The Cleveland Guardians have bounced back in a big way over the last week or so. This team needed to make a major turnaround to stay alive in the playoff race, and they did just that.
Over their last three series, the Guardians have gone 8-1 and put themselves only 2.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central. Recently, Tim Stebbins talked about how the Guardians have been able to make this incredible turnaround.
“Though July, Cleveland had a collective .231/.310/.369 slash line and ranked 29th in MLB in runs scored (432). In August, the Guardians are eighth in runs (110) and have slashed .267/.343/.385. Trade Deadline acquisitions Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe have lengthened the lineup. Steven Kwan has enjoyed a dramatic in-season turnaround, and Jose Ramirez may be finding himself as he gets further removed from his left hamate surgery. Sustaining that production is the biggest key,” Stebbins wrote.
The Guardians have one of the easiest schedules remaining, and they’ve taken advantage of it. They were able to dominate the Giants, Rockies, and Angels, which has helped put them back in the playoff race. However, it’s going to get more difficult going forward with series against the Blue Jays, Tigers, Orioles, Twins, and White Sox.
The pitching staff has carried this team throughout most of the season, but it’s time for the offense to do some heavy lifting. As Stebbins mentioned, the Guardians have been a top-10 scoring offense in August. That has been a huge part of this team bouncing back in the divisional race.
The front office seems to have brought in the right bats, with both Lowe and Adell swinging it well in a Guardians uniform. Through 18 games with Cleveland, Lowe is slashing .258/.288/.409 with two home runs and 12 RBI.
Adell has been bringing a nice source of power with four home runs and 18 RBI across his 20 games with the Guardians. Both Kwan and Ramirez have been providing consistent production as well, which is something that the Guardians haven’t been getting from them all season long.
The pitching has shown it can be elite, so it’ll be up to the bats to stay hot and get this team into the postseason during the final month of the regular season.
NEXT: Bruce Drennan Weighs In On Guardians' 'Exciting' Future
