Guardians’ Starting Pitching With Surprises

The strength of the Cleveland Guardians’ organization is developing pitchers and even in a up and down 2025 season, that has still been the case.

They are hovering around the .500 mark with an offense that ranks near the bottom of the American League in most statistical categories, but the pitching staff still has an above average ERA at 3.87, compared to the league average of 4.04.

However, how they have got there is a different story. We all know that one of the starters, Luis Ortiz, acquired from the Pirates over the winter has been out for about two months now under an MLB investigation.

If not for a case of food poisoning, Tanner Bibee would have been the Guardians’ Opening Day starter, but because he couldn’t go, Ben Lively took the mound. Unfortunately, Lively went down with an elbow injury that needed Tommy John surgery following his start on May 12th.

You can make the argument that Bibee has been the most disappointing pitcher on the team, non-suspension related. His hits/innings pitched has increased by a hit per game from a year ago, and his walk rate is also up while his strikeout rate is down, and his ERA is up over a run per game from last season.

He’s also giving up a ton more homers. Last year, for the entire season, he allowed 22 long balls. This year, he ranks 6th in the AL allowing 21 of them, and 13 of those have been with men on base.

We aren’t giving up on Bibee, but he needs to get back to throwing more strikes, getting ahead in the count more often and keeping the ball in the park.

Gavin Williams was the #2 starter, and by and large, he has been solid this year with a 3.33 ERA, a number which drops to 2.92 since May 1st. He’s only allowed 95 hits in 116.1 innings with 117 strikeouts.

His problem? Walks. He leads the AL in that negative category. Besides putting men on base, it limits how long he can stay in games. We have always thought Williams has the look of a #1 starter, and we still think that. If he can command the strike zone better, the Guardians have an anchor for their rotation.

And then we have Slade Cecconi. We made fun of Cecconi’s numbers in Arizona, where he compiled a 6.06 ERA, and because he was the return for Josh Naylor, who of course hit 30 HR and knocked in 100 for the Guards last year.

But to date, we were wrong. First, Cecconi is kind of a throwback in that he doesn’t strike out batters, but lately just keep inducing weak contact. That has allowed him to pitch at least six innings in his last five starts, allowing three runs or less in four of them.

He’s only fanned more than five in one of his last seven starts. We understand that irritates the new age fans who only value strikeouts, but if he keeps doing what he’s been doing over the last six weeks, he will be quite fine.

The great Bill James said a good pitcher allows less hits than innings pitched and strikes out twice as many hitters as he walks. Cecconi has done that. You know who else has? Logan Allen.

Allen seems to still have people irritated by his poor season a year ago (5.73 ERA), but that number is down to 4.06 this year and he has given Steven Vogt six innings per start since the beginning of June. He’s been solid and for a 4th starter, that’s not bad.

The starting pitching has still been good even though the guy who was supposed to be the anchor, Bibee, hasn’t pitched up to his standards. At the worst, these guys keep the Guardians in the game, which isn’t easy considering the offense output of the team.

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.

Time To Rebound From A Disappointing Off-Season For Guards’ Front Office

There are a lot of people who think professional sports’ front office should never make a mistake. The reality is no general manager is perfect, they all error at times. If they make more good decisions than bad ones, they are doing fine.

We say that because there are many Cleveland Guardians’ fans calling for a change after the team’s recent 10 game losing streak.

Look, we have been on record as saying Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff didn’t have the best off-season but throwing them out with the bathwater seems a bit extreme.

After all, the Guardians entered the season having made the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, and in the last ten years, they have made six post-season appearances. By all measures, they are running a successful operation.

We also have to understand (although we disagree with the premise) the financial constraints put on the duo by ownership. If ownership tells them they have less money to spend on players, they head into each off-season with an arm tied behind their collective backs.

They spent $6 million and $4.5 million respectively on two relievers, Paul Sewald and Jakob Junis. If Sewald was healthy, which he hasn’t, he could have been a late inning option for Steven Vogt. He has done that when active, but he just went on the IL again on Monday.

Junis is a middle reliever/mop up man. Vogt generally only uses him when the Guardians are trailing in game.

We have said many times we understood the trade of Andres Gimenez, whose offense is not commensurate with the salary he was going to be paid following this season, and although we said at the time moving Josh Naylor, the third best hitter on an average offense team a year ago, was questionable, we know Naylor is a free agent at the end of this season.

