Tag Archives: Nick Wittgren

Guardians outright Wittgren and Hill

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The Cleveland Guardians have decided to make two pitchers free agents while another was claimed by another team.

While the Cleveland Guardians were making decisions on 2022 options for Jose Ramirez and Roberto Perez, they made a couple more decisions on some bullpen arms. Nick Wittgren and Cam Hill have been outrighted by the team and both are now free agents. Additionally, Francisco Perez was claimed by Washington.

Wittgren was a pretty reliable but unspectacular arm in the Guardians bullpen prior to last year. Something simply was not working in 2021 and his performance on the mound was not up to the level he previously showed while in Cleveland.

Hill did not pitch for Cleveland in 2021, but was relatively unimpressive during his 18-game stint in 2020. Other options are clearly on the table for the Guardians moving forward.

The Washington Nationals decided that a young pitcher in the Guardians was of interest as they claimed Francisco Perez. Perez made his major league debut in 2021 and could be an intriguing option for the Nationals.

Cleveland hammered by Royals 10-5

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The Cleveland Baseball Club lost their second straight game in Kansas City, which will keep them being above .500 for the first time since 2012.

There were a couple of firsts that occurred in the Cleveland Baseball Club’s 10-5 loss in Kansas City Wednesday night. It was the first career loss against the Royals for Cleveland pitcher Zach Plesac. Additionally, it was the 81st loss of the season for Cleveland which will prevent the team from being above .500 for the first time in almost a decade.

Plesac allowed five runs on seven hits with three walks while striking out two. Three of those runs came on the major league leading 48th home run of the season from Royals catcher Salvador Perez in the bottom of the 1st. 

Nick Wittgren would come in the 7th and after recording two outs in the firs three batters, Kansas City would three runs in the inning before hitting into the final out of the inning. 

Justin Garza did not fair any better as he allowed two runs in the 8th. It was a RBI double for Hanser Alberto and RBI single for Cam Gallagher. Gallagher came in for Perez after leaving with an injury. 

There is only one game left in Kanas City before traveling to Texas to wrap up the season. After that the Guardians era in Cleveland will be waiting to begin.

 

Cleveland walked off by White Sox, lose 2-1

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The Cleveland Baseball Club was on the wrong side of a walk-off win as the Chicago White Sox came out victorious Sunday afternoon.

Bottom of the 9th with one out and Brian Goodwin steps up to the plate to face Cleveland reliever Nick Wittgren. A middle-middle four seam fastball on a 3-1 count was promptly deposited into the right field stands and the Chicago White Sox came out victorious in the rubber match.

Prior to the disappointment in the final inning, Cleveland’s pitching staff did a more than adequate job of keeping Chicago in check. Cal Quantrill started the game and allowed just one run one three hits and four walks while striking out six in 6 innings. The one run charged to Quantril was an accidental hit by pitch with the bases loaded with Jose Abreu at the plate. Outside of that one miscue, Quantrill was able to dance out of trouble fairly well.

Cleveland only scored one run in the contest and it came on a solo home run from recent acquisition Myles Straw. Straw hit an absolute bomb to center field to temporarily give Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

After dropping two of three games to Chicago, Cleveland will travel across the border to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays Monday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:07 P.M. in the first of four games. 

 

Cleveland gives up 6 runs in 9th in 10-5 loss

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The Tampa Bay Rays broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the 9th by scoring six runs and handing Cleveland a 10-5 loss, their second straight at home.

The struggles of the Cleveland Baseball Club bullpen continue. A day after giving up two runs in the 9th in a 5-4 loss, Cleveland allowed six runs en route to a 10-5 loss. Five of the six runs allowed were charged to Nick Wittgren who allowed. leadoff single to Randy Arozareana and followed that up by hitting Kevin Kiermaier with a pitch. Wittgren’s second pitch to Joey Wendle resulted in a tie-breaking RBI single. After inducing a line out from Brandon Lowe, Ji-Man Choi crushed a three-run bomb to give Tampa a 8-4 lead. Wittgren would walk Nelson Cruz before being lifted for Blake Parker. Parker would go on to allow one run on two hits in just two-thirds of an inning.

Zach Plesac started the game for Cleveland and was hit around early by Tampa and a comedy of errors in the 2nd did not help matters as two runs came around to score on an error from Jose Ramirez. Plesac would allow four runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings with three strikeouts and. two walks. The least surprising development in this game was that the newly acquired Nelson Cruz clobbered a home run off of Plesac.

