News and Notes — A tough start on the South Side

An avoidable loss caps a week of unfortunate turns

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the Guardians have a serious centerfield problem.

It has been a rough go lately for all things centerfield for the Guards. With Gabriel Arias’s struggles trying to learn the position on the fly contributing to a loss in Houston last week to Tyler Freeman’s extreme hitting woes stranding six runners against the White Sox a night ago, finding any level of consistency in centerfield continues to be as big of a problem as any for yet another season, and not immediate answer seems clear.

The consistent theme recently with the bats have been that opportunities have been sparse, and capitalizing on them has become a major issue. In the fifth inning, the Guards had two on with no outs following a pair of singles from Will Brennan and Bo Naylor, but a Tyler Freeman double play immediately squandered a chance to get at least one run back in a 3-0 deficit. To Freeman’s credit, he smoked the ball, coming off his bat at 106.3 mph, but the faster you hit a ball on the ground, the quicker the opposition can turn a double play.

Later, in the seventh inning, the Guardians loaded the bases against Erick Fedde with no outs, primed to finally break through against one of the league’s worst teams. However, a timely pitching change to Jordan Leasure led to a Bo Naylor strikeout, a Tyler Freeman strikeout, and a Kyle Manzardo groundout, and Cleveland netted a goose egg in a bases loaded, no out rally chance. Brutal.

The eighth inning rolled around, and you know what that means. First, though, it was Jose’s turn:

Yes, of course Josh Naylor delivered. When doesn’t he in the eighth inning? Anyways, the two best hitters in the lineup did all they conceivably could in the late innings to claw back, cutting the White Sox lead to 3-2. That was where it would end though. Bo Naylor notched another single in the top of the ninth, but Estevan Florial struck out pinch hitting for Tyler Freeman, and Manzardo grounded out to end the game.

Despite giving up three early runs, Ben Lively found a way to string together 5.2 innings, limiting further damage despite not having his best stuff.

That’s been the story for Guardians starters lately: missing over the middle and getting punished. Big props to Lively for figuring it out. This bullpen needed someone to find a way to go more than five innings badly, and it’s been something Lively has given them nearly every time out.

Check out the latest Disgusting Baseball podcast where Quincy and Nicole do Buy/Sell for early Guardians’ trends.

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Centerfield — The Song That Never Ends

Please, for all that is holy, go get a legitimate outfielder with the capability of fielding center. This is with all due respect to Tyler Freeman, whose efforts to put in the work short-term to field the position are commendable, but the offensive output plus overall woeful defense from the collective Guardians centerfield is pathetic. There aren’t any other words for it at this point. Let’s take a look at Cleveland’s CF ranks this season so far (MLB rank | AL rank):

-0.1 fWAR: 27th | Last
74 wRC+: 26th | Last
.270 wOBA: 26th | Last
.175 AVG: 29th | Last
4 HR: T-13th | T-11th
32.9% Chase Rate: 24th | 12th
5.9% Barrel Rate: 28th | 13th
-5 OAA: LAST

Stop messing around and take a premium position seriously. It’s becoming a joke.

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AL Central Standings

CLE | 24-14 | - GB | @ CWS
MIN | 22-15 | 1.5 GB | @ TOR
KC | 23-16 | 1.5 GB | @ LAA
DET | 19-18 | 4.5 GB | vs. HOU
CWS | 10-28 | 14.0 GB | vs. CLE

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Who’s Hot?

Steven Kwan
— Sigh...prior to his hamstring injury, Kwan’s last two weeks had been tremendous. Kwan had been hitting .400 with a 1.116 OPS and 219 wRC+ since April 27. On top of that, he was finally drawing walks again with no sacrifice to his swing, posting a 16.1% walk rate without a single strikeout. He’s pretty great, and this team needs him back badly.

Emmanuel Clase
— The old Clase is...back? I think he just might be! Emmanuel Clase has not given up an earned run since April 14. It is also the only earned run he’s allowed this season. Yes, he’s allowed two extra innings runners to score in that span, but overall, when presented with a save situation, he’s back to his old self, being absolutely nails out of the ‘pen. His chase rate is up 10% from last season, sitting at over 40%, and he’s walked one batter in the 68 he’s faced this season. His strikeout rate is flirting with 30%, a vast improvement from 21% last season, so I think it’s safe to say he’s back.

Scott Barlow and Nick Sandlin
— Barlow and Sandlin have emerged as the two late-inning relievers of choice for Stephen Vogt, and for good reason. Sandlin has been hit hard, but he’s also been the only Guardians reliever asked to go more than an inning that’s been able to do it without giving up runs lately. Sandlin has recorded more than three outs in three outings over the past two weeks, being a fireman to any jam he finds himself put into.

Then there’s Scott Barlow. Barlow has given up just one run in his last 14 appearances and none over his last 10. In that span of 10 straight scoreless outings, Barlow is running a 39.4% strikeout rate while allowing just six baserunners. Opponents are hitting .100 with a .315 OPS in that span. A big kicker: all but one of these outings have come in the 7th inning or later. Stability at the back end of a very heavily used bullpen is so important, and these two arms have led the way in getting the ball to Clase.

Who’s Not?

Gabriel Arias
— Arias is struggling to find any playing time, and in that, he is in a woeful slump at the plate. Arias is just 3 for his last 23 with zero walks, 10 strikeouts, a 48.6% chase rate, and a -18 wRC+. It’s bad enough he can’t find a home on this team, but when he gets his chances anymore, he is badly struggling.

Ramon Laureano
— Ramon Laureano has just struggled this season overall, but it’s been especially bad lately. Over his last 22 plate appearances, Laureano has posted a -1 wRC+ with an .053 batting average and .211 slugging percentage which is lifted up by a home run...his only hit over this span. Of his 19 at bats in this slump, 13 have ended in a strikeout.

Tanner Bibee
— Bibee has a case of Jekyll and Hyde going on. Bibee the first time through the order is very strong, allowing a .579 OPS against and just three runs in eight starts this season. However, the second time through, Bibee collapses. Bibee has surrendered a 1.017 OPS against and 16 runs the second time through this season.

He has a 11.25 ERA in the fourth inning alone. It has been meltdown after meltdown, ruining otherwise solid starts to his outings. Against Detroit, Bibee was unhittable for three innings. He was chased after the fourth inning, allowing multiple hard hit balls and four runs. Bibee’s tendency to leave pitches up in the zone in the middle innings is getting him crushed right now. Adjustments need to come swiftly.

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Draft Headlines

Georgia’s Charlie Condon, a serious contender for the Guardians’s number one overall pick, made history on Thursday evening, mashing his 34th home run of the season, an NCAA record in the BBCOR era.

This marks eight straight games with a homer for Condon. The 1.1 race is on fire right now.

That’s all for News and Notes this time around. Cleveland has just begun a four game set with Chicago this weekend, a series where they badly need three straight with signs of life from the bats.