The Weird Twists And Turns For Guardians This Year

We don’t think anyone could debate this has been a weird season for the Cleveland Guardians. They were coming off a 92 win season and a playoff appearance, and the front office even signed free agents to fill holes.

It just didn’t work out. The Guardians’ longest win streak all season has been four games, which coincidentally is also their longest losing streak. They just couldn’t build any momentum, either positive or negative all season long.

It was a season filled with weirdness and here were some of the strangest things we saw this year.

1). They carried three catchers most of the season, but started the season with Meibrys Viloria as the third backstop. He was on the roster for the first 35 games of the season, playing in 10 games, accumulating four plate appearances.

Talk about a waste of a roster spot.

2). After years of dominating the AL Central, the Guardians had a terrible time in the division this season, pretty much an explanation for their below .500 record. They won the series vs. Minnesota, ironically, but are just 15-21 against the other three teams who have a combined record of 181-278 (.394).

Weirdly enough, they’ve held their own against the teams likely to play in the post-season in the American League, going 27-24 vs. Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Minnesota, Houston, Seattle and Texas.

3). How about Zach Plesac’s fall from grace. Yes, he didn’t have a good year in 2022, but he still had a 4.31 ERA and allowed 136 hits in 131.1 innings.

This year, he simply imploded, allowing 18 earned runs in 21 innings and was sent to the minors by early May after just five starts, and designated for assignment later on. And to support the organization’s decision, he compiled a 6.08 ERA in AAA.

A far cry from his first two years in the bigs in 2019 and 2020.

4). The 1968 World Champion Detroit Tigers’ had a shortstop named Ray Oyler, who hit .135 for the season in 247 plate appearances. Cam Gallagher only has 142 times at bat, but he’s hitting .130 as the Guardians’ back up catcher, and somehow made it through the season on the big league roster.

He survived even though David Fry came up from AAA and demonstrated the ability to do a solid job behind the plate, and can swing the bat a bit.

5). How many times did Myles Straw, one of the league’s worst hitters with an OPS of 575 with a single home run on the year, bat in the late innings with the game on the line? In high leverage situations, Straw hit .198 with a 500 OPS.

And Terry Francona appeared irritated when asked why he didn’t pinch hit for Straw in these situations.

6). Speaking of Fry, he pitched more innings for the Guardians this season than August 31st waiver pick up Matt Moore. Fry went four innings on a Labor Day blowout loss against Minnesota, and Moore pitched in five games totaling 4.2 innings before being put on waivers again and being claimed by Miami.

7). Emmanuel Clase leads the AL in saves, and likely will do so for the second straight year. He also became the first Cleveland pitcher to have 40+ saves in consecutive seasons.

He also blew 12 save opportunities. He did that despite allowing just 2 home runs on the season. It seemed every softly hit ball against him found a hole, or the team played bad defense behind him.

It didn’t help that Cleveland had so many close games.

We didn’t even go into the voodoo that left-handed pitchers do to the team.

Hopefully, the Guardians don’t add to the strange doings on in the last week of this disappointing season.

Important Series In Minnesota? Don’t Think The FO Thinks So

The Cleveland Guardians should be entering a crucial stretch as five of their next eight games are against the Minnesota Twins, who currrently lead the AL Central Division by six games over Cleveland.

We say should because we aren’t sure the management of the team are interested, or should we say fully invested in catching the Twins.

We are sure the players are trying to win every night, but it seems like Terry Francona, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff are ambivalent.

In Sunday’s game, the Guards had a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning and Noah Syndergaard had thrown over 80 pitches. He allowed a runner to reach, but no one was warming in the bullpen meaning the starter was out there to complete the inning.

He gave up a two-run homer to allow Toronto to capture the league and was removed after six frames. He was also designated for assignment after the contest.

With Cal Quantrill likely to be activated on Friday, he will take Syndergaard’s place in the rotation, but to replace him, the Guardians called up retread Daniel Norris to take his place.

