The Cleveland Guardians are, once again, in the middle of a rough patch.
Colin Rea proved too much for their offense to handle on Sunday, and the Milwaukee Brewers completed the three-game weekend sweep with a 2-0 win.
Ben Lively was almost as good as Rea, tossing a quality start and allowing just two earned runs in six frames.
However, when the lineup can only muster two hits on Sunday and score four runs in three weekend games, winning becomes incredibly difficult.
Cleveland should be thanking the baseball gods for the Minnesota Twins’ loss on Sunday, otherwise we would be looking at a one-game advantage in the AL Central.
For now, the Guardians are up two, but the cushion was six games just a few days ago.
They need to do something about that offense.
According to noted Guardians fan Franmilseyebrow, they have had the second-worst offense in baseball in the last calendar month.
“The Cleveland Guardians are 29th in MLB in wRC+ against RHP over the last 30 days,” he tweeted.
The Cleveland Guardians are 29th in MLB in wRC+ against RHP over the last 30 days. pic.twitter.com/povkoChbhR
— La Mole (@FranmilsEyebrow) August 18, 2024
wRC+ is the adjusted version of weighted Runs Created.
It’s an offensive stat that shows how much better or worse a player or team is relative to the league average (100).
Anything over 100 means above average performance.
As you can see, the Guardians are second to last over the last 30 days with a 77 wRC+.
That means their batters have produced 23 percent less than the league average hitter.
Only the Chicago White Sox have a worse mark over that timeframe.
The most baffling thing about this situation is that the Guards appear to have quality solutions in the minor leagues, such as Kyle Manzardo, and refuse to call him up.
Trade acquisition Lane Thomas has been a disappointment, top sluggers have gone cold and the rookies, except for maybe Jhonkensy Noel, have stopped hitting.
Cleveland will need to regain their offensive mojo if they want to win the AL Central crown.
NEXT: Guardians Trade Acquisition Has Vastly Underperformed So Far
