CLEVELAND, Ohio — Manager Stephen Vogt usually has his lineups planned five-to-six games in advance.
They can change based on what happens either with the Guardians’ or the opposition’s roster. Vogt makes those plans based on tactical advantages and who among the Guardians needs a break.
He tries not to let the Guardians’ won-loss record influence his choices.
That’s why Steven Kwan had Friday off and Saturday’s lineup had Jose Ramirez at DH, Will Wilson at third and Carlos Santana on the bench for a day off.
“It’s hard to give your everyday players a day off, but you have to stay diligent to it because it’s a marathon,” said Vogt. “I try not to let our won-loss record affect that because you have to stick to those plans.
“If you start chasing every single day, then the plan’s not going to work because you’re never going to end up giving anybody a day off … We want to win the marathon. We’re here to get into the playoffs and win the World Series.”
Recently, however, Vogt’s lineup planning has had little impact on the offense.
They’ve lost their last three games, scoring a total of five runs. After a 4-0 loss to the Yankees on Thursday, they dropped the first two games in this series against Houston, 4-2 and 5-3 (10 innings).
In Saturday’s loss, they went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base.
They are 2-4 in June and have scored 15 runs, an average of 2.5 per game. It’s the second-lowest runs scored by an AL team this month.
In May, the Guards went 14-13 and tied for seventh with the Athletics in runs with 117. That’s an average of 4.3 per game. For the season, however, they rank 11th with 243 runs, an average of 3.9 per game.
“We’ve struggled to score runs, especially early,” said Vogt. “We’ve done a great job scoring against the bullpens. We’ve struggled to score off starting pitching and we’re well aware of it.”
Vogt said a combination of a young and inexperienced roster facing high-quality starting pitchers has hurt the offense.
“We have faced some really good starters. They’ve got four or five weapons to get you out,” he said. “And for our offense, we’re still learning. We’re still developing.
“I love where this offense is headed. We’re headed in the right direction … The beauty of this team is we don’t go away no matter what happens, no matter what the game looks like, we get that tying or winning run to the plate every single night. We’ve just got to find a way to push some runs across sooner.”
It happened again in Saturday’s loss when the Guardians brought the potential game-winning run to the plate in the 10th inning only to see Jhonkensy Noel strike out.
“We’ve run into some awfully good arms,” said Kwan, who reached base four times Saturday. “It’s been Hunter Brown, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, the Dodgers and Tarik Skubal.
“It’s that part of the year where we can’t sit on what happened yesterday. We’ve got to move forward and be optimistic about things.”
Medical updates
Outfielder Lane Thomas (plantar fasciitis) recently received injections in his right foot. He went through limited team drills on the field before Saturday’s game.
If all goes well, Thomas could go on a rehab assignment in the near future.
Left-hander Erik Sabrowski (sore left elbow) threw a scoreless inning at Double-A Akron on Friday night. He struck out two, walked one and threw 12 strikes in 19 pitches.
“I felt good,” said Sabrowski.
The Guardians promoted him to Class AAA Columbus. He’s scheduled to pitch Tuesday for the Clippers.
Catcher Austin Hedges, on the concussion injured list, received good news from the doctors regarding his condition, according to Vogt.
“He’s getting better every day,” said Vogt.
New York’s Jazz Chisholm Jr., accidentally hit Hedges in the head with his back swing on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.
New look
Shane Bieber started growing a mustache a month or so ago.
“I feel like I’ll rock with it for a little bit,” he said. “Kara, my wife, was saying when I made my debut I had a big beard, so when she looks back and she sees pictures, she knows what time period that’s from. So if I make my return from Tommy John with a mustache, it’ll be easily identified.”
Bieber was scheduled to make a rehab start Friday for Double-A Akron, but was scratched because of soreness in his right elbow following Tommy John surgery in April 2024.
When he talked to reporters Saturday morning, Bieber seemed confident the setback was temporary. He said a long conversation with Dr. Keith Meister, who performed the surgery, eased his mind.
Jeremy Peña of the Houston Astros beats the tag at first base by Gavin Williams of the Guardians after hitting an RBI infield single during the fifth inning on Saturday.Getty Images
What happened
Houston scored its first run Saturday when Jeremy Pena beat starter Gavin Williams to first on an infield single to first baseman Kyle Manzardo in the fifth inning.
Manzardo was playing well off the bag against the right-handed hitting Pena. Williams thought he was at his normal defensive position and hesitated before breaking to cover first.
“I didn’t look to see where Manzo was playing,” said Williams. “That’s on me.”
Finally
Former Indians Yan Gomes and Cody Allen threw out the first pitches for Saturday’s game. Allen is in town doing the pre and postgame shows for CLEGuardians.TV.