Norris replaced Xzhavion Curry last night and promptly gave up four runs turning a 6-5 contest into a 10-6 Twins’ lead.

Last year, the organization was very aggressive bringing up young players like Will Brennan, Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, and Cody Morris, even if they weren’t on the 40-man roster to help down the stretch.

Why not bring up Franco Aleman, who has made 13 scoreless appearances at Akron, striking out 29 and walking just 3 in 19.1 innings at AA. To be fair, he didn’t have great numbers at Lake County (5.52 ERA) but did whiff 46 batters in 31 innings.

Norris is a 30-year-old journeyman who made six appearances at the big league level this year and walked 11 batters in 10.2 innings coming into last night. Heck, if they didn’t want to go with Aleman, Hunter Gaddis, who opened the season in the starting rotation would have been a better choice.

Francona could’ve turned to Eli Morgan in the 3rd and maybe went with Morris later, but no, it was Norris, just like a game in June against a team not ahead of them in the standings.

We understand the Blue Jays threw two southpaws at the Guardians over the weekend, but instead of playing Bo Naylor, the best catcher on the roster, in one of the games vs. a lefty, both Cam Gallagher and Eric Haase, who at best are replacement level major leaguers both got starts.

We have seen fans angry that Naylor only played in one game in essentially his hometown. That shouldn’t be the argument. He’s clearly the best hitter of the three, and isn’t a terrible defensive catcher. He should be in there most nights.

This shouldn’t be news. The organization told the fan base they weren’t interested in contending on August 1st. And it wasn’t trading Amed Rosario, Josh Bell, and Aaron Civale that was the main crime, it was not trading for someone to help a bad offense and a struggling bullpen.

A sweep could have cut the Minnesota lead to three games, heck, they could still walk out of the Twin Cities down five. But we don’t think that was a major consideration.

Fans can’t want something more that the organization does.

If Tito Retires, Who Should Be Next In Line?

Terry Francona is certainly leaving all the hints that this will be his last year as manager of the Cleveland Guardians. Of course, this has led to all kinds of speculation as to who would will be his successor.

First, no matter how frustrating Francona can be at times to fans, particular younger ones, he has been a tremendous leader. He has won a club record 906 games to date, winning 55% of the contests he has piloted.

Overall, he sits currently at 1935 victories, so he will not become the 13th skipper in big league history to get to that plateau. Every manager with more wins that Francona are in Cooperstown, except for Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy, who are still active, and will be enshrined when they retire.

He has managed in three World Series, winning two in Boston and of course, losing in the 7th game with the Indians in 2016.

In the four years prior to his arrival, Cleveland won 68, 80, 69, and 65 games. Their lowest since? The 80 wins in 2021.

Francona has faults as a manager, all good managers do. We have always said he skirts a fine line between patience and stubbornness, and we are willing to admit that as much as much as we may want a particular player’s playing time reduced, usually Francona was right in staying with him.

That doesn’t mean we want a current coach to take over though. No matter how much DeMarlo Hale, Mike Sarbaugh, or Sandy Alomar Jr. (three people mentioned as successors) will carry on the foundation of what Francona has built in terms of culture, they aren’t Francona, and that will likely cause a conflict down the road.

We would like to keep Carl Willis, but he’s 63 years old and may not want to work with a new manager. But he’s a big reason for the organization’s “pitching factory” and if the new manager wants a chance to win, the knowledge of the young starters that Willis has will be crucial.

Let’s bring in someone new, perhaps even someone from outside the organization, but also a manager who can combine the analytics-based thinking with some “old school” thoughts as well.

For example, we don’t like the use of openers. We still believe the best way to win a baseball game is to have your starter go six or seven innings of effective work and turn it over to the bullpen.

Francona always said the problem with an opener is what happens if the pitcher you designate gives up three runs in the first. Then you are screwed.

But we don’t want someone who is a slave to the numbers. Someone once said that analytics often get used to justify a decision even if it doesn’t work. We agree with that thinking.

