Jose Ramirez is back, but the Cleveland Guardians still haven’t found the jolt they were waiting for.
Ramirez missed about six weeks after fracturing the hamate bone in his hand, and his return was supposed to give a sluggish offense the lift it badly needed. Instead, the losing has kept rolling. Cleveland is 0-5 since Ramirez was activated off the injured list, according to Guardians Prospective.
That skid includes a three-game sweep in St. Petersburg, where the Guardians were blanked in the series despite getting strong pitching in more than one of those games.
Across the last five contests, Cleveland has managed just four runs total. For a lineup with Ramirez back in the middle, that kind of output is hard to explain and even harder to survive.
The bigger issue is that this isn’t just about one missing bat. Cleveland has spent much of the summer near the bottom of the league in scoring, and the returns of Ramirez, Angel Martinez and Chase DeLauter earlier this month were supposed to help change that. So far, the same offensive problems have shown up again, even with the roster back together.
That has to be especially frustrating for a club that has generally gotten solid work from both its rotation and bullpen during this stretch. The pitching has done enough to keep games within reach, but the offense hasn’t held up its end nearly often enough.
With August approaching and the trade deadline looming, Cleveland needs answers fast. The front office is almost certainly watching this stretch closely as it weighs how aggressive to be before players become unavailable.
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 🡒]