Four Guardians win Gold Gloves

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The Cleveland Guardians have four Gold Glove Award Winners.

Five members of the Cleveland Guardians were finalists for a Gold Glove and four ended up coming away with the award. Andres Gimenez, Shane Bieber, Myles Straw, and Steven Kwan won a Gold Glove at their respective positions. The lone finalist not to win was third baseman Jose Ramirez.

Defense was a trademark of the Cleveland Guardians this season so the MLB high four Gold Glove winners is hardly a surprise. In addition to leading all of baseball in Gold Gloves, this was a franchise record for the Guardians.

Notes about the winners

Steven Kwan is just the second rookie in team history to win a Gold Glove, the first being Sandy Alomar. Kwan is also the with rookie outfielder to win the award, the most recent being Luis Robert in 2020.

Myles Straw joins Kwan as the first Cleveland outfielders to win a Gold Glove since Grady Sizemore in 2008.

Andres Gimenez is the second Guardians second baseman to win a Gold Glove in the last three seasons (Cesar Hernandez 2020).

Shane Bieber is the first Cleveland pitcher to win a Gold Glove since Rick Manning in 1976.

Terry Francona to remain Guardians manager

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Terry Francona will be back next year for his eleventh season as manager of the Cleveland Guardians. Francona has a 845-671 record in his 10 seasons at the helm in Cleveland.

In 10 seasons under Terry Francona Cleveland has been a successful ball club. Last year’s 80-82 campaign was the only losing season under Tito. Francona did take a leave of absence from the team July 29th with DeMarlo Hale assuming interim manager duties for the final 62 games, compiling a 30-32 record over that span.

Terry Francona has shown he is the right man for the job and has been able to perform managerial magic along the way. Cleveland will look to build on their 92-70 record in 2022 and advance further in the postseason.

Jose Ramirez to undergo hand surgery

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The Cleveland Guardians star third baseman will be undergoing surgery.

In mid-June Jose Ramirez did not play two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and from that moment he was not himself. The Cleveland Guardians third baseman had a right hand injury that would impact his performance for the rest of the season. Ramirez’ slash line dropped across the board (.305/.397/.642 – .264/.329/.437) and it that was a direct result of the injury.

There was an option for Jose Ramirez to have surgery during the season, but the lengthy recovery time made him opt to wait until after the season was over. If Ramirez would have had the surgery during the season there is a very real possibility that the Guardians do not win the division.

Next year a fully healthy Jose Ramirez should be able to help guide the Guardians further in the postseason than their exit in the ALDS. The first year of experience of the Guardiac Kids will go a long way in addition to some help that should come during the upcoming offseason.

Guardians have five Gold Glove finalists

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The Cleveland Guardians have five Gold Glove Award finalists.

Five Cleveland Guardians players have been named finalists for a Gold Glove. Myles Straw, Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, Andres Gimenez, and Shane Bieber are among those at their positions with a chance to take home some hardware.

A Gold Glove for any player would be the first for a Cleveland player since Cesar Hernandez and Roberto Perez won in 2020. With five potential winners there is a good chance the Guardians have at least one Gold Glove winner. The award winners will be revealed prior to Game 4 of the World Series.

Guardians fall short in The Bronx, lose 5-1

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The Cleveland Guardians were not able to continue their cinderella season as they lost Game 5 to the New York Yankees.

All year long the Cleveland Guardians found success with getting on base and coming through at just the right time. That was not the case Tuesday night against the Yankees. Cleveland was able to outhit the Yankees 8-6, but their one walk compared to New York’s four gave the home team a 10-9 advantage in the on base department. This would ultimately contribute to the 5-1 final score which saw the Guardians season end.

While both teams would leave the same amount of runners on base (8), the game would come down to which team would come through with runners in scoring position. Unfortunately for the Guardians it was the Yankees who held the advantage in this area. New York went 2-7 with RISP while Cleveland was hitless in six attempts. Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo were the two Yankee hitters who were successful with men in scoring position with the former’s three-run homer in the 1st inning essentially putting the game out of reach for Cleveland.

Aaron Civale was Cleveland’s starter and it did not go as planned. Civale allowed the homer to Stanton mentioned previously and failed to get out of the 1st inning. While there will be a lot of handwringing over the decision the fact of the matter is the bats did not do enough. Scoring just one run was never going to beat a Yankees team that can simply out-slug their opponent with ease.

