The Cleveland Guardians have become famous in recent years for playing a specific brand of baseball, known as “Guards Ball”. There’s no dictionary you can use to find exactly what the phrase means, but it has been commonly associated with the famous ‘little things’ a team does on a baseball field to score runs, other than relying on home runs. It also includes run-prevention concepts.
‘Guards Ball’ involves being able to play fundamentally sound baseball: bunting, playing good defense, executing a hit-and-run play perfectly, having good pitching, and stealing bases.
The Guardians are happy playing this brand of baseball, and franchise legend Carlos Baerga loves it. The former infielder is not against home runs, but welcomes versatility when it’s time to put some runs on the scoreboard.
“This team can beat you, you know, hitting, bunting, running, and that’s the Guards Ball. That’s the Guards Ball that we cannot forget about. And when I do the radio, I say we need to start playing (like that) when we’re kind of struggling a little bit in the first couple of innings. I say, “Come on Stephen Vogt, let’s play hardball. Let’s start bunting, (executing) hit-and-runs, and running the bases right,” Baerga said.
A good baseball club can certainly have the best of both worlds. Hitting for power remains the best and quickest avenue to score runs at the highest level, and the Guardians, as an organization, know this. They have sluggers who like to swing for the fences, such as the surging Kyle Manzardo, and more well-rounded hitters like Jose Ramirez and Travis Bazzana.
However, there will be games in which opposing pitching staffs will be thoroughly dominant, and that’s when some creativity is in order.
The Guardians still love their sacrifice bunts, as they rank seventh in baseball and third in the American League so far this year with 11. They also feel the need for speed, leading the junior circuit and ranking third in MLB with 62 stolen bases.
Playing ‘Guards Ball’ is in this team’s DNA. However, they should also embrace walks and home runs, and even though they rank 22nd in baseball in the latter, they are fourth in the former, and that’s a step in the right direction.
Cleveland is learning to diversify its offense. The early returns are positive, but there’s still a lot of work to do.
NEXT: Analyst Urges Guardians To Make Big Move At Trade Deadline