So, we would hire from outside the organization, and let the new manager pick his staff. Sometimes, having someone with a different “perspective” looking at the players is very much needed for an organization.

However, whoever the next skipper is, he won’t have the impact or the longevity of Terry Francona. Cleveland hasn’t had a revolving door in that position since Mike Hargrove was hired in 1991.

Hargrove was here 8-1/2 years, Eric Wedge seven, and Francona 11. Yes, Charlie Manuel and Manny Acta were mixed in, but the organization has been very stable. We would guess that’s something Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff will be looking for.

Guardians’ Season Sliding Away

After the trade deadline when the Guardians’ front office raised the white flag on the 2023 season, we were asked several questions on social media as to why we disagreed with the decision and why the players seemed angered about it.

As for the players, they don’t look at things the way the front office does, meaning they don’t care about next season. Trading their best and most veteran pitcher at the moment for someone who quite possibly could help in ’24 does nothing for them. Kyle Manzardo isn’t with them, so he is irrelevant.

What they think is they are one hot streak from taking control of the division, which is what the Minnesota Twins are doing right now. And now with the injuries to Josh Naylor and a likely suspension for Jose Ramirez, that winning streak will be very difficult to achieve.

Currently, the management of the team says the right things. They are working toward a post-season berth, they are trying to win every game they can. The second statement is true, because that’s how Terry Francona manages: You try to win the game you are playing today.

But with Naylor out and Josh Bell traded, an already struggling offense has lost two of their four best hitters. Simple math tells you the hitting isn’t going to improve because of that.

There have been some changes already noticeable. We have seen Will Brennan playing centerfield more often with Oscar Gonzalez playing right. The organization seems to be moving away slightly from Myles Straw, who frankly isn’t the same player as the one who came from Houston in 2021.

That player worked counts, drew walks, played great defense, and stole bases. Straw still has a very good glove but doesn’t do any of those other things.

We would also say if the Guardians aren’t going to make the playoffs, we don’t care where they finish, as long as they are doing due diligence for the future. So, if the team isn’t going to be contenders, why is a player like Cam Gallagher still on the roster?

If David Fry can catch, he and Bo Naylor should be catching every game at this point. And Gallagher is taking the spot on someone else who can be looked at.

The front office is doing that in some regards. Xzavion Curry seems to be getting a look at the fifth starter job. Brayan Rocchio has been called up and has been in the lineup each game. The Guardians want to see what Gabriel Arias can do on an everyday basis, and hopefully when Tyler Freeman comes back, he will be afforded the same responsibility.

If they want to carry three catchers to take advantage of David Fry’s versatility, then maybe take another look at Bryan Lavastida, who played here a bit last season. He has a 769 OPS between Columbus and Akron this year.

One other thing about building for the future. Your franchise player will turn 31 before the end of the calendar year, and Ramirez has stated he wants to win a World Series here. The front office needs to keep that in mind.

Guards’ Front Office Caps Off A Bad Year Of Decisions

After the Cleveland Guardians clinched the AL Central last season, Terry Francona told his players to make this a beginning, a springboard to future success.

Apparently, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff didn’t get that message. Heading into the last two day prior to the trading deadline, the Guardians closed to within a half game of Minnesota for first place in the division.

The front office decided to pass on competing for the post-season in ’23. Sure, they said the right things, they are confident in the group in the clubhouse and still think they can compete, and maybe they can. But the message to fans and the players was pretty clear. They had no confidence in this squad.

It’s not trading Amed Rosario, who was going to be a free agent, or Josh Bell, who was a disappointment this season. And we can even buy the theory behind trading Aaron Civale, who has been injury prone and at best is probably a #3 or #4 starter.

The problem is the organization did nothing to address the problems this team has had all season: The offense and the bullpen.

They picked up Noah Syndergaard in the Rosario deal to essentially take Civale’s place in the rotation, but they still need a fifth starter, and for some reason, they are reluctant to give Xzavion Curry a shot at the job.

