The Cleveland Guardians are in the middle of a slide that keeps getting harder to ignore, but Stephen Vogt isn’t interested in letting the mood drift with the results.
After Cleveland dropped two of three to the Detroit Tigers and lost a fourth straight series, the manager kept the message simple: the work hasn’t changed, and neither has the belief.
“Our guys are showing up ready to win every day, and that's all we can do,” Vogt explained.
“Keep our heads down, keep working, and show up ready to win. The wins are gonna come.
We just have to stay positive. We can't allow any outside negativity to get into our heads.
So for us, it's stay positive, keep working, and win games.”
The latest setback came Thursday, when the Guardians were shut out on four hits by Detroit. That loss pushed Cleveland to 15 defeats in its last 18 games, leaving the club four games under .500. The last time the Guardians won a series was against the Cincinnati Reds in the final week of July.
The trouble has been showing up in the batter’s box. Cleveland has made its share of self-inflicted mistakes during this stretch, but the biggest issue has been run production.
There is one encouraging number buried in the slump: the Guardians’ .362 on-base percentage since the start of August is tied for best in baseball over that span. Even so, the inability to cash in with runners in scoring position has been the real problem.
Steven Kwan said after Thursday’s loss that the group is unhappy with where it stands, but believes the experience in the room can help them snap out of it. He also said the team is still mentally dialed in.
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Stephen Vogt and Chase DeLauter have both pointed to the mental side of those situations, which fits the way the numbers have looked. For a club trying to squeeze more out of a lineup that has already created chances, the next step is less about finding baserunners and more about sharpening the approach when the game is asking for one clean swing, one productive out or one simple run-scoring play. [Read more 🡒]