“He plays an unbelievable right field. He's a good baserunner, and he has the power to hit the ball out of the yard. It just hasn't been there yet this year, and we still hold true to the belief that Jhonkensy, the best version of him helps us win games.”
The Guardians have acknowledged throughout this season that Noel had a challenging role due to the inconsistent at-bats. Staying in rhythm with limited playing time can be challenging for a veteran hitter, let alone someone such as Noel, who is only 23 years old and has just 282 at-bats over 113 games in his big league career.
It can also be natural for any player who is struggling to feel the pressure to produce in the limited reps they do receive, especially as they try to fight their way out of a slump.
“You feel like you have to go 5-for-4 every time you play,” Vogt said. “It's one of those things that you start to put pressure on yourself. We have conversations with our guys all the time about this. We do our best to keep them in a good mental headspace. But there's nothing that can help when you're struggling and you're down on yourself, and you put more pressure on yourself to be perfect.
“It's a really tough role, and we empathize with them with that. But we also try to equip them with the skills to overcome it. I think sometimes we view getting sent to Triple-A as this super negative thing. Of course, everybody wants to be in the big leagues. No one wants to be a Triple-A. But this is the best thing that can be for Jhonkensy right now to go get playing time, to go get at-bats, so that he can work on the things daily that he needs to.”
Re: Articles
11117He's still really young and has plenty of opportunity to right the ship. One serious challenge which he has in common with Oscar is that he doesn't walk. Only 3 this year in 106 plate appearances; last year he walked 13 in 192 trips.
Re: Articles
11118I thought it was odd that Vogt said pregame that Rodriquez was working on shortening his stride and swing in Columbus. Then he said he was not there yet. Work in progress. Vogt was being interviewed by Hamilton. Made me wonder if he was going to be here very long.
During the game Hamilton says that Rodriquez stride and swing looked very long.
During the game Hamilton says that Rodriquez stride and swing looked very long.
Re: Articles
11119I doubt he will unless he quickly shows something. He grounded into a dp first time up today. Big knock on him is far too many ground ball.s
Re: Articles
11120As Terry Francona makes his Cleveland return, the relationships he’s built ‘never change’
Former Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona, now manager of the Cincinnati Reds, smiles as he is introduced before a baseball game between the Reds and the Guardians in Cleveland, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
By Zack Meisel and C. Trent Rosecrans
25
June 10, 2025
CLEVELAND — There’s a long, narrow hallway that connects the visitors clubhouse to the visitors dugout at Progressive Field. It’s straight out of Apple TV’s “Severance,” a seemingly unending path with white walls and no artwork or personality or life.
You can walk for miles and occasionally pass by a room. Maybe it’s where umpires get dressed. Maybe it’s full of baby goats or number-crunching innies.
The hallway is part of sweeping renovations the Cleveland Guardians completed over the last year and a half. Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona was dreading the march down that hallway Monday afternoon. He quipped that he’d have to ice his knees once he finally reached the dugout.
A lot has changed since Francona last roamed the ballpark he called home for 11 years.
The final week of the 2023 season, coincidentally with the Reds in town, Francona reluctantly stepped out of the home dugout in the same building for one final ovation from Cleveland fans who donned “Thank You, Tito” shirts.
“Half of them probably want their T-shirts back,” Francona joked Monday, his first day back as the enemy in his old stomping grounds.
Francona says he didn’t intend to manage again when he stepped down after the 2023 campaign. He spent last year golfing in Hawaii and Mexico, guzzling beers at University of Arizona football games and chasing his six grandkids.
He spent the year getting healthy.
By August, he started pondering his future. By late September, he was the Reds’ new skipper.
In the time he was gone, plenty changed. A year and a half is an eternity in baseball.
Most of all, he missed the people
The pedestrian-only street he resided on for years in downtown Cleveland, East Fourth Street, has undergone a slew of restaurant transformations. The nook where he’d park his famed scooter — with no fear of a heist until someone not only stole the vehicle but also defecated on it in 2023 — borders a restaurant that has changed several times since Francona stepped down. Now, it’s a country-themed establishment with phrases such as “Hootin’ leads to hollerin’” printed on the glass-window front.
The ballpark looks different, too, with blue seats, a left-field hub that no longer sits dormant all summer and redesigned clubhouses. The Guardians unveiled a new, more spacious interview room Monday afternoon just for Francona’s arrival. As Francona scanned the room full of reporters from across Ohio, he locked eyes with his former closer, Cody Allen, who has spent the homestand providing analysis on the Guardians’ pre- and postgame broadcasts.