The front office has had a bad run since the division title a year ago. They signed two free agents, Mike Zunino (we didn’t like that move) and Josh Bell (we did like that) and both are gone with two months to go in the season.

The offense struggled most of April and May, and the front office and management were slow to make changes. In fact, until Rosario was dealt last week, they played two very subpar offensive players (Rosario and Myles Straw) pretty much on an everyday basis.

And while they are patting themselves on the back for adding top 100 prospect Kyle Manzardo from Tampa, let’s remember that he put up great numbers last year at high A/AA, but in AAA, he has a 783 OPS. We aren’t predicting he will be a bust, and certainly we hope he can be an everyday player.

But we look at numbers in the lower tiers of the minor leagues with a jaundiced eye. There is a prospect in the Guards’ system who had a 977 OPS at high A and an 818 OPS at AA. That would be George Valera, who is currently hitting .196 with a 633 OPS at Columbus this season.

We aren’t writing Valera off, but his ranking on top prospect lists has dropped from 2022 to 2023, and we wonder if he will appear at all prior to 2024.

After years of ownership saying they need attendance to justify spending, after last year, the crowds have returned to Progressive Field. And the front office decided not to add payroll or talent to the current roster.

To us, the activity by the front office put a cap on a nine month streak of mostly bad decisions. We understand no front office is perfect and the Guardians deserve the benefit of the doubt. But we also would comment that kicking the can down the road is an easy decision.

It’s tougher to correct the problems of the current roster and make a run at another division title. And as for those who would say the Guardians aren’t good enough to win the World Series anyway? You can’t win the lottery unless you buy a ticket.

The Weird Doings Of The ’23 Guardians

There is no getting around the inconsistency of the Cleveland Guardians season to date. Their longest winning streak to date has been four games. Their longest losing streak? Also, four games.

Fans are waiting for that hot streak, a week or so where the Guards rip off 10 wins in 12 games or win 14 of 18 contests. Just when you think the team can get some momentum, they stop it.

Last week, they blew out Pittsburgh in back-to-back games, and had a 4-0 lead in the series finale. They wound up dropping a 7-5 decision.

The inconsistency isn’t just on the field, it has extended off the field as well. Many of the decisions the front office and Terry Francona have made don’t seem to be logical, at least to the folks who follow the team.

First, we have the Myles Straw/Amed Rosario conundrum. The Guardians love Straw’s defense. He won the Gold Glove last season and justifiably so. He covers a lot of ground in the outfield and we are sure the pitchers love that.

Unfortunately, he is a terrible hitter, with an OPS of 617 (the league average is 724). To the organization though, his defense justifies his playing time.

But Rosario plays the most important defensive position on the diamond, and he is a poor defender. You might think he plays because he is a great offensive player, but he isn’t. His OPS is 657 (note the league average), and he doesn’t walk and doesn’t have a lot of pop.

So, our question if Straw plays because of his defense and Rosario plays essentially despite it, that doesn’t make sense, right?

Another puzzling thing is the handling of Xzavion Curry. Curry has done a very good job coming into games early when a starter has failed and soaking up innings to keep the rest of the bullpen rested.

He has a 2.87 ERA in 53 innings of work in 2023.

The Guardians also have a need for a 5th starter with the injuries to Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, and Cal Quantrill.

After Sunday’s game, Francona said he didn’t want Curry to pitch more than three innings so he wouldn’t lose him for 3-4 days. You mean like a starting pitcher?

Curry was a starter in the minor leagues and has thrown as many as 67 pitches this season, although that was early in the year. Over the last month, he has tossed a high of 45 pitches and threw 42 on Sunday. He threw 39 in his previous outing, so they could have had him go to around 55 against the Phillies.

Our question is instead of using Curry as a starter going forward, you would rather have him available in case a starting pitcher gets hit around? It would seem to us that you could have a pitcher like Hunter Gaddis serve that role and see if Curry can lend some stability to the rotation.

