The Cleveland Guardians were creeping closer to first place in the division, but have slipped up lately. Before Friday’s game against the San Diego Padres, the Guardians sit four games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
Their struggles haven’t been from a lack of pitching. In fact, Parker Messick and the rest of the staff have been doing their job, but the offense continues to struggle. In the newest ESPN MLB power rankings, the Guardians have dropped from 13 to 16.
“Parker Messick would be on pace to be named AL Rookie of the Year during most seasons. But most seasons don’t have Kevin McGonigle’s caliber delivering end-to-end production. The left-hander’s 2.57 ERA is sixth in the majors, behind Jacob Misiorowski, Chris Sale, Cam Schlittler, Dylan Cease, and Cristopher Sanchez. Those are all leading Cy Young contenders. The 25-year-old Messick belongs in that conversation,” Jorge Castillo wrote.
It has been a tough skid for the Guardians, who haven’t won a series since the end of July. They’ve dropped the last four series to the Diamondbacks, Mets, White Sox, and Tigers. Two of those teams are division rivals that they cannot afford to lose games to right now.
Over the last two series, the offense has been difficult to watch. The Guardians only scored more than four runs in a single game twice during the six games against the Tigers and White Sox. It’s going to be tough to win games when the offense can’t do anything to help out their pitching.
The Guardians were 3-7 in their last 10 games and now head into a series versus the San Diego Padres. After that, it should get easier with matchups against the Giants, Angels, and Rockies. This team needs to turn a corner now before it’s too late. It has become a four-team race, with the Guardians currently sitting in fourth in the division
The pitching hasn’t been the problem. As mentioned, Messick would probably win Rookie of the Year if it weren’t for McGonigle’s great year. The front office went out and got a few hitters at the trade deadline, so now it’s time for this offense to come together and help their pitchers.
If this offense continues to struggle, then expect the Guardians to keep falling in the power rankings.
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