Remember, MLB Post-Season Isn’t Supposed To Be Easy

Friday, the Cleveland Guardians will take the field in the American League Wild Card Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, trying to stop some recent post-season trends.

First, the Guards will be trying to break an eight-game losing skein in the playoffs. After winning the first two games of the Division Series against the Yankees in 2017, they lost the last three, and then lost three straight to Houston in the same round in 2018.

In 2020, Cleveland made the post-season in the truncated season, and lost both games in the best-of-three series vs. New York.

So, it has been a long time since October 6, 2017, when Yan Gomes knocked in Austin Jackson with the winning run in the 13th inning to put the Tribe up 2-0 in the best-of-five series.

With Bryan Shaw recently designated for assignment, the only member of the current team to have played in that game is Jose Ramirez.

This series won’t be easy, and really, it shouldn’t be. We have narrowed baseball to the best teams in each league, and there are only 12 teams still taking the field. None of the games the rest of the year will have the Kansas City Royals or Los Angeles Angels involved.

Cleveland has a slight edge offensively, scoring 4.28 runs per game, ranking 6th in the AL, while the Rays cross the plate 4.12 times per contest, 11th best in the league.

Pitching wise though, the Tampa is 3rd in the Junior Circuit in ERA, just ahead of Terry Francona’s group. The three starting pitchers the Guardians will face are no pushovers.

In game one, Tampa will go with Shane McClanahan (12-8, 2.54 ERA, 194 strikeouts in 166-1/2 innings), who started the All-Star Game for the American League. He’s a southpaw, and the Guardians hit 17 points less, and have an OPS as a team that is 68 points worse against left-handers than righties for the season.

Of course, it’s not as though Cleveland is starting a slouch, going with Shane Bieber who went 13-8 with a 2.88 ERA. In the second half, those numbers are even better (9-3, 2.48). Bieber does pitch better on the road, going 5-5 with a 3.22 ERA at Progressive Field.

McClanahan actually pitched better on the road but made eight less starts there.

Bieber has made one post-season start, pitching 4-2/3 innings giving up seven runs to the Yankees in 2020.

Game 2 features Tyler Glasnow, who missed most of this year recovering from Tommy John surgery (two starts allowing one earned run in 6-2/3 frames) against Triston McKenzie (11-11, 2.96 ERA). McKenzie’s ERA was a half run lower in the second half and was better at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario this season.

And if there is a deciding game on Sunday, Tampa goes with Drew Rasmussen (11-7, 2.84 ERA) while Francona counters with Cal Quantrill (15-5, 3.38).

You can see neither team has a decided advantage in the pitching department, even at closer. While Emmanuel Clase was tremendous (42 saves, 1.36 ERA), Pete Fairbanks had a 1.13 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 24 innings this season.

It is likely going to come down to executing on offense, moving runners over and taking the extra base when the opportunity arises.

Although the networks seem to have banished this series to non-rating game times, this might be the most intriguing series to watch.

It won’t be easy. But it’s the playoffs, it shouldn’t be.

For Guardians’ Success? It’s Up To The Starters

The baseball season is now into August. The trading deadline has passed, so you can only improve your team though what you have in your farm system or by getting improvement from players currently on your roster.

It’s now August 9th and the Cleveland Guardians are still just one game out of first place in the AL Central Division and just two games behind in the race for the third wild card spot in the playoffs.

The Guardians’ front office didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline, so they will have to improve from within, and surprisingly, the biggest area for improvement needs to come from what everyone thought was a strength coming into the 2022 season: The starting rotation.

And unlike last season, the biggest factor hasn’t been injuries. Outside of Aaron Civale, who will come off the injured list tomorrow, the other members of the rotation have all made their scheduled starts.

In terms of WAR, the only team getting less out of their starters is Detroit. By comparison, last year, despite Shane Bieber, Civale, and Zach Plesac all missing considerable amounts of time, the rotation ranked 9th in the AL.

And in 2020, the shortened season which also saw Bieber winning the Cy Young Award, the Cleveland starters were the best in the American League.

