The Cleveland Guardians were counting on a couple of developments to springboard them toward a playoff berth in the second half of the season. Jose Ramirez and Angel Martinez were going to return from the injured list, and another boost was hopefully coming with the MLB trade deadline.
Well, all of those things happened, and the Guardians are worse off than they had been. Even with Ramirez and Martinez back in the lineup, and pulling off some of the most successful deadline moves in the game, Cleveland has fallen out of playoff position.
After getting swept in a three-game series at home by the woeful New York Mets, the Guardians are three games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. Cleveland is also just one-half game ahead of the fourth-place Detroit Tigers, who are one of seven teams competing with it for the final AL wild card spot.
Despite all of the reasons for pessimism, Guardians reliever Colin Holderman said he isn’t worried about the team’s recent slump, believing they will pull themselves out of it with important head-to-head matchups on the horizon.
“I’m not concerned. I know this group is going through it right now, but it’s too good of a group for this to be what happens. We’re going to get locked in. We’re going to get on a run, and we’re going to look back at this time and laugh,” Holderman said. “This is a great time to turn things around. It’s easy to gain games when you’re playing the teams you’re chasing. This is a good opportunity for us.”
The Guardians have lost three in a row, five out of six, and six out of nine, and that’s coming off a five-game losing streak. Since the All-Star break, when they were tied with the White Sox for first place in the division, Cleveland is 6-13.
Yet, Holderman has reason to believe, based on Cleveland’s recent history. Last year at this time, the Guardians were six games behind the Tigers for the division lead and out of a wild-card position.
That deficit would get worse before it got better, as Cleveland trailed Detroit by as many as 11 games in September before launching a historic rally that gave the Guardians their second straight division crown. It was their third title in the past four seasons.
Now, Cleveland has a great chance to change its fortunes with a road trip against Chicago and Detroit starting on Friday.
NEXT: Bruce Drennan Loves One Guardians Trade Deadline Pickup