Before the collapse in the 9th things were going fairly well for Cleveland. After being down 4-0 early, Jose Ramirez single handedly brought the team back. First it was with a three-run homer in the 3rd inning.

Ramirez would later tie the game at 4 with a RBI triple in the 7th.

Cleveland would score one more time in the contest as Daniel Johnson hit a solo home run with the game all but over.

With the loss Cleveland sits nine games behind the division leading White Sox. As far as the second wild card spot is concerned, Oakland leads them by six games with three teams in-between. The time to sell is rapidly approaching and it would not be surprising to see the team make moves on their next off day.

Cleveland Baseball Club at the All-Star Break

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Where do things stand with the Cleveland Baseball Club as they trail by eight games in the division?

Looking at the injured list for the Cleveland Baseball Club one would think that this team is without a doubt a below .500 team, but somehow the Fighting Francona’s are 45-42 on the year despite a rash of injuries and underwhelming offense. So, where do things stand with the Cleveland Baseball Club at the All-Star Break?

Injuries

Josh Naylor is out for the season after suffering a gruesome injury not too long ago. That is only the most recent major injury for the team. Cleveland has also dealt with injuries to two other prominent outfielders on the roster, Eddie Rosario and Jordan Luplow. Additionally, the club was without both Roberto Perez and Austin Hedges for a time, forcing them to rely on the combo of Rene Rivera and Ryan Lavarnway. That is before even discussing the injuries to their pitching staff. Shane Bieber has been shelved for quite some time as well as Aaron Civale. Cleveland just saw the return of Zach Plesac after he got hurt in a strange series of events.

The key players who have played a role in the team staying afloat

This conversation obviously starts with Jose Ramirez. Ramirez is having a down year from the slash line perspective up to this point (.260/.346/.524/.870), but the counting stats seems to be right on track. The 2021 All-Star has 19 home runs, 18 doubles, 1 triple, 52 RBI, 8 stolen bases, and 35 walks in 82 games.

Franmil Reyes has been another key factor for Cleveland as he seems to have finally become comfortable since being traded in 2019. The slugger has 14 home runs, 10 doubles, and 2 triples with 38 RBI and 14 walks in 47 games. Reyes did miss some time due to injury so considering that into the mix his production is fairly impressive.

The one player that everyone has been clamoring for, Bobby Bradley. Bradley finally has been given his chance and seems to performing as expected. Bradley has 10 home runs, five doubles, and 20 RBI in 31 games. The one issue that everyone was aware of prior to his call up was strikeouts as Bradley has struck out 36 times in 119 plate appearances. As long as Bradley is hitting the ball over the fence and into the gap the strikeouts are palatable, if not it is a different story altogether.

While Cesar Hernandez has struggled in areas that he is usually proficient in (batting average, on-base percentage), the unexpected power production has been a welcome sight. Hernandez has 15 home runs and 13 doubles with 38 RBI in 85 games. The 15 home runs from Hernandez ties a career-high from 2018, a season which also saw the second baseman focus on power.

Opponents after the break will dictate what the team does

There is a lot that will be learned after the All-Star Break as the Cleveland Baseball Club embarks on a tough schedule. Cleveland will travel to Oakland and Houston before returning home to face Tampa and St. Louis with two games in Chicago against the White Sox taking place before the trade deadline. If Cleveland is going to actually stay in contention they will have play above expectations during this stretch. Closing the gap between themselves and Chicago and Oakland will be crucial if they are going to avoid selling.

Trade candidates

If things do not go their way and Cleveland needs up selling, there are some pretty obvious names the team can move at the deadline. As far as position players are concerned, Eddie Rosario and Cesar Rosario come to mind. Both players are on one-year deals and could be of interest to contending teams looking to add another bat to their lineup. It would also give Cleveland the chance to get a good long look at some of their younger players in their farm system at those positions.

Also worth noting is that there are a couple of relief arms that could be moved as well. When it comes to the trade deadline teams are always looking to add another arm to the bullpen. There are three names that Cleveland could end up moving if things do not go their way. Those arms would be Bryan Shaw, Blake Parker, and Nick WIttgren. While none are elite arms by any means, teams are always looking to add to their bullpen and adding one of these three could make a huge difference for a contender.

