Cooper Ingle got another harsh reminder Thursday that the outfield can punish even the smallest lapse.
The Guardians rookie misplayed a routine fly ball in left field in the second inning against the White Sox at Progressive Field, his second error in two games since being moved into the outfield. With nobody out and Andrew Benintendi already standing on second, Chicago rookie Colson Montgomery sent a soft fly toward left.
Ingle got under it and looked set to make the catch, but the ball popped off the top of his glove and fell to the grass. Benintendi advanced to third on the error.
It was the latest rough moment for a player who is still learning on the fly. Ingle is a catcher by trade, was promoted from Triple-A Columbus on June 26, and Thursday was only his third start in left field for Cleveland. He had logged just nine outfield starts in Columbus before his call-up.
The mistake came just 72 hours after a more costly one against Texas. In Tuesday night’s 4-2 loss, Ingle caught a fly ball from Alejandro Osuna in the seventh inning and then flipped it into the left-field seats, thinking he had secured the third out. Instead, it was only the second out, and Rangers runner Ezequiel Duran was awarded home on the two-base error, a play that helped Texas take a lead it never gave back.
Before Wednesday’s finale against Texas, manager Stephen Vogt tried to keep the moment in perspective for his rookie.
“Flush it,” Vogt said. “Everybody’s made mistakes.
Everybody’s made a blunder. We’re not all proud of everything we’ve done and I know I’m not.”
Vogt also made clear that the meaning of the mistake is up to the player.
“It’ll be what you make of it,” Vogt added. “If you want to make that your story, you can make that your story.
If you don’t, don’t. Turn it around.”
This time, the error didn’t cost Cleveland on the scoreboard. Chase Meidroth grounded into a fielder’s choice and Tristan Peters popped out to shortstop Brayan Rocchio to end the inning, leaving Ingle with a mistake that won’t show up as a run but still counts as another lesson.
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National Verdict On Guardians Says Everything About Their Season So Far
A national midseason glance at the Guardians ended up matching the feeling around the club pretty well: the run prevention has carried them, the bullpen has been sharp, and the whole operation has stayed on track despite stretches where the offense has not looked nearly as steady. Bleacher Reports Tim Kelly handed Cleveland an A grade at the halfway point, a nod to a team that has leaned hard on pitching depth and a late-inning relief group that has helped make close games feel manageable.
The bigger question now is whether that profile can hold if the bats do not come around soon enough. Kelly pointed to Stephen Vogts impact as a major reason the Guardians have stayed competitive, but the margin for error in the division is still thin, and the club will need to find some offense before the trade deadline if it wants to keep pushing beyond simply hanging around the race. [Read more 🡒]
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In a recent win over the Rangers, Hedges added his second home run of the season and helped drive in a run earlier in the game, another sign that the bat is no longer just a bonus for the Guardians. His progress has come from steady work on his swing and approach, and while the larger story around his offense still feels like it is unfolding, the early return is enough to make Cleveland take a second look at a player it has long trusted for very different reasons. [Read more 🡒]
Two Guardians Prospects Just Put Clevelands Pipeline Back In The Spotlight
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Ralphy Velazquez has surged this season all the way to Columbus and now sits atop MLB Pipelines first-base rankings, while Cooper Ingle has turned a strong run in the International League into a place on the big-league roster. Together, they give the Guardians more evidence that the next wave is arriving, even if the bigger question is how soon that pipeline starts feeding the major-league club in a more permanent way. [Read more 🡒]