Francona dubbed Allen his least favorite closer of all time, saying the reliever’s attitude drove him mad. Of course, that’s the antithesis to the truth, and Francona’s ribbing really just reveals his affection for the guy who ranks second in franchise history in saves.
In Cleveland, Francona played cribbage every afternoon with Bryan Shaw or Josh Tomlin or Mike Napoli. “That’s how Napoli got the (Reds staff assistant) job,” one former player joked. “Tito needed someone to play cribbage with.”
Francona couldn’t find a cribbage board Monday, so Cleveland’s equipment staff rummaged through closets to try to locate one. No one has played cribbage at Progressive Field since 2023, though.
“We had to go buy one,” Francona said, pausing for a moment before smiling and adding: “Bastards.”
His old team is different, too. Well, not the personnel. Carlos Santana is back. Many of the young players who started under Francona have remained under Stephen Vogt. José Ramírez is still posting all-world numbers.
“This kid made himself into one of the best players in the game,” Francona said. “When I came (to Cincinnati), that’s the first guy everybody asked about.”
Francona’s last season in Cleveland was the team’s worst under his stewardship, with a 76-86 record. Then, the Guardians nearly went wire-to-wire in the AL Central in 2024 and made a run to the ALCS.
Francona said he watched more baseball last summer than he ever has. He flipped between games that were close in the late innings. Eventually, he started to perversely miss the agony of helplessly leaning against the dugout railing while praying his team could find a way to win.
He missed the steady beat of the 162-game schedule. He missed the camaraderie. Most of all, he missed the people.
Then, the Reds called.
Sunday night when the Reds arrived at their hotel in downtown Cleveland, Francona received a text from the security guard who was stationed outside of his old office at Progressive Field. As he relayed the story Monday, he beamed. It took a second for Francona to go through his mental Rolodex to pull the security guard’s name (Tyrone), but he did.
“That made my night,” Francona said. “To me, that’s baseball. That stuff never changes. The people in the game make it really special.”
Everywhere Francona went Monday, there was a familiar face, a kind word, a handshake. After a lifetime in Major League Baseball, that reception isn’t just in Cleveland or Boston, but everywhere the Reds go. When the Reds go to Detroit later this week, there will be another security guard, another clubhouse attendant, another coach, another hotel bartender who will greet Francona with a smile or hug.
After stepping away from baseball for a year, Terry Francona returned to the dugout to manage the Reds. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
Francona has repeatedly said he was happy at his home in Tucson, Ariz., last season, arm’s length from the game that’d consumed nearly every day of his 66 years on earth. He did it again Monday. The life he led in Tucson, surrounded by a small group of friends with plenty of golf, drinks and laughs, was the picture-perfect portrait of retired life.
“It was a really good year,” Francona said. “I did stuff I’ve never done before.”
The retired life was like sitting still in the middle of a merry-go-round, with the world revolving around him. Surviving a major-league season is like hanging off the end of the merry-go-round as it spins for eight months. Like the toddler who pleads to go again and again once the spinning stops, Francona craved that pit in his stomach that surfaced anytime the game hung in the balance in the ninth inning.
For Francona, those stakes are addicting. They always have been.
“You used the word addicting, which really isn’t a bad word,” Francona said. “That ninth inning. At some point, when you do it for so long, that also can become a burden. The losses were weighing on me more than I was enjoying the wins.”
That was in 2023, when Elly De La Cruz, now his shortstop, hit two home runs to give him a loss in his final game at Progressive Field as the manager of the Guardians.
Last spring, he wanted to hop in his car and drive the two hours to see all the people in the Guardians organization whom he’d gotten to know and care about over the previous 11 years. He stayed away, though, in deference to those who had taken over.
“It didn’t feel right,” Francona said. “I thought for the new staff here, they needed to be able to do things. They didn’t need me telling them how to do it or acting like I’m gonna tell them how to do it.”
What You Should Read Next
Why Terry Francona just couldn’t stay away from baseball: ‘I probably love it too much’
Why Terry Francona just couldn't stay away from baseball: 'I probably love it too much'
Francona has tried to escape the sport many times, yet he keeps coming back, baseball’s most reliable boomerang, unable to resist the grind.
Telling people what to do has never been the part of the job Francona’s enjoyed the most. Instead, it’s finding a way to make people want to do what you think they should do. Francona’s calling card has never been as a strategic mastermind, though it’s a bigger part of his success than the sport’s chief self-deprecator will admit. It’s about building relationships and finding out how to help his players be better than anyone thought they could be.