We know “openers” and “bullpen games” are part of the sport, but it is still better if you can put someone on the mound to start the game, and have that guy throw at least six effective innings.

Just two weird things the Guardians are doing this year. We could also include the penchant for letting Straw hit with the game on the line, giving up an out to move a runner into scoring position for hitters like Cam Gallagher, and continuing to carry three catchers on the big league roster.

When you aren’t winning on a regular basis, these things make people scratch their heads. And it’s not like these questions come out of left field (no pun intended).

Inconsistent Guardians’ Bullpen Makes Everyone Worried

Show me a bad bullpen and I’ll show you a bad team. That’s the old baseball adage. We would guess the corollary to that would be, show me an inconsistent bullpen and I’ll show you an inconsistent team.

Which brings us to the Cleveland Guardians.

The other day, Terry Francona said his bullpen had gone through a rough patch over the last week. We hope that manager speak, because the truth is the Guardians’ relievers have been hit or miss for about the last month.

The organization will tell you the bullpen ERA ranks second in all of baseball, and it does, ranking behind only the Yankees with a 3.48 ERA.

Detractors will tell you the relief corps is gassed, but they rank 18th in the majors in innings pitched.

They do have the 4th best batting average against at .223.

There are two issues at work here. The first is because the Guardians are currently leaning on four rookie starters, Francona and pitching coach Carl Willis are leaning on the relievers quite a bit. Having the cover sometimes four or even five innings, not only put a great burden on the crew, but also the more relievers used, the greater chance one of them doesn’t have it that night.

The second thing is Francona, like most managers, likes to have a pecking order with his relievers, so they know when they can expect to get into a game.

We know Emmanuel Clase has the ninth, but he would like to have one or two pitchers who know they will go in the 8th, and so on down the line.

It hasn’t worked that way lately.

Trevor Stephan is the preferred guy to pitch the 8th, but since June 1st, he’s been in 19 games, and allowed runs in six of them. He also has pitched just six innings where he has retired the side in order.

Last Sunday, he came into a game with a three-run lead, and after retiring the first hitter, he walked the next two. That led to a four-run inning, and an eventual loss for Cleveland.

By the way, we have (and most people have) two rules for relief pitchers: Don’t walk hitters and don’t allow the long ball.

Friday night was the kind of thing that makes you wonder how you can figure this game out.

After Gavin Williams had to leave after four innings, Eli Morgan pitched the fifth and faced two batters in the 6th, allowing a single to one of them.

The Guards went to Tim Herrin, a lefty, because Sam Hentges has been scuffling lately, and Herrin over the last month had pitched 8.2 innings, allowing just two runs, striking out 10 and walking just two.

The rookie walked the next three hitters, forcing in a run.

So, Francona went to Nick Sandlin, who got out of the inning. Sandlin over the last month had fired 9.1 frames allowing just one run, and fanning 13, walking just three.

He gave up two homers in the 7th. They were the first he’d allowed since June 17th.

Stephan relieved and you could feel fans wincing at the move.

He put down all five batters he faced.

The point is right now, the Guardians really need the bullpen crew to step up because of the inning restrictions put on the rookie starters, but Francona can’t feel too confident in bringing anyone in, because he just doesn’t know what will happen.

If this is a slump, eventually everyone will return to form and Cleveland’s bullpen will be one of the best in the game. If they continue to fail, then the season could go south in a hurry.

It’s not easy at times to manage a major league baseball team.

Talking Through Trading Bieber

When the Cleveland Guardians fell to 21-28 after losing a series on the road to the Chicago White Sox, the baseball media immediately went to their default story when dealing with the Guards, the possibility of a trade of an established star for prospects.

In this case, the star is former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. What kind of haul could Cleveland get for the ace of their staff?

First of all, let us be clear that we are in favor of any trade that makes the team better. However, we say that with a caveat. After winning the AL Central Division a year ago, we are not interested in deals that make the Guardians better in three to four years.

