Cleveland’s 3-1 Opening Day loss in Kansas City to the Royals was disappointing, yet expected, but the Guardians must put that behind them. There are three more games to play with Cleveland holding decisive advantages in the pitching matchups. The Guardians will trot out Zach Plesac, Cal Quantrill, and Aaron Civale while Kansas City will feature Brad Keller, Kris Bubic, and Carlos Hernandez.
Like the first game, this will come down to hitting and whether or not the bottom of the lineup can perform. Outside of Steven Kwan and Andres Gimenez, the five through nine spots in the order were hitless (0-11). The only player who reached base besides Kwan and Gimenez was Owen Miller reaching base via walk after pinch hitting for an 0-2 Bobby Bradley.
With Keller’s 5.39 ERA and 1.661 WHIP last season, that should provide a welcome matchup for Cleveland’s bats. Bubic finished with a 4.43 ERA and 1.385 WHIP while Hernandez compiled a 3.68 ERA and 1.284 WHIP mostly in a relief role.
It is important to focus on the next three games and hope for at least a split if not winning just one game. A series sweep is simply not acceptable at this point in time.
Post-game transaction
The Guardians shipped Bradley Zimmer out of town following the first game in exchange for relief pitcher Anthony Castro. Cleveland has decided that Kwan and Myles Straw have earned regular spots in their starting lineup with Oscar Mercado being their late-inning defensive replacement over Zimmer. Clearing up some of the clutter in the outfield should allow other future decisions be made.
As far as Castro is concerned, he could be an important piece early on for Cleveland as the short spring has impacted pitch counts for their staff. Triston McKenzie was used in a piggy back start role, allowing two runs over three innings. Having flexibility and being able to keep their primary relief arms fresh will be crucial early on. Castro pitched 24.2 innings in 25 games last season with Toronto.
Clock is ticking for Bradley
Like it or not the pressure is mounting for Bobby Bradley to perform. The Guardians have already shown they are finally able to move from players who are not playing at an acceptable level with the Zimmer deal. Bradley struck out 99 times in 245 at-bats last season, a not too surprising result. The 26-year old first baseman will always be a strikeout machine, it is whether or not he is able to do enough when he puts the ball in play. Considering his .202/.285/.428 slash line in 90 major league games and struggling every further in the minors slashing just .183/.263/.452 with 39 strikeouts in 29 games, it appears unlikely that he will become the contributor that some hoped he would be.
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