The Cleveland Guardians entered this season with postseason aspirations.
Unfortunately, that might not be the case.
Stephen Vogt’s team has struggled to live up to the expectations, mostly due to some notorious offensive woes.
With that in mind, MLB analyst Bernie Pleskoff dug deep into the tape and the numbers to point out as many as four issues with this team.
In his latest column, he argued that there are four ‘non-productive’ positions for the team:
“Right field, center field, second base, and catcher have been non-productive offensively. Right field is known as a ‘power’ position. Guardians right-fielders have hit nine home runs. Nine. That includes three homers from Jones, four homers from Thomas, two homers from Jhonkensy Noel and no homers from Will Brennan,” Pleskoff wrote.
Of course, you can’t aspire to do that well when almost half of your team is giving you virtually nothing at the plate.
All in all, the Guardians have still managed to stay afloat, flirting with .500 baseball and even staying close in the AL Wild Card race.
Even so, with the trade deadline closing in and most playoff teams – or playoff hopefuls – making moves and the Guardians most likely staying put, the outlook for the remainder of the season looks bleak at best.
The Guardians have some potential answers in the farm system, but expecting first-year players to salvage their season isn’t fair or realistic.
If anything, they can be given an opportunity to continue their development with some plate appearances to get ready to contribute next season.
They would also give the fans a reason to continue tuning in and rooting for the team until the end of the season.
Whatever the case, the front office will need to make some big moves in the offseason, as they can’t afford to roll into next season with the same core.
NEXT: Guardians Reporter Makes Big Chase DeLauter Prediction
