After the Cleveland Guardians got blanked one to nothing last Wednesday against the lowly San Francisco Giants, the water was circling the drain for any hope of a post-season push.
Then things transformed.
The Guardians have won six straight games and have looked like a completely different ball club. It finally feels as though the team has turned the corner by going 8-2 over their last ten games and is gearing up for another playoff run.
The Guardians are 19-19 this season in one run games. Their strength in pitching and lackluster offense have been conducive to playing a lot of low scoring, one run games.
During their six game winning streak there has been only a single one run game; however, in that game the Guardians were up by two runs in the ninth inning, so they had a run to spare. For the majority of games during the streak, the Guardians have not had to white knuckle their way through the later innings. They scored two runs in the tenth inning last night to provide some breathing room for closer Cade Smith.
The Guardians offense is rolling during this stretch. They have taken advantage against some poor pitching staffs. Before the win streak, it did not seem to matter which pitcher they were hitting against, they were going to struggle.
They are averaging 6.1 runs per game on the winning streak. They probably will not keep up those numbers, but if they are close then they will win a lot more games the remainder of the season. When the Guardians were down before this streak by more than one run, it seemed like the game was over. But that changed yesterday.
They made the biggest comeback of the season in last night's game. The Guardians were down 5-0 in the second inning and their star pitcher Gavin Williams exited the game without completing two innings. The Guardians offense came right back and tied the game within three frames and the bullpen did enough to hold off the Los Angeles Angels. The offense has been energized by new faces and returning to form veterans.
Jo Adell was acquired at the trade deadline to hit in the middle of the order and drive in runs. He has seven runs batted in over the last six games. Stephen Kwan went five for five yesterday, boosting his season average up to .274. His .OPS the past two months are 1.003 and .866, respectively.
For a guy that does not hit for power, the high .OPS numbers are very impressive. The league average sits at .719. Even if he crashes back down to earth a little bit, he would still be a good leadoff hitter.
Jose Ramirez has struggled this year with a hamate bone injury and getting hits in key moments. Last night in the tenth inning, with two men on base, Ramirez roped a line drive double in left center field to score both runners and break a tie. "Today was more special because I was here for the team when they needed it the most," Ramirez said postgame. The additions around Ramirez are encouraging for him to relax at the plate and be the player that we all have come to expect to produce.
One of those additions around Ramirez include rookie Angel Genao. The middle of August call up has begun his career by hitting .290 and flashing some leather in the field. He will go through some rookie struggles during the last month and change of the season, but he has hit at every level of the minor leagues and was a very highly regarded prospect.
Could there be even more help on the way?
Ralphy Velazquez is batting .293 with 27 home runs for the Columbus Clippers. He is at his hottest right now having 16 home runs this month alone. If the Guardians can call him up for a stretch, he should have an upper hand on the pitching as there is no major league scouting report on him yet. The youth infusion has been the most exciting in a long time right now.
Adding the resurgent offense to the Guardians' consistency on the pitching side, they are playing for October baseball. The play on the field is starting to feel like the 2025 comeback season, which is incredible considering how historically well they played last season. It feels like the Guardians turned the corner and are now headed for home.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/guardians/onsi as 6 Reasons Why It Feels Like Cleveland Guardians Are Turning Major Corner .
