After Beiber was removed in game 1, I didn't any more baseball yesterday. Not even last night.
This is the type of stretch that I had gotten used to as a kid. Pitching not terrible but not quite good enough. The feeble attempts at hitting all too painful to watch. Guys who, in my heart, I know are not really major leaguers flailing around burying the game so deep that those woulda, shoulda, coulda moments never happen. Or, when the proven major leaguers play and perform, the team falls tantalizingly short of being able to win a game late.
Yes, this is how I grew up and it, for all the right reasons, numbed me to the type of entitlement that we, as Cleveland fans, despise when we see it from Yankees fans.
So here we sit on Sunday morning, 10-11 and one game out of first place.
The truth is, I don't know what will happen the rest of this year with the Guardains. But here are some thoughts:
1. Shane Beiber is looking, right now, like a top #3 starter on a WS contending team. He, as he always does, battles like crazy but he is just not the dominant pitcher he used to be as his velocity has dropped to the levels it was when he was drafted. He gives us a chance to win almost every time out, but just doesn't dominate, like an ace shouuld.
2. Zach Plesac still looks like a great #5 starter to me. He, too, gives us a chance to compete and in ML baseball today where everyone has the DH and with the rule changes, has reasonable stats save his first start of the year. Truth be told, however, Cal Quantrill fit better as #4 and #5 on a playoff team.
3. In true '80s fashion we are looking for Logan Allen to be the next savior of this team. Very unfair to this guy who, at the beginning of this year, didn't think was anywhere near ready to get major league hitters out on a consistent basis. Again, '80s thinking when we were praying for ANYONE to come up from the minors and provide us a reason to want to watch our team with pride.
4. I don't know why anyone is surprised that Tim Herrin is struggling. He simply was not ready for this and even though Francona is a genius, it is clear that Herrin needs more seasoning. It was a shame they had to roster him last winter as he really is not ready.
5. Hunter Gaddis and Xzavion Curry are relievers. Their stuff plays as relievers. Compare them to Cal Quantrill. He was converted to reliever in the majors but, when given the chance, he made the transition back to starter almost seamlessly. Not so for Gaddis and Curry. They both could be Trevor Stephan-like relievers. The question is: can we find a spot for them
6. The hitting has been pathetic. No one is seemingly getting better except for, maybe, Josh Bell, who still isn't hitting for power. We should be winning. And we should be wnning with our CURRENT guys. Just look at the guys we COULD have had this winter. Jose Abreu currently is hitting .250 with no HR and an OPS of .567 even though he is arguably much better protected in the Houston lineup than he would have been here. Sean Murphy looks much better than Mike Zunino but is there anyone who is surpirsed by that. Zunino has an OPS of .931. Hedges was at .489 last year.
However, the worst thing about the hitting hasn't been the hitting, itself. It has been the baserunning. We are simply not stealing enough basess, especially in front of Ramirez. Our offense, 1-9, is built on hustle, taking the extra base, and putting pressure on the defense. We are not doing that at the top of the order, seemingly being afraid that Ramirez would be walked if first base was open. Sorry, guys, that is not working. Steal the damn bases in front of Jose. Whatever happens, happens.
Along those lines, the younger guys like Arias, Freeman and Brennan, seem to avoid taking chances on the bases and, as a group, show bad baserunning instincts, in my opinion. They need to step up their baserunning games to fit into our system.
Plus, we are bunting waaaaay to much. Of course, to me bunting in any situation but the bottom of the last inning in a tie game trying to move the winning run from 2nd to 3rd with no outs is a bad bunt. Heck, I am not even sure I would bunt in that case.
So the Guardians will come out of this slump...or they won't. The numbness can kick back in for a year if necessary. I don't want to see that but, if it happens, it happens. They are still my team, whether I am rooting for the 80s version or the 2016 version.
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