mind, project what they can be when they mature and gain experience. When the progress is either slower than expected or simply cannot happen, coaches even talk them into scenarios where the player can flourish.

Isaac Okoro is the manifestation of that currently. Okoro was the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft. He was over drafted in our opinion because you shouldn’t take a defensive minded wing that high (and yes, we said that at the time).

Okoro scored 9.6 points per game as a rookie and that remains his career high. For his five years in the league, he’s at 8.1 per contest. He’s become a respectable three-point shooter during the regular season, making 36.3%, 39.1% and 37.1% the last three seasons.

In the playoffs, it’s another matter. In three playoff years, he’s scoring 5.3 points and shooting 29.7% from distance. Those kinds of numbers keep you off the floor in the post-season.

Cleveland signed him to a three-year extension after his rookie deal ended and now would like to move him to free up space under the cap. But the cold reality comes from other teams, who don’t value the player at that salary. It has been reported the Cavs might have to throw in a draft pick or player for another team to make a deal.

The Guardians have the same problem at times. They keep hoping players will finally “figure it out” at the big-league level. We were asked a couple of days ago what we like in certain hitters coming through the farm system and we replied knowledge of the strike zone.

We understand the organization is trying the develop hitters, outside of Steven Kwan, who is last good hitter that came through their system? Obviously, Jose Ramirez, but no one else except for Francisco Lindor, who they traded when he was approaching free agency.

In their search for power, they are taking long looks at guys who have extreme strikeout rates, and those guys usually don’t have long careers. Pitchers figure them out.

We understand it is tough at times to admit a mistake has been made. That’s human nature. But it can hold a business or a sports team back if that can’t be done.

Going To Be Tough For Guards To Stay In It Without Runs

Over the years, we have noticed this trend in Major League Baseball. While pitching is very important, especially in the post-season, (as Terry Francona used to say, when you think you have enough pitching, you go out and get more), you have to score runs to get to the playoffs.

Last season in the American League, of the seven teams that scored over the league average in runs, five made the post-season. Only the Red Sox and Twins did not.

In the National League it was the same.

In 2023, the top five runs scoring teams in the AL claimed a playoff spot while in the NL, surprisingly only five teams scored above the league average and three of those played in October.

And those seasons aren’t out of the ordinary. There are certainly outliers, teams that ride their pitching to the top of the standings. And obviously, if you have a pitching staff that can limit teams to two or three runs per game, you should be successful.

Which leads us to the Cleveland Guardians, who based on this trend are going to have a tough time advancing to the playoffs as they are currently constituted.

Right now, Steven Vogt’s club is 11th in the AL in runs scored, 10th in on base percentage and 12th in slugging percentage. And that’s with Jose Ramirez, who is 7th in the league on OBP and 3rd in slugging.

Imagine what the attack would look like without the irrepressible Ramirez, who should make his 7th All-Star Game appearance and likely his seventh top 10 MVP finish the way he is playing right now.

Steven Kwan and Carlos Santana have been solid, but their specialty is getting on base at least at this point in the latter’s career. Kyle Manzardo is third on the team in slugging (behind Ramirez and Daniel Schneemann), but he figures to lose some playing time with David Fry back.

The league average in OPS is around 700, and Cleveland has just five players (5!) on the roster above that. And it is all the players we mentioned except for Fry, who has just 11 at bats.

That means on a daily basis, Vogt has to put four below average bats in his lineup. No wonder the Guardians have trouble scoring runs. And if Ramirez and/or Kwan are having days where they are going hitless, the Guards are really in trouble.

It’s worse when they face a left-hander because Vogt usually go with Jhonkensy Noel, who has an OPS under 400, career minor leaguer Will Wilson (518) who has fanned in 21 of his 56 plate appearances, and when healthy, Austin Hedges.