That season, we felt the team had a chance to win in every single game because of the starting rotation, which was comprised of Bieber, Civale, Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, and Plesac, with Triston McKenzie joining after Clevinger was dealt.

This season, we only have that feeling when Bieber, McKenzie, and Quantrill take the hill, and the latter has had a penchant for giving up leads when the offense gives him run support.

For all of the discussion of Bieber’s drop in velocity, he’s given the Guardians a chance to win in 18 of his 20 starts to date. He’s still allowing less than a hit per inning and striking out the same, with 126 K’s in 124-2/3 frames this season.

When McKenzie stays away from the three run home run, he has shown “ace” stuff. He’s allowed just 90 hits and 33 walks in 128 innings, to go with 121 punch outs. He has done his best work against the best teams in the league, New York and Houston, going 22 innings allowing just one run in three games against them.

Quantrill, who pitched so well in the second half last year as a starter, has made 21 starts and has been spotty. We don’t like the quality start stat (6 IP, 3 runs or less) because that’s not that good, but in only six outings this season has Quantrill pitched at least six frames and allowed two runs or less.

He’s given the Guardians innings, and generally keeps the team in the game.

Plesac actually has more of those games than Quantrill (he has eight), but lately, he’s been a mess. In his last five starts, which have only covered 23 innings, he’s allowed 18 runs (7.04 ERA). He’s suffered a lack of run support all year, and right now he seems to be trying to throw the perfect pitch every time.

He walked five in his last start vs. the Astros.

Civale got off to a slow start (9.85 ERA in his first six starts) and got hurt pitching his best game of the year to that point (6-1/3 IP, 0 ER on May 20th vs. DET). He missed a month, and looked much better, allowing 10 runs in 22 innings in four starts (4.09 ERA).

His last start was July 13th against the White Sox when he pitched one inning.

Our point is if this team has any chance to contend, the starting pitching as a whole has to be much better. Both Quantrill and McKenzie were fabulous over the weekend, combining for 14 scoreless innings.

But everyone has to contribute on a turn by turn basis. If the starting pitching can get back to the way they’ve performed in the past, this Guardians team can hang in there until the end.

And they will justify the front office’s decision not to add a starter at the deadline.

Early Or Not, Guardians Deserve A Chance To Compete

In the last week or so, we’ve read and heard some things about the Cleveland Guardians being ahead of schedule. These people are saying the front office felt like 2023 was the year they could contend for the post-season again.

Our guess is if these folks are in the know, meaning they have talked to high-ranking officials in the Cleveland front office, they are setting up supporters of the team for a disappointing trade deadline.

Look, the truth of the matter is the Guardians are a very young baseball team. Statistically, they are the youngest team in the majors, a half year younger than Pittsburgh among everyday players, and they have the youngest pitching staff in the big leagues, almost a year younger than the Tigers.

We are sure that president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff will not and should not break up the Guardians’ young core, players like Jose Ramirez, Andres Gimenez, Josh Naylor, Triston McKenzie, and Emmanuel Clase. Those guys seem like the foundation for the next few seasons.

On the other hand, the fact is the Guards are sitting just a game out of first place and we are in late July. Future contention isn’t a given either. You don’t know about injuries, poor seasons, and like it or not, the way the ball bounces in a given year.

We are sure the Cleveland brass is looking at ways to help this year’s team. The organization still has a glut of middle infielders both at the big league and high minor league levels, and the last we checked, you can still only play one shortstop and one second baseman per game.

So eventually, the team has to make a decision about Amed Rosario, Gimenez, Gabriel Arias, Tyler Freeman, and Brayan Rocchio. We have been on record in feeling Arias would be the first one of this group moved.

With Aaron Civale out until August, the Guardians could use another starting pitcher and another bullpen arm wouldn’t hurt, with Eli Morgan and Bryan Shaw leaking oil.

Right now, Cleveland might have Kirk McCarty starting Tuesday night at Fenway Park, which is a scary proposition, considering he’s allowed six homers in 12 innings at the Major League level this season.

Of course, that’s due to the rainouts, but the replacement for Civale is rookie Konnor Pilkington. The southpaw has been okay, but he’s hasn’t produced like the other starters.

