The Cleveland Guardians must embrace a delicate balance as the regular season comes to a close with the playoffs about to begin.
As the Cleveland Guardians get set to begin their final series of the regular season they find themselves in a comfortable position. Cleveland clinched the American League Central nearly a week ago and have continued to cruise with the playoffs on the horizon. With a playoff spot locked in and a six-game series with Kansas City that will not change their playoff positioning, the Guardians must find a way to achieve the right balance.
What is that balance exactly? One aspect is finding rest for players down the stretch in order to avoid the exhaustion. The other? Maintaining a certain rhythm for the players that will allow them to continue their production into the postseason. Often times teams find themselves resting players too early resulting in poor performance and an early playoff exit. The other side of the coin is becoming exhausted with playing too much and again a premature end to their postseason run. Luckily the Guardians have one of the best managers in the game in Terry Francona. Francona has found himself in similar situations many times before and is more than capable of handling it properly even with his tendency to “stick with his guys” too often at times.
This has been a magical season for the Guardians as they near and possibly eclipse the 90-win mark. As the season has progressed the team continues to find ways to win when it appears that it might not be their night. Time after time they manage to win games late, coming from behind and even in their final at-bat.
The Guardians have been able to scrape and claw all season and the teams that win in October usually have a knack for pulling off wins in this manner. A team that is able to continue battling even when the stakes appear to not be in their favor can be a tough out in the postseason and that appears to be what Cleveland is.