No doubt if top prospect Juan Brito was healthy, he’d be here. You have to wonder why Johnathan Rodriguez doesn’t get another shot. He’s hitting .325 with a 911 OPS at Columbus since being sent down in April.

He’s really the only right-handed hitter producing at AAA. C. J. Kayfus and Petey Halpin are hitting well, but they swing from the left side, and Nolan Jones’ recent stretch has earned him a longer look, although his OPS is just slightly over 600.

Our point? Unless the Guardians can find a couple of hitters who can produce, on the roster or not, they could have a problem staying in the race.

We continue to go back to the off-season inactivity of this front office/ownership. The price for that is being paid so far.

Guardians At A Crossroads?

We have been thinking most of this baseball season that the Cleveland Guardians’ success was being done with smoke and mirrors.

Lately, we have been wondering if the mirror has a crack in it.

Yes, if the season ended today (it doesn’t), the Guardians would make the post-season via the wild card, but let’s see where they are after this 10-game stretch where they are on the road against the red-hot Twins and Tigers and then come home to take on the best team money can buy in the Dodgers.

What can Steven Vogt hang his hat on right now? The offense ranks 9th in the American League in runs scored, and in the last eight games, they have scored more than two runs just three times.

Right now, the batting order has four hitters producing: Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, Kyle Manzardo, and the surprise of the year to date, Daniel Schneemann. The league OPS is 702 and just two other batters, Angel Martinez and Gabriel Arias are around that figure.

Lane Thomas should be back soon, but while he’s really good against southpaws, whether he can help the Guardians against right-handers is a question.

Nolan Jones, the idol of the exit velocity crowd is still hitting just .181 with a 579 OPS. Will Brennan was given another shot and so far is 0 for 9.

Carlos Santana was brought back, and you have to wonder if he’s going to produce. He is now 39 after all. He’s still walking, leading the team with 23 free passes, but has just seven extra base hits on the year. His slugging percentage is just .320.

When David Fry is ready to return, and he can DH only this season, the front office will be forced to make a tough decision on Santana. Manzardo has to play and platooning him with Fry still doesn’t address the lack of production from Santana’s spot.

Cleveland thought they had shortstop solved after Brayan Rocchio’s breakout in the post-season, but it did not come to fruition. Arias has done okay, but the pop so many people envisioned hasn’t arrived. He’s slugging .393. He is drawing more walks, but his on base percentage is just .313.

The pitching staff, normally the cornerstone of the team, is also ninth in ERA and it’s a daily challenge to have a starting pitcher finish six innings. Here is the average length of a start for the Guards’ rotation–

Tanner Bibee 5.67
Luis Ortiz 5.37
Logan Allen 5.17 (prior to last night)
Ben Lively 4.96
Gavin Williams 4.67

No question this has taken a toll on the bullpen, which understandably isn’t performing as well as they did a year ago.

Cade Smith hasn’t been the fireman he was a year ago. Tim Herrin has allowed 10 walks and three homers, two things relievers cannot do, in 16 innings. Vogt has tried using Joey Cantillo out of the ‘pen, and he has had some success, but he’s also issued 12 free passes and four long balls in 22 innings.

And Jakob Junis has appeared in seven games this month and allowed runs in five of them.

The real problem is what is the alternative? C.J. Kayfus has hit well in the minors this year at both Akron and Columbus, but also has less than 400 plate appearances above Class A.

As for the rotation, with Lively down, we will see what Slade Cecconi, acquired from Arizona for Josh Naylor, can do. In the bullpen, it might be a matter of time before we see Andrew Walters, Nic Enright, or Franco Aleman.

We were surprised by the lack of activity by the Guardians after they got to the ALCS last season. It might be coming back to haunt them over the next week.

Despite A Lot Of Issues, Guardians Are Hanging Tough

The Cleveland Guardians have hit May on a bit of a hot streak. They came into Saturday night’s game against the Phillies having won eight of their last ten. We understand this doesn’t sound good, but to his credit, Steven Vogt seems to be doing it with smoke and mirrors.