There have been rumors about dealing DH Franmil Reyes, citing lack of conditioning or perhaps the willingness to get in better shape. More likely, the Guardians figure Josh Naylor can play more often if he’s not on his feet defensively, and Reyes’ increased strikeout rate this season has made it easier to put him on the bench.

Even though the Guardians are ahead of schedule, that doesn’t make it okay for the front office not to improve the club. Maybe they have benefited from being in a division without a great team, but here they are, right in the thick of it with less than 70 games to go.

And you can’t underestimate the boost it can give a team when they know the front office believes in it enough to add to the roster.

In 1995, Cleveland didn’t need to do anything at the deadline, they are ahead by 20 plus games, but GM John Hart traded for Ken Hill anyway. The players said it signaled the organization wasn’t satisfied with making the playoffs, they wanted the ring.

So, whether they are on schedule or not, the front office should be willing to give this 2022 edition of the Guardians a chance to compete for the post-season. You go for it when you have a shot.

Dreaming Of Soto In Cleveland (It Won’t Happen, But We Can Dream)

By now, everyone is aware that Washington Nationals’ slugger Juan Soto will likely be traded before the August 2nd trade deadline. His agent, who quite enjoys seeing his name in lights, turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from the Nats.

Washington will be looking for a boatload of prospects in exchange for the 23-year-old (he won’t turn 24 until after this season) slugger, and so the Cleveland Guardians, who may have the deepest farm system in the game were linked to Soto in some articles.

Now, let’s start by saying we understand the likelihood of Cleveland dealing for Soto is extremely slim. That’s not how this organization has done business over the years. Heck, Jose Ramirez left a lot of cash on the table to remain in town for hopefully, the rest of his career.

However, should the Guardians be interested, especially with the supposed influx of cash coming into the team from new minority owner David Blitzer?

If ever any team would make a gigantic financial commitment to a young player, it would seem to be Juan Soto, who again will start next season at age 24.

Soto led the National League last season in on base percentage at .465, and has already belted 118 home runs in his five years in the big leagues.

And he’s 23-years-old. The prime seasons for a typical major league baseball player are age 27 to 29, meaning Soto should still be getting better over the next few seasons. He was a seven win player last season.

If there is anyone a team like the Guardians would be willing to deal top prospects from a loaded farm system, it would be someone like Soto, and it’s not like Cleveland would have to deal every one of their current top ten either.

We talk ourselves into thinking that every minor player who puts up big numbers is going to wind up playing their way into Cooperstown. That’s simply not the case.

Here were Cleveland’s top prospects five years ago (2017):

Francisco Mejia
Bradley Zimmer
Triston McKenzie
Brady Aiken
Bobby Bradley
Yu Chang
Will Benson
Nolan Jones
Erik Gonzalez
Greg Allen

Granted, in 2017, the Cleveland farm system was not nearly as good and deep as it is now. Certainly, McKenzie has paid off, and hopefully Jones will too. And Mejia was used to get Brad Hand.

You have to figure Washington would want George Valera in a deal for Soto, so if you packaged him with say, Gabriel Arias and Logan Allen in the trade, you still have a very good prospect pool to work with.

Everybody loves Valera, and with good reason. At 21, he’s hitting .272 with 13 homers (857 OPS) at AA Akron, in a pitchers’ league. But will he ever be as good as Soto?

The equalizer is you would get six years of service from Valera, while Soto has only 2-1/2 years before he is eligible for free agency and with his agent being who he is, he’s going to take that route.

We have two points here. First, not all prospects, no matter how highly we think of them turn out to be superstars.

Second, if you can move prospects, even highly regarded ones, for a young, proven superstar, it should be considered. Let’s say Soto winds up being as good as Mike Trout. What would you give up for the last five or six years Trout put together. (Don’t consider the Angels’ record, that’s not Trout’s fault).

Guardians’ Bullpen Issues Tough To Ignore

The Cleveland Guardians have a problem with an unlikely spot, the pitching staff. For all the talk about the team’s “pitching factory”, the club currently ranks 10th in the American League in staff ERA.