Signing 39-year-old Carlos Santana and giving him $12 million was a curious move to say the least. Santana had a bad year vs. right-handed pitching in ’24, and this year he regressed to the point he is no longer even a league average hitter.

But the front office can redeem themselves in the next two weeks at the trading deadline, regardless of whether or not they consider themselves buyers or sellers.

If they are sellers, moving off of Santana opens up a spot to look at C.J. Kayfus and give more at bats to Kyle Manzardo, two young players who could be major contributors to next year’s team.

And if you can move Emmanuel Clase for a major league ready bat, that’s a move we would seriously have to consider. Even if the two young players mentioned pan out and Chase DeLauter and Juan Brito prove to be as good as advertised, this organization needs more depth offensively.

It also wouldn’t hurt to admit mistakes on Junis or Sewald to allow more young arms to come up from Columbus.

And one more thing. It may be time to reconsider the whole defense above everything behind the plate. Other teams are getting offense from the catching position, perhaps it wouldn’t be the end of the world to take a step back defensively there in favor of someone who is a threat with a bat in their hand.

A bit of a rebound from a bad off-season would help greatly.

Thoughts On The Guardians And Platooning

Platooning. It’s kind of a buzz word right now for Cleveland Guardians’ fans. We get it, the team isn’t going well, so the lineup decisions made by skipper Steven Vogt come under intense scrutiny.

But it isn’t something that started in the last ten years. The 1950’s New York Yankees, managed by Casey Stengel famously platooned at several positions. Earl Weaver, the Hall of Fame manager used statistics to get favorable matchups all the time.

His most famous platoon in the late 70’s and early 80’s was in leftfield where he played former Indian John Lowenstein and Gary Roenicke to form a tremendously effective offensive duo.

However, not all players are built that way, meaning not all left-handed hitters kill right-handing pitching and vice-versa. Obviously, the better players don’t have a platoon advantage, they can hold their own against same side hurlers.

In more recent times for Cleveland, Brandon Guyer is a great example. A right-handed hitter, Guyer’s career numbers show a .250 batting average and a 727 OPS. However, during his time in the big leagues, he batted .274 vs. southpaws with an 824 OPS.

Even better, the year the Indians went to the World Series in 2016, Guyer batted .336 vs. lefties with an incredible 1021 OPS. He simply killed lefties.

This season, Vogt uses the platoon advantage more than any other manager, but should he? Against left-handed pitching, only three Guardians’ hitters have OPS over 800. Of course, one is Jose Ramirez at 922, and the other two are Angel Martinez, a switch hitter, and the third is a guy who swings from the left side in Kyle Manzardo.

However, Manzardo only has 45 at bats vs. southpaws, and yes, we know he has struggled lately, but he still has 4 home runs. And of course, this is really his first year in the majors.

The right-handed bats the skipper seems to use vs. lefties haven’t really done the job. Lane Thomas, who has solid career numbers against them is just 6 for 40. David Fry is 7 for 53, Johnathon Rodriguez is 6 for 36, and Will Wilson is 7 for 38.

Those aren’t exactly Guyer numbers.

Against right-handers, there are two players with OPS over 800: Ramirez and Steven Kwan. The players Vogt platoons aren’t doing the job.

Nolan Jones: .233/.312/.347/669
Daniel Schneemann: .218/.296/.400/696
Manzardo: .220/.292/.402/694

On the roster, right now, Martinez fits the platoon player bill. Against righties, he’s hitting just .206 with a 541 OPS. His at bats against these pitchers should be limited.

However, the object of platooning is to put a hitter who has a better chance of success at the plate. In Tuesday’s game, Vogt pinch hit Wilson for Jones, who has a career mark of .254 vs. LHP.

Later in that game, he pinch hit Rodriguez for Schneemann, who is his still young career has hit .270 vs. lefties.

Now, the lefty on the mound was Josh Hader, one of the best closers in the business, but we aren’t sure Wilson and/or Rodriguez are major league players, so was the skipper giving his team an advantage?

That’s the object of platooning. Creating an advantage. It seems right now, the Guardians are just doing it to do it.

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.

Might Have To Move Clase To Get A Needed Bat

Whether or not the Cleveland Guardians’ front office will add at the trading deadline is up for debate, but one thing is for certain, the best trades are made from a position of strength.

