CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians start every spring training with the idea of winning the World Series. That idea was removed a while ago.
The next best thing is making the postseason. To do that, a team has to play relevant games in September.
The Guardians begin September play today at Fenway Park. They’re 68-67, four games behind Seattle for the third wild card spot and 6 1/2 games behind Boston for the second wild card.
They are on the edge of relevancy, but they have been so streaky in terms of good and bad play, that they cannot be ignored.
Here are five red flags that the Guardians must address to stay relevant down the stretch.
They have a terrible offense. Among MLB’s 30 teams they rank last in batting average, last in hits and 28th in runs. They have scored two or fewer runs in 69 of their 135 games. Seattle is the only team with more such games in the big leagues with 72. It’s not like this just snuck up on anybody either.Jose Ramirez, their best hitter, batted .228 (21 for 92) with five homers and 12 RBI in August. If the Guardians are to stay relevant in the last 27 games of the season, they need Ramirez to get hot. Kyle Manzardo is carrying the load right now and that’s a lot to ask of a player in his first full season.Ten of their remaining 27 games will be played against three of the teams in front of them in the wild card race. They play Boston three times, Kansas City four times and Texas three times. They have a losing record against Boston and Texas. They also have six games against the AL Central-leading Tigers, who they trail by 10 1/2 games.The Guardians will add two players on Monday as the roster expands to 28. Unfortunately, two of their better hitting prospects, Chase DeLauter and Juan Brito, have been sidelined with injuries at Triple-A Columbus. The Guards could use some good work from ace Tanner Bibee (9-11, 4.77) in the last month of the season, but he’s been having one of those years. Bibee has allowed 26 homers, including 11 since July 17. Fellow starters Gavin Williams, Slade Cecconi and Logan Allen have exceeded their previous highs in innings pitched in a big league season. Will their innings be curtailed even if the Guardians should stay relevant?Breakfast and trivia
It’s going have to be a quick Labor Day breakfast for the Guardians before they play the Red Sox at 1:35 p.m. at Fenway Park. How about a quick omelet with a banana covered with yogort, granola and berries on the side?
Now for the Guardians question of the day. The Guardians were held to two hits in Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Seattle. How many times this season have they been held to two or fewer hits, and where does that rank in franchise history? See answer below.
Rookie Parker Messick starts the series opener against the Red Sox on Monday afternoon at Fenway Park.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.comNext
Monday:The Guardians open a three-game series against Boston with LHP Parker Messick (1-0, 0.66) starting for Cleveland and RHP Brayan Bello (10-6, 2.99) starting for Boston at 1:35 p.m. CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.
Tuesday: TBD vs. LHP Garrett Crocket (14-5, 2.40) at 6:45 p.m. CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.
Wednesday; TBD vs. TBD at 6:45 p.m. CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.
Thursday: The Guardians travel to Tampa to play the Rays in a four-game set starting Thursday night.
Trivia answer
Sunday was the seventh game in which the Guardians have been held to two or fewer hits this season. The 1965 and 1915 teams hold the franchise record with eight such games.
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