Rest of season outlook

This is really tough to predict considering the wide range of outcomes that could occur for Cleveland. The team has mostly overachieved considering the talent level of some of their players and the injuries that have occurred. Somehow they are not completely out of it in the division, but that is mostly due to the White Sox dealing with their own rash of injuries. One bad week could send the team from contention to selling while one good week could keep the team in the playoff hunt. Their best bet is most likely a soft sell of sorts, moving pieces that would provide the biggest return and see how the rest of the season plays out.

Cleveland pummels Baltimore 10-3

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The Cleveland Baseball Club completed the four game sweep fo the Baltimore Orioles Thursday afternoon at Progressive Field.

Dingers, dingers, and more dingers. That is the theme of the Cleveland Baseball Club’s 10-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles Thursday. Fresh off their third straight win over the visiting Orioles from the night before, Cleveland put a wallop on Baltimore and hammered three long balls in the contest.

Jose Ramirez got things started for Cleveland with a two-run homer in the bottom of the 1st.

Bobby Bradley would continue his impressive run since being called up with a solo shot to give Cleveland a 3-0 lead.

Eddie Rosario came up to the plate in the 4th with a 3-1 score and added another to Cleveland’s total.

It was just a few innings later that Yu Chang would clobber a two-run blast to give Cleveland a commanding 9-3 lead.

Jose Ramirez would later add the 10th and final run for Cleveland on a RBI groundout.

This was exactly the type of performance at the plate that Cleveland needed with the all hands on deck pitching approach taken on Thursday. Eli Morgan was the starter, but lasted just 3.2 innings. Morgan allowed three runs on five hits while striking out five.

Kyle Nelson (2) and Sam Hentges (1) were the only other pitchers to allow hits in the contest. Trevor Stephan, Phil Maton, and Nick Wittgren combined to 3.2 innings and four strikeouts without allowing a baserunner.

With the home stand now over, Cleveland heads on the road for a three game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates starting Friday.

Cleveland uses five run 4th to defeat Orioles 7-2

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The Cleveland baseball Club used a five run 4th inning to propel themselves to victory.

There’s something special about one of those innings when a team looks unstoppable for a brief moment. That is exactly what happened for the Cleveland Baseball Club Tuesday night when facing Orioles starter Matt Harvey. Entering the bottom of the 4th with the game tied at one, Cleveland rallied and scored five runs in the inning to send Harvey to an early shower. This was more than enough for Cleveland to put the game away, claiming the second win in a row over Baltimore, a team that has now lost 17 straight road games.

It was RBI hits from Ernie Clement, his first major league hit, Bradley Zimmer, Amed Rosario, and Eddie Rosario which led to the runs being scored in the decisive 4th inning. Somehow, someway, this team is managing to score runs and continues to win games.

There were also two runs driven in other innings in the contest, both by Bobby Bradley. It was a RBI single in the first and a solo homer in the 7th. Since being called up Bradley has been on absolute tear and has been a welcome addition to the Cleveland lineup.

Pitching wise it was a pieced together effort from multiple arms. Cal Quantrill handled the first 4 innings, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts. Blake Parker took the 5th inning and was the only other Cleveland pitcher to allow a run. Phil Maton pitched the 6th and was the final pitcher to allow a hit. Nick Wittgren manned the 7th and was the only pitcher to issue a walk in the contest. James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase did their usual things in the 8th and 9th by keeping Baltimore off the base-paths and striking out four batters combined.

Cleveland rallies to defeat Royals 7-3

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The Cleveland Baseball Club scored seven consecutive runs as they rallied to defeat the Kansas City Royals.

Things were not going great for the Cleveland Baseball Club early in Kansas City. A combination of the Royals getting 3-0 lead and Angel Hernandez just being plain awful made it seem like that it was not going to be their night. Luckily Cleveland was able to score seven unanswered runs from the 6th inning on as they managed to win the second game in a row in comeback fashion against Royals.

Everything got started when Royals shortstop Nicky Lopez committed a throwing error with the bases loaded. This led to two runs for Cleveland in the 6th inning. Harold Ramirez would follow with a game-tying RBI single.

Ramirez would drive in another run as he would double home Franmil Reyes in the 8th. Josh Naylor would subsequently drive in Ramirez with a single of his own. The Cleveland scoring run was capped off with a Jake Bauers two-run homer, his first of the year.

