The Cleveland Guardians took three out of four games in their first series of the season, against the Oakland Athletics on the road.
They actually won on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, starting off the 2024 season with a 3-0 record.
Then they proceeded to drop Sunday’s finale by one run.
Still, their 3-0 start was actually historic.
“3-0 starts for the Cleveland baseball team, last 65 seasons: 2024, 2017, 1998, 1994, 1984, 1966,” Guardians insider Zack Meisel tweeted.
3-0 starts for the Cleveland baseball team, last 65 seasons:
2024
2017
1998
1994
1984
1966 https://t.co/xRzdbpqzZl— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) March 30, 2024
Over the course of a long, 162-game season, starting 3-0 carries little meaning: there are still 159 contests left to play.
However, it does wonders for team morale.
Ask around if players prefer to open the year 0-3 or 3-0.
The answer is obvious: they feel unbeatable at the moment.
Even if the Guardians actually lost the following day, they are leaving Oakland with great joy and high morale.
Granted, the A’s are not exactly the toughest team to play against, but Cleveland did its job and will now play a three-game series against a much harder opponent: the Seattle Mariners.
Their upcoming series against the M’s (and especially the one that comes after that, vs. the Minnesota Twins) will be more telling, but the Guardians seem to have the necessary pieces to be competitive in 2024.
Whether or not they have enough to make the postseason remains to be seen, but they will, in all likelihood, fight for a place there.
It will certainly be an interesting year in Cleveland.
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