Based on the number of runs they have scored and allowed, the Guardians’ record should be 19-22, which would put them fourth in the AL Central Division.

Their offense is below average, scoring 4.1 runs per game (the AL average is 4.2). Their pitching ranks 10th in the league in ERA at 4.13, higher than the average of 3.96.

This could mean two things. First, they could get much better pitching starting this week and stopping other teams from scoring would cause a continued streak of good play. Or a losing streak is in the balance.

Part of the problem with the pitching staff has been the inability of the starters to throw strikes. We were at the game Friday night when Gavin Williams labored through five innings, throwing 98 pitches. Yes, he held them off the scoreboard and that’s great, but it puts a strain on the bullpen.

Here are the walk rates per nine innings for the Guardians’ starters this season–

Williams 5.6
Logan Allen 4.8
Luis Ortiz 4.4
Tanner Bibee 3.2
Ben Lively 3.0

And Lively will likely miss some time after leaving last night’s start with forearm tightness.

The latter two are acceptable. The first three have had issues getting through five innings and again, that affects the relief corps. Last year, the bullpen was dominant. This year, we’ve already seen Emmanuel Clase and Cade Smith go through some struggles.

And the last two games against Philadelphia saw a pair of 1-0 games get expanded leads because the bullpen allowed runs.

The Guardians simply need Williams, Allen, and Ortiz to throw more strikes.

Offensively, the hitting has been buoyed by the recent hot streak of Daniel Schneemann, who has a .344 on base percentage and an 857 OPS. But mostly, the offense is overly reliant on Steven Kwan (.390/.453/843), Jose Ramirez (.356/.472/828) and Kyle Manzardo (.315/.476/791).

Reports are Lane Thomas should be back soon, and it will be interesting to see where he fits in. Angel Martinez has done a decent job in centerfield and rightfield continues to be a vortex of suck, so logically, putting Thomas in right should be the play.

We say this knowing the exit velocity police are championing Nolan Jones and Jhonkensy Noel, who are both hitting under .164 and have OPS under 600. Jones is out of options, and we know the Guardians’ front office goes to the end of the earth for those guys, but it has to be tough to keep putting him in the lineup.

Sunday night, Vogt pinch hit Will Wilson for Jones, and we have said this before, but whether or not Wilson should be on a big-league roster should be the question, not should he be pinch hitting in a close game in the late innings.

Brayan Rocchio was sent down yesterday with his .165 batting average and 433 OPS, and Will Brennan was called up. We know what Brennan is at this point, he’s a singles hitter who doesn’t walk and also doesn’t handle left-handed pitching. Such is the state of things as the upper level of the farm system.

Later this week, the Guards hit the road and take on the red-hot Twins and Tigers on the trip. Vogt needs some of these issues to have worked themselves out by then.

That they have the second-best record in the AL is kind of a minor miracle.

Call Us Names, But Talking Baseball Is Tough Now

We love baseball. It has been our favorite sport as long as we can remember. And one of the reasons are the statistics. As broadcaster Bob Costas has always said, those stats are part of the game.

Everyone knows “714” is the number of home runs Babe Ruth hit. The same with “755” which is Hank Aaron’s total. Pete Rose had 4256 hits, Cy Young 511 wins. These numbers have become part of the sport.

However, today the numbers seem to have become “exit velocity”, “horizontal break”, “hard hit rate”. All of them are interesting numbers and certainly can add some context to how a player may perform. However, none of them have any influence on winning or losing.

And as long as they are keeping score, that’s what the game is all about.

We are sure at least one person will refer to us as “get off my lawn” guy and a boomer but let us say that we were a voracious reader of Bill James’ Baseball Abstract when it came out, and it certainly changed the way we view the game.

A person currently on the radio in northeast Ohio once said the best use of analytics is as a justification for doing something, especially when it doesn’t work out. For example, asking a manager why he pinch hit a certain batter. It’s because he hits .382 vs. right-handers. The hitter might have popped up, but there was a reason for the decision.