Looking at the big picture this season was a success even though their postseason run has come to an end. The Guardians have a bright future ahead of them and a couple more additions to the roster can make the difference from their season ending in the ALDS and winning a World Series.

Guardians season on the line

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The Cleveland Guardians split their two ALDS home games and now return to The Bronx with their season on the line.

There is nothing like the drama of October baseball and the Cleveland Guardians have found themselves in a movie type scenario. Cleveland is tied with the powerhouse New York Yankees after the first four games of the American League Division Series with a decisive Game 5 taking place this evening. Due to bad scheduling and a rainout, this will be the fourth game in as many days which has cranked up the pressure for both clubs. This is the ideal situation when discussing the premise of October baseball.

New York is the better team and possess a higher payroll, but is has been Cleveland who has looked like the more complete team so far. The Guardians hold the edge in hits (36-22) and strikeouts by their pitching staff (41-38) while the Yankees hold a slight two run advance in runs scored (15-13). The runs scored number shows just how close a series between two teams so incredibly different are playing a very competitive series. It is going to come down to which team does the little things right and that has mostly been Cleveland so far.

There will be a lot said about the team which does not win this evening. Aaron Boone has been under fire for his repeated failures in the postseason and another loss could be the end of his time in New York. Meanwhile the Guardians have largely struggled over recent years, losing four straight postseason series dating back to 2016 with their Wild Card Series win bucking the trend. Should Cleveland falter it would be their 10th loss in a series clinching game in 11 tries and that is far from ideal.

The winner of Monday’s contest will advance to take on the Astros in the American League Championship Series beginning Wednesday in Houston.

Guardians – Yankees postponed

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Game 2 of the American League Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees has been postponed. The new start time will be 1:07 P.M. Friday afternoon.

This is due to there being an off day between the first two games of the series for some bizarre reason. Now should the series last the full five games it will complicate things. Both teams must travel to Cleveland after Game 2 to play games 3 and 4 at Progressive Field. If a fifth game is needed they must travel back to New York for a Monday contest. That’s right. Four games in four days in two different cities.

Nick Sandlin out for year

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The Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher will miss the remainder of the postseason.

Cleveland’s bullpen will be down one relief arm for the rest of the postseason. Nick Sandlin has a Teres Major muscle strain that led to his removal from Saturday’s win over Tampa.

As expected the Guardians have replaced Sandlin on their postseason roster ahead of their series against the Yankees.

Nick Sandlin was a valuable member of Cleveland’s bullpen this season, striking out 41 batters in 44 innings. Sandlin allowed three earned runs over his last 26 appearances dating back to July 9th. Opponents hit just .148 and slugged .173 against the 25-year old reliever. Being without a pitcher who is able to shut down opponents will make things a bit more difficult for Cleveland as they continue their postseason quest.

Guardians adjust ALDS roster

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The Cleveland Guardians have made some roster adjustments ahead of their series with the New York Yankees.

As expected the Cleveland Guardians have made some roster moves prior to facing the New York Yankees in the ALDS. Aaron Civale and Cody Morris are in while Nick Sandlin and Kirk McCarty are out.

With Sandlin being out for the year and McCarty only being used out of the bullpen since late-July, adding Civale and Morris was a no-brainer. Should any of Cleveland’s starters falter in the first three games they are going to need length out of the bullpen. Having options such as Civale and Morris would be more beneficial in this type of situation. It makes sense that the Guardians would opt for these arms over others.

Guardians set ALDS pitching order

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The Cleveland Guardians have set their pitching rotation for the first three games of the ALDS against New York.

After completing their sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Cleveland Guardians have determined their pitching order against the New York Yankees. Cal Quantrill gets Game 1 while Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie will follow.

Quantrill pitched once against the Yankees, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out two with one of the hits being a Josh Donaldson solo homer.

Bieber is the only one of the three Guardians pitchers set to pitch who did not face the Yankees this season. The last time Bieber faced New York was in 2021, striking out nine and allowing two runs on four hits and two walks.

McKenzie dominated New York, allowing just one hit and striking out seven Yankee batters across seven innings.

Taking the series against Tampa in just two games is huge for Cleveland. Being able to use Quantrill in Game 1 rather than rushing back Bieber on short rest is ideal for the Guardians. Things would have looked a lot different if Cleveland was not able to come out victorious in that five hour 15 inning marathon on Saturday.