Guarding The Corner Episode 8 – Splitsville: James and Bryan discuss the Cleveland Guardians splitting with San Diego, Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan winning player and rookie of the month awards respectively, their upcoming series with Toronto, and more.
Guarding The Corner Episode 7- Rollercoaster vibes: James and Bryan discuss the Guardians trading sweeps, DFA’s, Mets no-hitter, and Cleveland’s upcoming two game set with San Diego.
Off back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Yankees and Angels, the Cleveland Guardians needed to turn things around and that they did. Cleveland came to Oakland and was able to continue their early season trend of trading sweeps with their opponents. The Guardians came away with three wins in Oakland, each less dramatic than the one that preceded it.
Game 1 featured clutch at-bats from both teams as the lead changed hands multiple times. Powering the Guardians was Jose Ramirez, Andres Gimenez, and Josh Naylor in their homer based attack.
The second game of the series featured less run scoring, but some high drama late. Richie Palacios drove in two runs in the top of the 9th to break the 1-1 tie. This set up Emmanuel Clase for a easy save, his fourth of the season. This was a much needed outing after blowing a save earlier in the week.
Sunday’s series finale was a contest in name only. The Guardians built a lead early and added on inning after inning, eventually leading 7-0. Cleveland had every starter in their lineup record a hit before two late game replacements came on going 0-1 in one at-bat. Triston McKenzie had a bounceback start, shutting out the A’s over 6.1 innings with seven strikeouts and just four hits allowed.
The Guardians will return home after going 3-7 on their road trip, now sitting at 10-12 on the year. It is a quick two game series at home versus San Diego before Toronto comes in for a four game set to end the week. Both the Padres and Blue Jays should provide tough competition for the Guardians, perhaps they can rise up to their opponent this time around instead of being on the wrong end of a sweep.
It took longer than anyone would have liked, but the Cleveland Guardians have snapped their seven-game losing streak. Jose Ramirez, Andres Gimenez, and Josh Naylor all homered in the contest.
Gimenez’ grand slam in the third and Naylor’s two-run shot in the seventh did a lot of the heavy lifting for Cleveland. The clear the bases job from Gimenez gave the Guardians a temporary 5-4 lead while Naylor’s homer was of the game-winning variety with two innings to go.
Aaron CIvale struggled yet again, allowing six runs on seven hits in just four innings. The 26-year old Guardians right hander has allowed six runs in back-to-back starts totaling just seven innings. The only other Cleveland pitcher to allow a run(s) to score was Enyel De Los Santos. Sam Hentges, Trevor Stephan, and Emmanuel Clase all combined to allow just one hit (Clase) while striking out five in 4.1 innings.
After back-to-back sweeps at the hands of the Yankees and Angels, Cleveland found their offensive groove against the A’s. As a team, Cleveland combined for 11 hits and five walks, a breath of fresh air for the Guardians and their recent struggles. With the first win of the series under their belt, Cleveland has a chance to continue the trading sweeps pattern that has been going on for most of the season.
Shane Bieber will take the mound for the Guardians Saturday afternoon as the Athletics will trot out Cole Irvin.
Guarding The Corner Episode 6 – Myles Straw’s (Almost) Fight Club: James and Bryan discuss the Guardians being swept in New York, Myles Straw, Kyle Schwarber’s problem with Angel Hernandez, the injury to Eloy Jimenez, and their series against the Angels.
Guarding The Corner episode 5 – Hit Parade: James and Bryan discuss the Cleveland Guardians sweep of Chicago, Miguel Cabrera, and the Yankees series.
Guarding The Corner Episode 4 – Cold as Ice: James and Bryan discuss the Guardians being swept, Roki Sasaki, Mike Trout, Sunday Night Baseball, and the upcoming series against the Chicago White Sox.
The Cleveland Guardians have activated Josh Naylor off the injured list. Konnor Pilkington was optioned in a corresponding move.
This is a big addition to the Guardians lineup and a big moment for Josh Naylor. Naylor has not played since June 27th of the 2021 season due to a season ending injury. The return of Naylor should provide a Guradians offense, which is already off to a hot start, even more firepower.
Josh Naylor has appeared in 91 games for Cleveland, slashing .248/.296/.405 with 16 doubles and seven home runs while driving in 23. The potential in Naylor’s bat is clearly there and his hitting profile suggests there is more that has not been seen yet. In his two games of postseason action, Naylor was on fire with five hits in seven plate appearances including three doubles and one home run. The ability is there now it is about putting it all together and becoming a regular contributor for the Guardians.
It has been a long time, but Josh Naylor has finally returned to the lineup of the Cleveland Guardians.
The last time Naylor was in Cleveland’s lineup was June 27, 2021. Naylor would suffer a season-ending injury after a brutal collision.
Josh Naylor has appeared in 91 games over two seasons with Cleveland. Naylor has slashed .248/.296/.374 with 31 doubles, 16 home runs, 59 RBI, and a WRC+ of 82. 2022 will be an important season for the 24-year old and the Guardians as the team needs answers at multiple positions, this includes Naylor.
The Cleveland Guardians have agreed to contracts with six of seven arbitration eligible players on Tuesday. Franmil Reyes, Amed Rosario, Austin Hedges, Cal Quantrill, Bradley Zimmer, and Josh Naylor were the players agreeing to deals. Shane Bieber was the only arbitration eligible player to not agree to a deal.
(After the original publication of this post, Bieber and the Guardians managed to avoid arbitration).
Reyes, Rosario, and Quantrill were among the more important players for the Guardians last season. Naylor performed around his career-average rate in his injury shortened season, but his production was not of the exciting variety. Zimmer and Hedges were both rather forgettable at the plate. Bieber appeared in just 16 games due to injury with a bit of stat correction when compared to his 2020 campaign.
Having made deals with six of their seven arbitration eligible players should give the organization some clarity in regards to how to handle any possible additions. Considering that the team has not done much in that department, additions of any kind would (mostly) be welcome. As time goes on it does appear that the team is not going to make any substantial changes.