That’s fair.

The hitting statistics do not take into account the number of times a hitter strikes out. For example, Hitter A, has an average exit velocity of 92.9 MPH and a hard hit rate of 50%, barreling the ball 13.7% of the time, currently 13th in baseball.

Hitter B’s average exit velo is 86.3 MPH, his hard-hit rate is 21.4% and the barrel rate is 2.9%.

Hitter A is Cal Raleigh of the Mariners, who is currently batting .203 (to be fair a 786 OPS) with 20 strikeouts in 73 plate appearances. The other is Steven Kwan, who is batting .333 with an 893 OPS and eight whiffs in 73 times at the dish.

So, when Raleigh hits it, he hits it hard a lot. The problem is he doesn’t make contact 27.3% of the time.

And yet, some people will tell me that Raleigh is a very good hitter, which he is, for a catcher, but there is a lot of swing and miss in his game.

As for the break on pitches, we sometimes wonder if a batter just stood there and didn’t swing, he might walk or at the least get ahead in the count. We see videos of ridiculous breaking action on pitches, but a lot of them don’t land in the strike zone.

There are people on social media thrilled that this information was put on the scoreboard at Progressive Field. Never have a watched a game and thought wow, how much did that break?

It’s fun to see after a game, but during? It doesn’t matter to us.

On Tuesday night, Bo Naylor was 0 for 1, with a walk, sacrifice fly, and sacrifice bunt. To us, he contributed to the offense. Games where a batter goes 0 for 4 and doesn’t walk? He has contributed nothing to the offense.

And hitters who do this on a regular basis are anchors in the batting order.

Look, these things are fun to look at for the newer fan. We get that, but let’s remember the game is about 27 outs and scoring more than the opponent. Simple numbers, correct?

A Good Homestand Buoys Some Concerns For The Guardians

When the Cleveland Guardians came home after their season opening nine game trip, it seemed like the team was running in quicksand a bit.

The defense was shaky, the offense only had four players (Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana, and Kyle Manzardo) hitting, and the pitching, usually the hallmark of any Cleveland team was not very good.

Then they came back to Progressive Field, and the pitching found itself, allowing only 10 runs in a six-game span, although to be fair, the horrible Chicago White Sox were the first three games, and they only tallied three times in the trio of games.

This is not to say everything is fine and there are no worries, but the Guardians sit at 8-7 now after 15 games, sitting a game behind Detroit in the AL Central standings.

The starting pitching was much better, but the number of innings the rotation is providing is a problem. The farthest any starter went on the homestand was the six innings provided by Ben Lively on Sunday. Luis Ortiz went 5.2 on Saturday and was outstanding, striking out 10 Kansas City hitters.

The biggest issue is that the starters are throwing a lot of pitches to get through five innings. Friday night, Tanner Bibee held the Royals scoreless for 4.2 frames but had to come out after tossing almost 100 pitches.

The same was true with Gavin Williams last start. The opposition isn’t scoring, but the pitchers aren’t being economical about it.

Bibee has walked seven in 14.1 innings this year. Williams has six in 13 frames, and Logan Allen seven in 10 innings.

Of course, this puts an enormous load on the bullpen. Paul Sewald, Jakob Junis, and Cade Smith have already been in 8 of Cleveland’s 15 games to date, and Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis, and Tim Herrin have been in seven. We know the Guardians are very protective of these relievers, but they had to carry a huge load a year ago.

Something to keep an eye on as the season goes on.

We also think at times; Steven Vogt creates this issue. Allen was pulled after 83 pitches and two out in the fifth with a 3-1 lead. Yes, there were runners on second and third, but why not give the young pitcher a chance to get out of it?

The offense is still struggling, hitting just .222 as a team, but they received a boost this week from Angel Martinez, who was called up because Lane Thomas has a bruised wrist after getting hit by a pitch.

