The Cleveland Guardians now trail the first-place Chicago White Sox by four games in the American League Central standings after the Guardians dropped two of three contests to the White Sox over the weekend. 

Following Cleveland’s 5-3 loss in Chicago on Sunday, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt decided that his club needed a team meeting ahead of the three-game series at the Detroit Tigers (58-60), which will get underway on Tuesday. 

Stephen Vogt, Guardians “not thrilled” amid recent woes

“We’re not thrilled,” Vogt admitted, per Tim Stebbins of the MLB website. “It’s been around a couple weeks for us, and it’s time to turn it around on Tuesday.” 

The Guardians became buyers ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline, as they acquired outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and starter Foster Griffin. Cleveland then suffered a three-game home sweep to a last-place New York Mets team that sold numerous pieces. 

The Guardians seemed to put the Mets series behind them when Cleveland earned an 8-2 win in Chicago on Friday night. However, back-to-back losses dropped the Guardians to 58-61 on what’s becoming a disappointing season for the club. 

“As a team, we’re trying to do too much,” Vogt added. “Everyone’s trying to do just a little too much, be a little too perfect. We just had a conversation about that in the clubhouse. We just have to relax. We have to be ourselves. Who we are is good enough, and I think we’ve lost sight of that.”

Why Guardians aren’t panicking despite recent struggles

According to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Guardians catcher Austin Hedges insisted on Sunday that “four games is nothing” regarding the division standings. 

Last year, the Guardians trailed the Tigers by 15.5 games in the AL Central race in July. Cleveland then ended August 10.5 games behind Detroit, but the Guardians ultimately won the Central. 

“The beauty of going through last year, we know that anything is possible,” Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo explained. “And at the same time, every day is an important day.” 

If the Guardians don’t soon begin enjoying better days, they could find themselves in big trouble as it pertains to the AL’s final wild-card playoff berth.