The other part of that equation is the 75 year gap since the last World Series the franchise won.

The real question is what numbers the front office are looking at, the win/loss record or the number of games behind the Guards are in the standings? If it’s the former, then they have to look at the prospect that Bieber will be a free agent after next season and has already likely turned down an extension offer.

If they believe this year’s team can still win the division and get back to the playoffs, then a trade at the deadline doesn’t make sense, particularly since Triston McKenzie is back on the injured list.

We all saw firsthand last week what happens when the starting pitchers don’t throw a good share of the innings on a nightly basis. Any team’s bullpen gets taxed, and Cleveland is no different.

This is a good time to bring up that Bieber leads the American League in innings pitched with 95. Granted, we aren’t seeing the dominant Bieber who made the All-Star team in 2019 (he was the game’s MVP) and was the best pitcher in the league in 2020.

But he still is great help to the Guardians because he can pitch deep into games and he still is effective, allowing less hits than innings and walking only 25 batters vs. 69 strikeouts. His ERA is in the mid-threes at 3.51.

With McKenzie and Cal Quantrill both down, and two rookies in Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee taking two rotation spots, Terry Francona and Carl Willis need guys who can give the bullpen a lighter load every few games.

And if the Guardians do fall off the pace in the division by the middle of July, then it would make sense to explore deals for the right-hander, but we feel the organization would be and should be looking for major league ready bats and/or arms in return.

Besides the whole 1948 issue, remember that Jose Ramirez will turn 31 in September, and we know he wants to win here. Pushing an opportunity to do so down the road a few years while Ramirez is still putting up all-star numbers would seem to be a bad move.

This isn’t a rebuilding team, they won 92 games a year ago with the youngest team in the sport. Before the season started, we looked at young teams and saw sometimes they had to take a step back before they moved forward.

That’s how the Guardians should view this season if they do fall off the pace.

One other issue about trading Bieber while the Guards are still very much in the race. How do you explain it to the fan base, who already look at the ownership with a jaundiced eye.

Straw’s Offensive Woes Making Us Forget The Glove At Times

We want Myles Straw to work out. After coming over from Houston at the trade deadline in 2021, Straw hit .285 in 60 games, getting on base at a .362 clip. He stole 13 bases and even hit two home runs.

Since the 2021 season ended, so has Straw’s offensive production. He has 761 at bats in that time span, collecting 170 hits, a .223 batting average. His walk rate has also dropped, going from 10.8% when he first arrived in Cleveland to 9.1% last year and 9.2% this season.

And he famously is the only major league regular player to not have hit a home run since the ’21 season concluded.

His line drive rate, a little over 30% with the Astros, and 36.5% in the 60 games with the Indians in ’21 has dropped to just under 25% this season. Although he’s never been a pull hitter, he did it around 19% of the time in 2020 and 2021.

That percentage has dropped to 8.6% this season.

Straw is a tremendous defensive centerfielder, a Gold Glove winner last season. However, we like to point out that the great Ozzie Smith hit .211 in his second year in the big leagues with a 522 OPS. And if he didn’t steadily improve on those numbers, not only would he not be in Cooperstown, he also wouldn’t have played 19 years in the majors.

The point there being you have to be at least a respectable hitter to play at the big league hitter.

We are sure Straw would like to be better with a bat in his hand, but the results aren’t there. In the second game in San Diego this past week, Straw was due up with the bases loaded in the 7th inning of a game where the Guardians were trailing 4-0.

We instantly said (before the result) that Terry Francona had to send up a pinch-hitter, either Gabriel Arias (decent numbers vs. RHP although a small sample size, also a threat to hit a HR) or Tyler Freeman (solid contact hitter), but the skipper let Straw bat.

He struck out.

We aren’t going to get into what was said after the game, but it was odd at best.

We understand Straw is never going to be Tony Gwynn or Jose Ramirez at the plate. However, it would be great if he could develop a skill of fouling off pitches, working counts, so he could draw more walks and being able to bunt. We have heard on broadcasts that he is a terrible bunter. Why not working on that?

