The Cleveland Guardians are falling back to earth – again.
Stephen Vogt’s team has the best record in the American League since July 7, going 24-13 in the last 37 games.
However, they’re starting to slow down at the plate again, and that couldn’t have happened at a worse possible time.
That’s why Zachary D. Rymer is a little concerned about their playoff chances.
In his latest column, the analyst shared his honest thoughts on their offensive slump:
“The offense isn’t helping the playoff push,” Rymer wrote. “It’s commendable that the Guardians are still in the AL playoff race. They seemed willing to blow it up at the trade deadline, which came soon after Emmanuel Clase was placed on leave amid a betting probe. It’s therefore too bad that their offense has gone icy in August, thus far posting a .285 OBP and 81 wRC+. Even José Ramírez and Steven Kwan, who normally shoulder the offensive burden for Steven Vogt, have cooled off amid the dog days.”
The Guardians dropped three consecutive games against an Atlanta Braves team that was 15 games below .500.
They have now blown one-run leads to the Arizona Diamondbacks twice in the series, and things aren’t going to get much easier now that they have to meet with the Texas Rangers.
This team had also fared quite well without Emmanuel Clase, yet even their solid bullpen has regressed over the past week.
The MLB season is a long grind; it’s a marathon with ebbs and flows.
You can be at the top one day and out of the playoff picture in the following week; it happens.
This team has been extremely resilient so far, and it would be a huge shame to see their massive efforts go to waste after fighting so hard to get to this point.
People should know better than to count them out after all they’ve been through and watching them still be in the playoff race.
Nevertheless, the margin for error is getting awfully close to zero with every game they lose.
NEXT: Parker Messick Turns Heads With Strong MLB Debut