The starting pitching hasn’t been dominant, but for the most part, it’s been pretty good. Four of the five starters have ERA’s under 4.00 and Aaron Civale is the lone starter who doesn’t, but he’s been good in three of his four starts.

Zach Plesac is 2-6 record wise, but has pitched at least six innings and allowed less than three earned runs in six of his last seven starts. And Triston McKenzie has been prone to the gopher ball this season, but he was dominant against the Yankees to close out the last home stand and yesterday in Kansas City.

The real problem has been the bullpen. Outside of Emmanuel Clase, it doesn’t seem that anyone trusted by Terry Francona and Carl Willis is going a good job.

Against Boston, New York, and even Detroit, there were many instances where the starters left the game in a very competitive situation, only to see relief pitchers take a one or two run ballgame and letting the opponent put it out of reach.

We have said over the years that the two things relievers cannot do is give up home runs and/or walk people. The first helps teams get back in the game, the latter gives the opponent hope of getting back in the contest.

The two leaders in allowing the long ball out of the Guardians’ ‘pen are two pitchers Francona seems to really trust: Eli Morgan and Brian Shaw. Both have allowed a half dozen dingers, Morgan in 38-1/3 innings, Shaw in 28-1/3.

Morgan was dominant until a June 11th outing vs. Oakland in which he allowed a grand slam home run. Including that performance, he’s pitched 10-2/3 frames and allowed four home runs. You simply can’t use pitchers who give up that many home runs in the late innings.

He has blown four leads in that span.

Then you have the pitchers who can’t throw strikes consistently. Nick Sandlin has walked 18 hitters in less than 20 innings, and we don’t think anyone feels comfortable that James Karinchak is going to come in and throw strikes either.

Left handers Sam Hentges and Anthony Gose (now on the IL) have had issues with control, as has Shaw (which really makes you wonder why he is used in high leverage situations).

That leaves Enyel De Los Santos and Trevor Stephan has guys Francona should find reliable, but as of late, he hasn’t turned to them, and we find that curious.

Stephan gave up a run on the fourth of July to Detroit, the first run he allowed since June 12th. And he pitched out of an incredible jam against the Twins in the 10th inning to help Cleveland win 11-10.

De Los Santos was part of the problem giving up late runs in close games over the past two weeks, but generally, he’s been pretty good, and he’s only allowed two home runs all year.

If Cleveland wants to stay in the race, and they should, they are only 3.5 games out, they have to solve the bullpen issue and get Clase, who should make the All-Star Game, some help. There are always relievers available the trade deadline, but can the current group hold on until then.

Bad bullpens make good teams look bad. Hope that is not happening to the 2022 Guardians.

Guardians’ Pitching Gives Them A Chance Daily

To be honest, when the Cleveland Guardians embarked on this trip to Colorado, Los Angeles, and Minnesota, we would have taken a 4-5 record. Just tread water and get back to Progressive Field, where they haven’t played much this season.

Six games into the trek, the Guards have already picked up five wins, thus clinching a winning trip and now head into a span where they play the team ahead of them in the AL Central standings, the Twins, eight times in the next ten days.

Minnesota sits one game ahead of Terry Francona’s squad, but because the Guardians have had so many games postponed because of weather, Cleveland is actually two games ahead in the loss column.

And when the team returns hope from the Twin Cities on Friday night, they will likely have played 39 of their 65 games on the road, meaning of course they will play 55 of the last 97 contests on the schedule at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.

While the contact oriented hitting approach has been widely discussed and praised, the efforts of the pitching staff should not be ignored.

In this three week span where the Guards have gone 15-4, they have allowed more than four runs in a game just five times. This means most nights, the starting pitcher has given his team a shot at winning.

In 13 of those 19 games, the opponents scored no more than three tallies. The offense doesn’t have to be hitting on all cylinders to win games when your pitching is that good.

We don’t think fans realize how special that is. Even this past weekend, the pitching held the mighty Dodgers (yes, they were without Mookie Betts) to three runs or less in two of the three games, both of which resulted in Cleveland victories.

