The Cleveland Guardians know full well that the next month of baseball is the most important of the season. So, they want to do whatever they can to put themselves in the best position possible when September rolls around.
The past month has been a tough time for the Guardians, as they have fallen from first place to third place in the AL Central. They also lost their hold on an AL Wild Card spot.
With that in mind, the Guardians have made a big slide in ESPN’s latest power rankings, falling all the way to No. 20 from No. 16.
“Despite an unusually aggressive trade deadline, the Guardians remain ice cold, and if things don’t get rolling soon, Cleveland runs the risk of falling out of an AL Central race that’s virtually impossible to fall out of. The pickups — Jo Adell, Foster Griffin and Nathaniel Lowe — have been more fine than dynamic, though Adell and Lowe have contributed to a modest uptick by the offense of late,” Doolittle wrote.
Heading into the All-Star break in mid-July, the Guardians were No. 12 in Bleacher Report’s power rankings. Cleveland was tied for first place with the Chicago White Sox after holding the top spot to itself for much of the season to that point.
But since then, the Guardians have been on an extended slide, going just 11-20 since returning to action. They fell behind both the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers in the division, but recently jumped back ahead of the Tigers thanks to three wins in their past five games.
Cleveland looked to have improved with its trade deadline deals for outfielder Adell, first baseman Lowe and starting pitcher Griffin. But the Guardians are just 5-10 since they came on board.
Adell recently had his best game with Cleveland, putting up six RBIs against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday after fouling a ball off his left knee. He was able to pinch-hit on Thursday, and he could be back in the lineup when the Guardians open a three-game series at the Colorado Rockies on Friday.
Lowe went 3-for-4 with his second home run for Cleveland against the San Diego Padres last Friday, but he has just two hits in 14 at-bats since then. Griffin is set to make his fourth start for the Guardians on Sunday, trying to build on his 2-1 record and 4.20 ERA with them.
Time is running out for the Guardians to get back into a playoff spot, with 34 games remaining in the season heading into this weekend.
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