For most of the season, the Cleveland Guardians struggled to generate offense.
They’re not built to be a team that rakes its way to the playoffs, and they feature mostly contact hitters with an eye for the baseball.
However, it seems like they have more than just an eye for that.
According to a report by Andy McCullough and Dennis Lin of The Athletic, the Guardians are also one of the best teams in all of baseball when it comes to picking up tipped pitches.
“When asked which teams excel at this art form, players pointed to the clubs with both the deepest pockets and the keenest eyes: The Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies were all mentioned, as were the Cleveland Guardians, Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers,” McCullough, Lin and Stavenhagen wrote. “To be successful at scoring runs in this era requires the ability to pick up tips.”
As long as it’s all within the confines of the rulebook and there are no buzzers or trash cans involved, it’s all good.
Even so, it would be better to watch this team make the most of this by actually putting up some big-scoring numbers.
For that to happen, they will likely need to change their approach to roster building.
Notably, that doesn’t happen overnight, but they might finally be taking steps in that direction.
You just have to take a look at the three prospects they included in their lineup in their final two games of the season to realize that they’re trying to add more firepower with their young players.
Chase DeLauter and George Valera both have the potential to be deadly sluggers, and their decision to take Jace LaViolette in this year’s MLB Draft also hints at their desire to get more power.
In the meantime, they will continue to master the fine art of figuring out what the opposing pitcher has up next.
NEXT: Guardians Called To Make Major Roster Moves
