The Cleveland Guardians are the ideal embodiment of a .500 baseball team. Their 15-15 record is just about perfect, based on several factors.
Barely half of their hitters are actually producing, and not the ones they expected. Their starting rotation has pitchers who rarely lose, and others who haven’t won yet. Their bullpen can be cruising along, and then blow a game out of nowhere.
Fortunately, the Guardians just lost three games in a row for the first time this season. Unfortunately, they have not won three consecutive games so far.
That is why one NL executive is not completely sold on the Guardians as AL Central contenders, telling MLB.com that they may be hard-pressed to keep up with the Detroit Tigers atop the division.
“The Tigers hold a talent advantage over the rest of that division. No one outside of Cleveland will likely challenge them,” the executive said.
Entering play Tuesday, the Guardians are just one-half game behind the Tigers for first place. However, it should be noted that Detroit got off to a 4-9 start and has since rounded into form with 11 wins in its past 16 games.
Meanwhile, the Guardians have not been more than three games over .500 at any point this season and have lost five of their past seven. That includes the latest blown lead by the bullpen in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday.
That defeat marked the first loss by Cleveland in Parker Messick’s six starts. The Guardians have also won five of Gavin Williams’ six starts, but when Tanner Bibee and Slade Cecconi begin a game, they are 1-11.
The offense has similar glaring gaps. The top four hitters by batting average are Daniel Schneemann, Austin Hedges, Angel Martinez, and Brayan Rocchio. By comparison, All-Stars Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan are among a much larger group that is not hitting above .230, with Kyle Manzardo and Bo Naylor particularly falling well short of expectations.
Under manager Stephen Vogt, the Guardians have shown the ability to overcome adversity and find their way into the playoffs, particularly last year, when they made a historic comeback to overtake the Tigers and win the division for a second straight season, so it would not be wise to count them out.
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