And it would be even better if he started stealing again. He hasn’t stolen a base since May 18th. With his speed, we were shocked by that.

If this were the 1995 Indians, the team could live with Straw’s defense, but this Cleveland squad is currently 12th in the league in runs scored per game. Perhaps a boost in the offensive production at the catcher spot with Bo Naylor’s arrival (not saying he’s Johnny Bench, just saying the Guards should get at least a bit better offense) will help hide Straw in the batting order.

We thought back to the 1986 New York Mets, when manager Dave Johnson would famously start Kevin Mitchell at shortstop from time to time (Mitchell was better suited as a LF or DH). Johnson’s rationale was let the Mets get the lead and then he’d get Mitchell out of there for a better defender.

Perhaps the Guardians should think about using Straw that way. Get a lead, and even if it’s in the 5th inning, put him in the game to take advantage of his defense.

In the meantime, if Straw doesn’t add some things to his game that make him a better hitter, he’s going to be someone managers will be looking to replace in the lineup.

Is Guardians’ Patience Being Rewarded?

It hit us watching the Cleveland Guardians’ scintillating 10-9 multiple comeback win over Houston Friday night that it appears the 2022 edition of the Guardians may have returned.

And if they have, it’s a reminder that no matter how patient we can be as fans, and by the way most fans are not, the front office has more of it, and most times it pays off.

Terry Francona’s squad trailed after four innings by a 5-1 count against Christian Javier, who gave into the game with a 7-1 record for the Astros.

Quite frankly, based on how the season has gone, we were ready to file this one in the loss column. But Cleveland scored three in the fifth to get back into the game behind contributions from Myles Straw, Amed Rosario, and Andres Gimenez, three players who have had rough starts to the campaign.

There was a report that Will Brennan was on the verge of being sent back to AAA as the Guards headed to Baltimore and Minnesota for a seven-game trip.

Since then, the young left-handed hitter has gone 20 for 44 with a couple of home runs, 8 RBIs, and eight multi-hit games, and had the game winning hit on Friday. This has given the bottom of the lineup, a kind of wasteland for the first two months of the year, a kick start.

Early in the week, fans were expressing concern for the star of the team, Jose Ramirez, who was mired in a two-week slump. Well, he’s out of it now, crushing four home runs Thursday and Friday (three in the former game) and raised his slugging percentage to .494 and his OPS to 842.

We bet many casual fans of the Guardians wouldn’t realize that despite the offensive struggles Cleveland has had this season that Josh Naylor ranks fifth in the American League with 48 ribbies.

The question now is whether or not the offense can be sustained for the rest of the season. We don’t mean scoring 10 runs every night, but not reverting to the performance of April and May, when the batting attack was well below league average.

If it can, it could have a bearing on how long Shane Bieber remains a Guardian. The rumors are out there, but it will be interesting to see what the front office will do as currently Cleveland is just 2.5 games off the AL Central lead.

Yes, we know the former Cy Young Award winner’s velocity is down, and his strikeout numbers are as well. He also gives the team six innings per start and his ERA is a respectable 3.57.

With Gavin Williams on the horizon, there is a though the front office could move the veteran from a position of strength, but remember, management also wants to keep on eye on the number of innings Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, and Williams will pitch this season, and Bieber can help with that.

Plus, he’s easily the starter with the most experience on the staff, and that can be a help down the stretch.

We do have an issue with some of the players we see people coveting for Bieber. Several of those guys are in A ball. The Guardians won 92 games a year ago, so they are not looking for someone who will help them in 2-3 years, at least not as the primary piece in a deal.

If they deal for a hitter, they want someone who can help right now. Also, remember the philosophy of the organization is contact. They want players who have good contact skills and then teach them to drive the ball.

The schedule isn’t getting easier, but the Guardians are starting to resemble the pesky squad that one the division title. Let’s hope that continues.