That means there is one chip to keep an eye on as the end of July approaches, whether the Guardians are in contention or not. And that would be all-star closer Emmanuel Clase.

Clase might be the only player Cleveland can move and get a bat, probably a prospect in return. And the one area the Guardians have any depth is in the bullpen.

This thought has nothing to do with Clase not having a “Clase” type of season, the kind of years he had in 2022 (42 saves, 1.36 ERA and 43 hits allowed in 72.2 innings) or in 2024 (47 saves, 0.61 ERA, 39 hits allowed in 74.1 frames).

This season, he got off to a tough start, and even though he has 18 saves and the complete trust of Steven Vogt and Carl Willis, and he’s earned that, he has allowed 40 hits in 33.2 innings.

One thing Clase does, and this cannot be minimized, is keep the ball in the park. The most home runs he has allowed in a single season is four. And frankly, we are still shocked when anyone takes him deep. He’s only allowed one this season.

Clase is still an excellent closer. He doesn’t walk hitters and keeps the ball in the park. And despite the post-season in 2024, we still feel he has respect throughout the sport.

So, why consider dealing him?

Again, the best trades are made from strength. The Guardians have another high leverage dominant relief pitcher in Cade Smith. In 34.1 innings this season, he has fanned 53 batters and has a 2.36 ERA. When Clase was struggling earlier this season, he saved three games.

Vogt uses him as the ultimate fireman, bringing him in to face the toughest hitters in the lineup before the 9th inning.

Now, the questions would be if you make Smith the closer, who takes his spot? Hunter Gaddis has been solid for two years, including this season if he starts the inning clean.

He has fanned 38 in 30.1 innings and has a 2.08 ERA. He has struggled this year allowing inherited runners to score, and frankly we wish he would use his fastball more often.

Andrew Walters looked to be someone who can help this year until he was injured, but the Guards still have Nic Enright and Franco Aleman who had a 1.99 ERA at AAA last season but has struggled to date this year. He has a power arm though.

Don’t forget Trevor Stephan is nearing being ready after Tommy John surgery and he has fanned 232 hitters in 195.1 innings in his career. Another lefty, Erik Sabrowski, who pitched well in September and the playoffs in 2024 should be ready soon as well.

It’s not like the Guardians have a ton of trade chips on the big-league roster. They could always move some minor leagues, particularly in the lower classifications, but no one is giving you anything for Lane Thomas or Carlos Santana, right?

We have said this before, but the front office doesn’t seem to make trades to stay in a race, but maybe this year is different. The offense has to get better, and it seems the most valuable piece the Guardians have to get some hitting is to move their all-time saves leader.

This Trip Means A Lot For The Guardians At The Deadline

This shapes up as a big trip for the Cleveland Guardians. They’ve already started by losing the first two games of a nine-game sojourn to the west coast where they will play San Francisco and the Athletics, as they like to be called, following the set in Seattle.

Steven Vogt’s squad has lost seven of nine and 12 of their last 18 contests and the offense continues to struggle. In those 18 games, the Guards have scored three or less runs in more than half of them (10!) and outside of Wednesday’s 11-run explosion against the Reds, haven’t scored five runs since the calendar switched to June.

Why is it a big trip? Because the trade deadline is coming up at the end of July and the Guardians are 9.5 back in the AL Central Division and currently would not make the playoffs if the season ended today.

Many people have speculated about the team making a move to improve the roster at the end of July, but history tells us the organization only adds when they are ahead, in recent years they haven’t made a move to try to get a wild card spot.

Think about 2023. Cleveland was two games behind Minnesota on July 26th and in the next few days moved Amed Rosario, Aaron Civale, and Josh Bell, and the only big leaguer received in return was Noah Syndergaard.

In the pandemic season of 2020, the Indians were a game behind the White Sox in the division and traded off a starting pitcher, Mike Clevinger, who had a 3.18 ERA to the Padres in the megadeal that netted Cleveland six players, but at the time only Josh Naylor was a regular when he arrived.

And the year prior, when the Tribe was just three games out of the division lead on July 31st, the front office moved another piece of the rotation, Trevor Bauer, for some offensive help in Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig, but at the time, we felt that was a deal made more with the following season in mind, rather than trying to win the division.

Both those moves in 2019 and 2020 were made more with the future in mind.