The switch-hitter went 5 for 10 in three starts, with a pair of doubles and three runs knocked in. Gabriel Arias had a solid week as well, getting 5 hits in 17 at-bats with a pair of home runs.

There are still too many players who are simply not contributing at the plate. Daniel Schneemann has started 2 for 22. Nolan Jones has drawn six walks, tied for third on the team, but is 5 for 35 with 16 Ks. Jhonkensy Noel is 6 for 32 and has only fanned six times but doesn’t have an extra base hit.

Still, Ramirez has not gotten hot, outside of his three dinger game against the Angels.

But the length of the lineup was a concern coming into the season, and it doesn’t look like it has gotten any longer. Cleveland still has a below average offense. The league is scoring 4.12 runs per game, the Guardians are at 3.93.

It’s a good sign the Guards have started out 7-2 vs. the Central, but they haven’t played Detroit or Minnesota. The Orioles should be a good test for the pitching over the next three days.

Hopefully, the starters can start going at least six innings on a regular basis.

A Different Opening Trip For Guardians Compared To 2024

It’s Opening Day in Cleveland and that’s a certain sign of spring, despite today’s weather forecast. However, the Guardians aren’t coming home with momentum like they did last season in manager Steven Vogt’s first season.

Because of the renovations to Progressive Field, the Guards spent the first nine contests on the road in 2024 and starting hot, arriving in town with a 7-2 record, in route to a 19-10 mark at the end of April.

This season hasn’t been the same. Cleveland won the season opening series at Kansas City, taking two of three, but the west coast was not kind to the team, as they dropped five out of six in San Diego and Los Angeles against the Angels.

Until Luis Ortiz went six innings in the last game of the trip, no starting pitcher completed that many innings on the sojourn. All in all, Cleveland pitching has the second worst ERA in the American League at 5.09 and is tied for second in allowing the most home runs, giving up 14 gopher balls.

The defense has also been a concern, leading the AL in errors to date. Jose Ramirez has made four errors, mostly not coming up with ground balls. Cleveland pitchers have already allowed eight unearned runs, so the mistakes have been costly.

The baserunning hasn’t been crisp either. The Guardians picked up their first stolen bases of the season on Sunday, their ninth game. They’ve been caught four times. And we’ve seen Gabriel Arias thrown out at third in San Diego with men on first and second and no one out, and Brayan Rocchio allowing himself to get tagged out on a double steal attempt with Steven Kwan at the plate.

The latter also should be filed in the curious managing file.

These kinds of mistakes make us wonder if training camp was a little less focused this season coming off winning the AL Central last year.

Offensively, the Guardians are ninth in runs scored, but averaging only 3.78 per game. To be fair, the league average of 4.37 is bloated by the Yankees and Red Sox’ figures, but outside of Kyle Manzardo, no relatively young player has stepped up.

Against the Royals, Guardians’ hitters fanned 18 times and drew 16 walks. In the last six games, Cleveland hitters have struck out 59 times with the same number of bases on balls in twice the amount of games.

Rightfield continues to be a problem as Nolan Jones and Jhonkensy Noel have combined to go 4 for 38 with 13 punchouts and just three walks and only two RBI, both coming on outs.

Lane Thomas has also struggled at the dish, getting off to a 5 for 29 start that includes just one extra base hit. The bench group of Daniel Schneemann, Johnathan Rodriguez, and Austin Hedges have combined to go 2 for 22 in the young season.

Having young players in part-time roles in tough on them, as it is hard to produce with sporadic at bats. That’s an excuse for Rodriguez. It is more than likely that Schneemann will be a utility guy for his career, so he needs to hit when he’s in the lineup.

Look, it is still early. In fact, it is very early. Our concern is we aren’t seeing the crisp baseball we saw a year ago. And we haven’t even talked about how the bullpen has struggled so far.