We Are Lucky

 This season, like, last year, has been a struggle.  But as we all wring our hands because the possibility exists that this season could quickly slip away from us, let's look at what we are lucky for.

1. We are lucky we are in one of the two weakest divisions in baseball.

Look, it's here or the AL West. These are the two divisions that we are capable of competing in to win a division title. 

2. We are lucky we are in the AL

There are more teams above .500 in the NL, which puts us firmly in a wildcard spot right now. If we were in the NL, we would be among a whole bunch of teams competing for the last wildcard spot, but on the outside looking in.

3. We are lucky that we have the easiest schedule in baseball the rest of the way.

Yeah, we are 13-15 since Jose, Angel and CDL went down in the same game but we are (kinda) surviving that and looking forward to getting those guys back.

4. We are lucky there are SOOOO many buyers and so few sellers at the deadline.

WTF you say?!?!  Yep, it would suck to be a buyer in a seller's market.  Hopefully that keeps us from doing something stupid, like pushing a lot of chips in trying to bring in veteran players for a stretch run with a work stoppage looming.

5. We are lucky that Jose and Angel are, hopefully, coming back soon.

We have been treading water but we need the help.  Now Jose will likely not have power when he comes back and I hope to heck he knows that and becomes a supercharged version of Kwan instead of trying to be Aaron Judge.  We need him to be PART of the solution, not THE solution.

6. We are luck that our rotation and bullpen has been mostly solid and healthy.

We need that to continue, but we have been lucky with this so far.

7. We are luck we have Carl Willis

He is the glue that holds this pitching staff together.

8. We are lucky we have Steven Vogt.

Could you imagine Vogt in New York where every failed move is blasted by every possible source?  Vogt plays the long game better than any manager I have ever seen.  People don't like that about him but I love it.  He gets that it is a marathon and, for the most part, askews trying to turn it into a sprint.  I thnk the players buy in and work within that, knowing the success we have had.

9. We are luck to have had, and hopefully will have, meaningful baseball to play all the time as Guardians' fans.

I almost can't remember the 70s and 80s anymore, at least the baseball part. While there are lean years sprinkled into our 21st century baseball experience, we don't have whole decades like we used to.

10. We are lucky to have lived through the golden age of Guardians' baseball, 

The 70s and 80s were not good baseball decades for Cleveland but, for the most part, we have only had bad years, instead of bad decades, sprinkled in with our good years.

There are lots of things to be unhappy about with this baseball team from the ownership down to the players but we are really lucky and I hope we remember that.

Have a great evening, a great week and a great rest of the baseball season.  Go Guardians!