From now until the deadline, the Guardians play more teams in contention than out of it. They really don’t have an also ran on the schedule until they go to Chicago to take on the White Sox on July 11th, followed by home games against the A’s and Orioles.

Where will this team be in the standings by then?

They continue to rank at the bottom (SS and CF) on second to last (RF) at three positions around the diamond, and the pitching, lately the hallmark of the franchise ranks 11th (by WAR).

As most people thought, the bullpen has suffered a regression. Hunter Gaddis has allowed 63% of inherited runners (10 out of 16) to score, and Tim Herrin, who last year had a 1.92 ERA and allowed just 39 hits and 25 walks (0.975 WHIP) in 65.2 innings, has allowed 20 hits and 16 walks (1.521 WHIP) in 23.2 frames in 2025.

There seems to be more holes right now on this roster than a single trade would be able to fix, and we don’t see the front office (ownership, that is) opening its wallet to make several moves.

Juan Brito is starting to play in Arizona rehabbing, so maybe he can be here in a few weeks. At what point, do C. J. Kayfus and Chase DeLauter make appearances in Cleveland?

Lane Thomas is back again, and he will help, particularly vs. lefties, which the Guards have had real problems with, but his history shows he doesn’t hit righties very well.

Unless some of the hitters get hot, we would guess the Guardians will be sellers in a month and a half.

What’s weird is we remember playing in the ALCS just last season.

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 Hanging In With The Lack Of A Bench

The Cleveland Guardians just keep pushing forward. Last week, they started a very difficult stretch playing ten straight games against three of baseball’s best/hottest teams.

One of the games in Minnesota was rained out, but the Guards split there and then went to Detroit and took three of four from the first place Tigers. They had dropped to fourth place after losing the first game in the Twin Cities and fell six games out of first.

Now, they are in second place, five off the pace set by Detroit. They held the Tigers, the second highest scoring team in the American League to just 11 runs in the four-game set, allowing just one run in the first two contests.

Manager Steven Vogt is doing it with a roster that contains very little depth. Using WAR (wins above replacement), the Guardians have three positions, shortstop, centerfield, and rightfield that rank in the bottom two among all AL teams.

And for the mathematically challenged, that’s one-third of your daily lineup.

To be fair, they also have three spots (LF, 2B, and 3B) that rank in the top four of all teams in the Junior Circuit but imagine if Vogt was getting any kind of production from short and two of the outfield spots. No doubt, his job would be much easier.

The league average OPS is 705. Currently, the Guardians have five players on the roster with figures 100 points less than that: Nolan Jones (552), Jhonkensy Noel (408), Lane Thomas (305), Austin Hedges (538), and Will Wilson (564).

Thomas is just coming back off the injured list and his figure should get better with more at bats, but the problem with this it has to be difficult for Vogt to give players a day off.

We know this wasn’t intended by the skipper to phone in Sunday’s game against the Tigers, but the Guardians did win the first three games of the series and Tarik Skubal, the reigning Cy Young Award winner was going for Detroit.

Vogt used that game to give many of his veteran players, save for Jose Ramirez, a needed day off.

The result was a 2-hit shutout with 13 whiffs for Skubal against a lineup that had just two hitters over league average in OPS–Ramirez and Kyle Manzardo.

You could have predicted the outcome before the game and in fact, many on social media did just that.

We would guess very soon that David Fry will be activated from his rehab assignment, and we would guess he would replace Noel on the 26-man roster. However, Fry can only DH right now, which paints Vogt into another corner. His current DH, Manzardo, leads the Guards in homers (10) and RBIs (28).

He’s also second on the team in walks with 21.

If you play Manzardo at first base, then you have to sit Carlos Santana, who leads the team in walks. Either way, you are sitting one of the productive hitters you have.

Could you put one of them in the outfield? Well, Manzardo has never played the outfield since turning professional and the last time Santana played there was 2022 when he played an inning in RF for Seattle.

Again, this situation shines a spotlight on the weird off-season by the Guardians’ front office. There were veteran free agent outfielders on the market, but the team wasn’t interested. Apparently, they felt what they had in the minors would take care of the problem.

Remember, they also traded for Nolan Jones right before the season opened. How has that worked out?

Vogt is operating with no bench right now. He’s done a solid job getting his regulars some rest and spotting at bats for the non-producing players. You have to wonder, how long can he do that?

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.