The Cleveland Guardians are hitting a rough patch at exactly the wrong moment, and MLB.com’s latest power rankings reflected it. After a weekend sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland slid from No. 11 to No. 13.
That drop comes with real urgency attached. The Guardians have now lost five straight, and the skid has tightened the AL Central race in a hurry. They sit 2.5 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox and just one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins.
“Forget keeping pace with the White Sox: The current losing streak has the Guardians in danger of falling into third place in the AL Central. This, of course, hasn’t knocked them out of the AL Wild Card race: They, improbably, remain in the third spot. They have a week-and-a-half of Interleague Play before what will be an intense series on the south side of Chicago,” Will Leitch wrote.
The offense has not done Cleveland any favors. Even with Jose Ramirez back from the injured list, the bats have stayed quiet. The Guardians were shut out in the final two games against the Rays, and they managed only one run in a 12-inning loss to the Twins during the losing streak.
Ramirez has gone 3-for-16 in four games since returning, and he has yet to record an extra-base hit. Angel Martinez also came back from injury and went 0-for-11. That cold stretch only adds to the sense that Cleveland needs a proven hitter, and what was already a rumored target may now be a more pressing need.
The good news for the Guardians is that the playoff picture in the American League is still crowded and unsettled. Cleveland is 54-53, one of six teams above .500, and it holds a 3.5-game cushion over the Detroit Tigers, who are eighth in the wild-card standings.
A softer stretch of schedule could help them steady things. The Guardians are set for three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets before a three-game set with the White Sox begins Aug. 7.
With the trade deadline coming on Aug. 3, both Cleveland and the rest of the AL could look a lot different by then.
In Other News...
Guardians Suddenly Hold More Deadline Leverage Than Anyone Expected
The catching market around the deadline may have shifted in Clevelands favor, and not because of anything the Guardians did on the field. With one of the more obvious names at the position suddenly unavailable, clubs looking for help behind the plate may have to turn to the next tier of options, which puts a spotlight on Clevelands own pair of catchers. That is the kind of twist front offices notice quickly, especially when a team has multiple players who could fit different kinds of trade talks.
Bo Naylor and Cooper Ingle now sit in a more interesting spot than they did a few days ago. Naylor, who was sent to Triple-A in May, has put together a solid run there and still comes with years of control, while Ingle brings prospect appeal even as his long-term defensive home remains unsettled. For Cleveland, the question is no longer just whether either catcher has value, but whether a market thinned by one injury could push that value higher before the deadline arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Fans Just Got Another Reason To Worry About The Future
The Guardians are heading into the trade deadline with more than one roster question hanging over them, and the front office appears set to wait until the final stretch before making its biggest moves. Cleveland is reportedly looking to add a hitter, a familiar kind of deadline need for a club trying to keep its offense from stalling down the stretch, while the organization also has to keep one eye on the draft after a second-round pick announced he would not sign.
There was at least one brighter note around the franchise on the Hall of Fame side of things, where Paul Hoynes was honored with the Baseball Writers Career Excellence Award. Even so, the larger conversation around Cleveland is still about what comes next, and whether the team can turn a tense few days into help for a lineup that clearly needs it. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Deadline Plans Just Took A Brutal Turn At The Plate
Spencer Steers injury in Cincinnati has already rippled beyond the Reds, because it changes the market for a right-handed bat the Guardians had been watching. With Steer headed to the injured list and expected to miss significant time, Clevelands deadline planning suddenly has to account for a thinner pool of available hitters, which is never where a contender wants to be this late in July.
So the Guardians are left sorting through the fallback options, and the names that keep coming up each carry a different kind of risk. Casey Schmitt offers versatility, Isaac Paredes brings a more defined offensive profile, and Jo Adell has the kind of power that can tempt a front office even when the rest of the package is less tidy. For Cleveland, the challenge now is finding a bat that fits both the lineup and the ballpark, and the Steer injury makes that search a lot messier than it was a day ago. [Read more 🡒]