Ace Shane Bieber has made 13 starts in 2022 and has allowed more than three runs just once, an 8-3 loss to Toronto on May 7th. Since that start, he’s pitched 45-1/3 innings, allowing just 11 earned runs, a 2.18 ERA.

Triston McKenzie has started 11 times this year, allowing more than three runs in a game just twice. He’s allowed just 46 hits in 70 frames for the season.

Cal Quantrill has a dozen starts under his belt this season and has allowed more than three runs just twice, the second coming this past weekend in Dodger Stadium. He’s gone at least five innings in all but one start this year.

Zach Plesac can’t match the consistency shown by the trio already mentioned, but he’s allowed either one or two runs in three of his last four outings. No doubt that’s a trend Francona and pitching coach Carl Willis would like to see continued.

Rookie Konnor Pilkington has made four starts since Aaron Civale went on the injured list, and he didn’t allow more than four runs in those appearances.

Give your team a chance.

That’s the mantra the Guardians’ starting staff uses and it works. Give the offense a chance to scratch out some runs and who knows? It’s worked pretty well so far. As long as the rotation can do its job, the Guards will be in the mix.

It’s a simple formula really.

On Offering Big Money In Sports.

With all of the big money in professional sports today, many of the people not working in front offices are in a big hurry to spend.

For some players, like LeBron James, it’s a no brainer to give them the most money they can get as early as they can get it. People like James are destined for greatness, and their teams should do what they can to tie them up for as long as they can.

However, for most of the players, there should be no rush to bestow huge contracts upon them. Why not get as much information as you can about the athlete before entering into a huge financial commitment for the team with the person.

We understand that sometimes the player takes the lack of the big deal as disrespect. However, remember, most athletes do not have the same loyalty as say, Jose Ramirez did with the Guardians.

The Cavaliers have a decision this summer with Collin Sexton and it has been debated on several fronts. Sexton is a restricted free agent, which enables the Cavs to match any offer he receives from other organizations.

Sexton averaged almost 25 points per game in 2020-21, but played just 11 games last season with a knee injury. So what should Koby Altman’s contract offer be? We know there are a lot of Sexton fans out there that would say he should get the most money Cleveland can offer.

That’s probably because it isn’t their money.

The max deal for a player after four seasons is around $30 million per year. Personally, there aren’t many players coming off a season in which they played just 11 games, that we would offer that kind of cash to. And we understand, there isn’t any reason Sexton shouldn’t be able to come back from his medical issue.

Last year, we wondered what would the market be for Sexton, and quite frankly, we still have that thought. Would any other team offer him anywhere near that kind of cash?

That’s way we would let Sexton go out and see what is available to him. Let him go and see what the market is for him, and the Cavaliers would still have the ability to keep him at a reasonable salary. Remember, the NBA is a salary cap sport, although we know there are many loopholes, and Altman could be creative to give the team room.

We heard a few people the other day discussing locking up Guardians’ pitcher Triston McKenzie on a long term deal after he dominated Houston.

What’s the rush?

We think McKenzie is a very good young pitcher. He will be 25-years-old soon and might be the Guardians’ best pitcher right now.

However, he’s thrown less than 200 innings in his career and is under the team’s control through the 2026 season. And let’s face it, pitchers’ careers are more volatile than everyday players.

A few years ago, we advocated for Cleveland to sign Francisco Lindor at any cost. In his last couple of years here, Lindor seemed to embrace the “launch angle” movement and became less effective hitting. He went from a .280-.300 hitter to a .230-.250 hitter.

Is he reaching the value of the deal he signed with the Mets? We believe most would say no.

We know the owners of these teams are billionaires and none of them (not even the Dolans) are in danger of living in poverty. However, players and agents use what one person gets as the basis for someone else.

And for teams in a salary cap sport, overpaying a player can become an albatross. There is nothing wrong with getting as much information as you can before offering an athlete a boatload of money.

It’s the smart thing to do.

Plesac, Civale Need To Pick It Up In Guardians’ Rotation

When the 2022 baseball season started, most people figured the iffy part of the Cleveland Guardians would be their hitting. If they could muster enough offense, maybe Terry Francona’s squad could hang around and contend for a playoff spot.

