The Cleveland Guardians have been playing for a while now, but we’ve all done our best to ignore it.
Little by little, the seemingly unassailable lead in the AL Central disappeared. The Guardians were once nine games ahead of the Minnesota Twins at the top of the division. That was a month and a half ago. But as time went on, the Twins gradually reduced their deficit.
Which brings us to the topic of Cleveland’s lead over Minnesota all but evaporating. After Cleveland lost the first two games of a four-game series against the Twins on Friday (it was a doubleheader), the Guardians’ lead in the AL Central has shrunk to one and a half games (one in the loss column).
If Cleveland loses these next two games against Minnesota, it will suddenly find itself in an unfamiliar position in 2024: the hunter instead of the hunted.
The Guardians have lost seven games in a row, although they looked like they might finally pull away during their previous five-game winning streak.
Pretty much everything has gone wrong for Cleveland during this time. The Guardians aren’t hitting. Their starting pitching has been abysmal. Their bullpen is showing the first signs of wear. Their “big” signings at the trade deadline, Lane Thomas and Alex Cobb, have been failures so far.
Cobb made his debut in Cleveland on Friday night, allowing four runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings. In his defense, it was his first appearance since last year as the veteran right-hander recovered from hip surgery and a shoulder injury. But maybe the Guardians should have traded him for someone who has thrown a pitch in 2024?
And what about Thomas? He makes Will Brennan look like Manny Ramirez. The former Washington Nationals outfielder has completed just 5 of 38 passes with a .398 OPS in his first 10 games in Cleveland. Small sample size? Yes. Worrying, considering the Guardians’ division lead is shrinking with less than two months to go before the regular season ends? Also yes.
We knew Cleveland had problems all year. Its starting lineup was among the worst in baseball and its offense was unbearably inconsistent. And now, in the heat of the championship race, all of those problems seem to be coming to a head.
The Guardians cannot afford to lose this series against the Twins. Not with the brutal number of games they have coming up after it, including back-to-back road series against the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees.
Even more worrying for Cleveland is that Minnesota appears to be hitting its stride at just the right time.
And consider this: Since starting 36-17, the Guardians have gone just 31-32. They’ve been a sub-.500 team for over two months. That’s not just a bad stretch at this point. It’s a long stretch of mediocre baseball that could ultimately ruin a playoff berth that seemed assured at the start of the season.
There is panic in Cleveland and the Guardians need to start showing urgency. Recently, manager Stephen Vogt tried to find the positive in his team’s losing streak. Now it’s time to stop looking for silver linings and start winning games.