After an atrocious 1-17 start to the year, Bauers is starting to turn things around just a bit. Bauers is slashing .283/.375/.464 with an OPS of .839 over his last 33 plate appearances, including two doubles and one home run. There are two multi-hit outings mixed in with some hitless appearances along the way, but maybe things are heading in the right direction.

On the mound

It was an all hands on deck day for the Cleveland pitching staff. Phil Maton served as the opener, allowing 1 runs on 2 hits and 1 walk in 1.1 innings. Sam Hentges would follow Maton, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits in his 3.1 innings of work.

Nick Sandlin and Nick Wittgren pitched the middle innings with neither player allowing a baserunner. Cal Quantrill would pitch the final two innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out two.

Cleveland is now one game back of division leaders Chicago and Kansas City. The Cleveland offense is struggling to find their stride, but as long as they have their pitching staff they have a puncher’s chance.

Cleveland falls short against Yankees

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After a promising start, the Cleveland Baseball Club fell short to the visiting New York Yankees in the first game of their series.

Based off the first inning it seemed like this was going to be an easy win for the Cleveland Baseball Club. Domingo German seemed to be on the ropes and it appeared it was going to be an early night. The overall feeling of the game was the Cleveland was going to cruise to an early win, but it was not meant to be.

German allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and some sloppy defense did not help him one bit. The problem is that German settled in and kept Cleveland off the scoreboard for 5 more innings. There was a chance to knock out the Yankee pitcher and mess up their staff for the entire weekend, but they were not able to continue their early success.

The issue for Cleveland came in the 3rd inning with Aaron Civale on the mound. Civale seemed to be doing just fine until he seemed to unravel. A leadoff double by Kyle Higashioka started this off for New York and he move to third on a balk. With 1 out DJ LeMaheiu would drive in the Yankees first run of the game. After striking out Aaron Judge, Mike Ford would reach on a walk. Gleyber Torres would single and end up on third on an error from Josh Naylor, allowing 2 more runs to score tying the game.

The 7th inning also proved to be an issue for Cleveland. Nick WIttgren was on the mound and 2 runs on 2 hits in just two-thirds of an inning. These runs in addition to the run allowed by Cal Quantrill later in the game was all the Yankees needed. Aroldis Chapman closed the game for New York in the 9th and sealed the loss for Cleveland.

Cleveland can even the series Friday at 7:10 P.M.

Cleveland completes sweep of Tigers

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It was a 5-2 win for the Cleveland Baseball Club as they completed the three game sweep of the visiting Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field.

Cleveland came into Sunday with the chance to complete their first sweep of the season and seized that opportunity with a 5-2 win. A fairly consistent offensive approach produced 7 hits in 8 innings and combined with their 7 walks and a few Tigers errors paved the way to victory. Unlike their win the previous night, no long balls were needed this time around.

Things were dicey early with Logan Allen on the mound as Detroit took an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers lead combined with the high pitch count early did not look like the recipe for success. Luckily Allen would calm down as he did not allow another run in his 5 innings of work. Allen calming down and settling in after a bumpy start allowed the offense to naturally get into the groove of the game and back him up.

The Cleveland offense was able to score three unanswered runs to take a 3-1 lead through the middle innings. Some hustle from Eddie Rosario highlighted their first run scoring in the 2nd while Cesar Hernandez was still swinging a hot bat for the second game in a row to drive in their second run.

With Nick Wittgren on the mound Detroit struck back on a Wilson Ramos to cut the Cleveland lead to one. The home run from Ramos was the only hit allowed by Wittgren in his single inning of work.

Never too late for drama

James Karinchak came on in the 8th with Cleveland clinging to a one-run lead and did some work. After walking the leadoff batter Karinchak struck out the next three in order to end the inning. This ability to rattle off three strikeouts in a row is why Karinchak has the trust of Terry Francona.

The bottom of the 8th provided some insurance innings for the Cleveland bullpen. Franmil Reyes came through with a single allowing Jose Ramirez and Eddie Rosario to score. With Cleveland’s lead now at three, Emmanuel Clase came on to close things out.

After walking Jemier Candelario to start the inning, Clase bounced back with a strikeout of Wilson Ramos. Jonathan Schoop provided some hope for Detroit with an infield single, but it was all for naught. Clase would get the much needed double play ball off the bat of Nomar Mazara to end the game.

With the sweep Cleveland will travel to Chicago to take on the White Sox for a four-game series starting Monday.