To date, just the opposite has been true. The hitting attack currently ranks second in the American League in runs scored, trailing only the New York Yankees, while the pitching staff is 14th, second last, in ERA.

The starting pitching has been a disappointment.

The shortened spring training has made it difficult to evaluate the performances of the rotation, but right now, we would say the most consistent starting pitchers have been Cal Quantrill and Triston McKenzie.

Quantrill has a 3.93 ERA in six starts, allowing more than three earned runs just once (his last start in Chicago), and has given Francona at least 4-2/3 innings in each of his half dozen appearance.

McKenzie has made five starts with a 2.76 ERA. He’s allowed just four earned runs just once (vs. the Angels) and his lowest inning total was four, in his first start. His last two outings have had him giving Cleveland at least six innings.

While there have been concerns about Shane Bieber’s velocity being down about 2 MPH, up until his last start vs. Toronto, he’s been just fine. In his first five starts, he gave his team at least 4-2/3 (that was the season opener) allowing no more than three runs.

He also has the longest outing by a Guards’ pitcher this season, firing seven innings against Oakland. And he’s still allowed less hits than innings pitched, while striking out 29 against just nine walks.

The problems have been Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale.

Plesac started strong, throwing 5-2/3 scoreless frames in his first start against the Royals, and in his first three appearances, he went 17.2 innings allowing just three earned runs. However, in his last three outings, he has thrown 15 innings, giving up 14 runs, an 8.40 ERA. In those games, he has fanned just 10 hitters and walked eight.

Civale has given Tito just one good outing all season in six starts, that against the Blue Jays, and even in that one, he allowed four earned runs, although Francona admitted he probably left him in a couple of batters too long.

Friday night, he gave up two homers in the first inning against the Twins.

He has pitched into the sixth inning just once this season and has allowed at least four runs every time he has taken the mound. His defense has hurt him at times, in his first start, two of the four runs he allowed were unearned. But he needs to pitch longer in games, and better yet, keep opponents off the scoreboard.

The Guardians could give him some extra time between starts with two off days coming up, but will they?

We understand the trend in the grand old game is for starters to get through the batting order twice, but the Guards don’t set up their staff that way. They want starters to go at least six if at all possible, and quite frankly, we still think that’s the right way to do it.

The Guardians need to get Plesac and Civale straightened out if they want to be a factor in the playoff hunt. Konnor Pilkington acquitted himself very well in his first big league start against the Blue Jays.

He could be getting another chance soon if the incumbents don’t start putting up some zeroes.

Kudos For Signing Jose, But It Looks Like 3rd For Guards in ’22

After a pretty dreary winter for baseball fans in northeast Ohio, the sun peaked out a little yesterday.

First, today is the beginning of the baseball season, another sign that warmer weather will be here soon, and the Guardians will be home next week after six games, four in Kansas City and two in Cincinnati.

Second was the news baseball fans wanted to hear for a long time. Jose Ramirez, one of the best players in the game, signed a five year extension, keeping with the franchise through the 2028 season.

Ramirez could be the first great player to finish his career in a Cleveland uniform while spending every day of it in that uniform since the 1950’s.

We aren’t going to go overboard in praise of the current ownership because they simply did what any owner interested in winning would do. It’s a shame they couldn’t do it with Francisco Lindor a year ago so we could watch the duo of Ramirez and Lindor reach their prime in Cleveland.

It’s a great step in the right direction, but the Guardians’ payroll is still among the lowest in the sport, and the owners continue to put large profits in their pocket. So, forgive us for not sharing a virtual hug with Paul Dolan.

With the games starting to count today, what does the 2022 season hold in store for the newly minted Guardians? We would love to be more optimistic, but we see a third place finish for Terry Francona’s squad, behind Chicago and Minnesota in the AL Central.

Besides Ramirez, the Guardians have one other big thing going for them, and that’s an excellent starting rotation, providing everyone stays healthy. Last year, that did not happen.

Because of the injuries the rotation is probably deeper with the emergence of Cal Quantrill and Triston McKenzie in the second half of 2021. The five starters, including Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, and Zach Plesac, give the Guards a chance to win every night.

In today’s game, that’s a big thing.

However, beyond that, your guess is as good as ours.

The offense looks like it will struggle. Francona can really write in one great offensive player (Ramirez) and two decent ones (Myles Straw and Franmil Reyes) every day.

We are interested in seeing how Andres Gimenez does this year, but the organization seems hell bent on finding out for sure on players like Bradley Zimmer, Oscar Mercado, and Bobby Bradley.

We are pretty sure we know how that movie ends.

The quicker we see more of Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan among others, the better. And the hitting might get better too.

The bullpen is another area that is up in the air. Who will be the primary set up men for Emmanuel Clase? We are sure Bryan Shaw will start in the role, but who else? We like Nick Sandlin, but he was hurt at the end of the season, and has pitched in just 34 games in the majors.

Besides Anthony Gose, the relief corps right now is filled with pitchers who will be providing length rather than one inning stints.

We will see how that plays out.

Our guess is the Guardians will look a lot different in June and July than they will this afternoon, but did they have to? Last year, the team was very much in the race until Bieber, Plesac, and Civale went down.

If the rotation can avoid the injury bug, the Guardians could stay in the race, but more than likely the lack of offense will be the reason this will be another year outside of the post-season, even with an extra spot available.

Baseball Is Back, Let’s Talk Some Guardians

Baseball is back, and the problems for individual franchises now shift from the meeting room to the playing field. The Cleveland Guardians are no exception.

The Guards have finished last season 13 games out of first place in the AL Central, and a dozen games out of the wild card spot. And the sixth best record in the league, and that will make the post-season this season, was Seattle and they won ten more contests than Terry Francona’s squad.

Cleveland finished ninth in the Junior Circuit in runs scored, and despite the strength of the organization being pitching, they were 10th in ERA, most due to a rash of injuries to the starting pitchers, mainly ace Shane Bieber, who made just 16 starts.

Still, with good health the rotation should be the backbone of the team. Cal Quantrill emerged to post a 2.89 ERA over 149-2/3 innings, and Triston McKenzie showed flashes, including a seven start stretch in the second half where he threw 46 innings and allowed just 9 runs, a 1.74 ERA.

And don’t forget that Aaron Civale was leading the league in wins when he went down with a finger injury, and although Zach Plesac, who also missed time, was spotty, he still allowed less hits than innings pitched.

Eli Morgan and Logan Allen will be available in Columbus to start the season if need by to provide depth.

The bullpen is another matter. Emmanuel Clase was tremendous and should have had more support for rookie of the year, posting a 1.29 ERA and 24 saves. Behind him are question marks.

James Karinchak struggled coming down the stretch and Nick Sandlin was injured at the end of last season. The hope is that Trevor Stephan and Anthony Gose can contribute, but if we know Francona, he will want some veteran experience in relief.

Offensively, this team needs a lot of help. There is really just one great offensive player, Jose Ramirez, and not much else.

If an excellent hitter is a guy with an on base percentage over .350 and a slugging percentage over .450, then Ramirez is it.

What’s worse is Myles Straw is the only other player with an OBP over .350 on the roster. And next best figure is Bradley Zimmer, who has huge holes in his swing, at .325 (he was hit by 15 pitches). Amed Rosario got on base at a .321 clip.

The number of players beside Ramirez who slugged better than .450 also numbers one–Franmil Reyes (.522). That leaves the Guardians one excellent bat, and two solid bats. That’s it. To be able to score enough runs, conventional wisdom says you need six good hitters.

That leaves the Guards about three short right now. So, the front office has some work to do before the regular season begins. The have to find some guys who can get on base and/or players who can accumulate some extra base hits.

And as of today, we would say there are only four positions written in stone: Ramirez at 3B, Straw in CF, Reyes at DH, and Austin Hedges behind the plate.

That’s an awful lot of uncertainty, particularly with a shortened spring training.

It is good to talk about the actual game and not labor issues. However, now we have to look at the holes on the Guardians’ roster. How quickly can these be resolved without some moves by president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff.

If the Guards want to get in the playoff chase, they need to score a lot more runs.