Baseball to Francona is giving a baby-faced shortstop from the Dominican Republic his first taste of the big leagues as a pinch runner in a tie game just days before his 21st birthday, and then watching from his couch a dozen years later as Ramírez continued to showcase why he’s among the best players in baseball.
It’s watching former players of his, such as Kevin Cash or Dave Roberts, become two of the best managers in the game. It’s the hours spent huddled with his players around a cribbage board in his office or on a plane.
Baseball, for Francona, is more than baseball.
Returning to managing only entered his mind when an old friend, former Reds announcer Marty Brennaman, called to gauge Francona’s interest. His response was that he’d always listen.
Days later, Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall and general manager Brad Meador were on Francona’s weathered old couch at his house in Tucson, and it didn’t take long for all three to realize Francona was energized to return to the dugout.
The wins are still important and the losses still sting. Francona has had plenty of both in his lifetime in the game, but it’s the comfort level, the ease with which he sits in front of an audience and plays his greatest hits. Monday, in a familiar but changed venue, he delivered his customary array of one-liners and self-effacing punchlines and conveyed his desire to spoil the week for his old friends.
“I had 11 really fun years here and I had some great relationships. That never changes,” Francona said. “But now, we’re trying to figure out a way to beat them tonight. That’s why we’re here.”
By Zack Meisel and C. Trent Rosecrans
25
June 10, 2025
CLEVELAND — There’s a long, narrow hallway that connects the visitors clubhouse to the visitors dugout at Progressive Field. It’s straight out of Apple TV’s “Severance,” a seemingly unending path with white walls and no artwork or personality or life.
You can walk for miles and occasionally pass by a room. Maybe it’s where umpires get dressed. Maybe it’s full of baby goats or number-crunching innies.
The hallway is part of sweeping renovations the Cleveland Guardians completed over the last year and a half. Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona was dreading the march down that hallway Monday afternoon. He quipped that he’d have to ice his knees once he finally reached the dugout.
A lot has changed since Francona last roamed the ballpark he called home for 11 years.
The final week of the 2023 season, coincidentally with the Reds in town, Francona reluctantly stepped out of the home dugout in the same building for one final ovation from Cleveland fans who donned “Thank You, Tito” shirts.
“Half of them probably want their T-shirts back,” Francona joked Monday, his first day back as the enemy in his old stomping grounds.
Francona says he didn’t intend to manage again when he stepped down after the 2023 campaign. He spent last year golfing in Hawaii and Mexico, guzzling beers at University of Arizona football games and chasing his six grandkids.
He spent the year getting healthy.
By August, he started pondering his future. By late September, he was the Reds’ new skipper.
In the time he was gone, plenty changed. A year and a half is an eternity in baseball.
Most of all, he missed the people
The pedestrian-only street he resided on for years in downtown Cleveland, East Fourth Street, has undergone a slew of restaurant transformations. The nook where he’d park his famed scooter — with no fear of a heist until someone not only stole the vehicle but also defecated on it in 2023 — borders a restaurant that has changed several times since Francona stepped down. Now, it’s a country-themed establishment with phrases such as “Hootin’ leads to hollerin’” printed on the glass-window front.
The ballpark looks different, too, with blue seats, a left-field hub that no longer sits dormant all summer and redesigned clubhouses. The Guardians unveiled a new, more spacious interview room Monday afternoon just for Francona’s arrival. As Francona scanned the room full of reporters from across Ohio, he locked eyes with his former closer, Cody Allen, who has spent the homestand providing analysis on the Guardians’ pre- and postgame broadcasts.
Francona dubbed Allen his least favorite closer of all time, saying the reliever’s attitude drove him mad. Of course, that’s the antithesis to the truth, and Francona’s ribbing really just reveals his affection for the guy who ranks second in franchise history in saves.
In Cleveland, Francona played cribbage every afternoon with Bryan Shaw or Josh Tomlin or Mike Napoli. “That’s how Napoli got the (Reds staff assistant) job,” one former player joked. “Tito needed someone to play cribbage with.”
Francona couldn’t find a cribbage board Monday, so Cleveland’s equipment staff rummaged through closets to try to locate one. No one has played cribbage at Progressive Field since 2023, though.
“We had to go buy one,” Francona said, pausing for a moment before smiling and adding: “Bastards.”
His old team is different, too. Well, not the personnel. Carlos Santana is back. Many of the young players who started under Francona have remained under Stephen Vogt. José Ramírez is still posting all-world numbers.
“This kid made himself into one of the best players in the game,” Francona said. “When I came (to Cincinnati), that’s the first guy everybody asked about.”
Francona’s last season in Cleveland was the team’s worst under his stewardship, with a 76-86 record. Then, the Guardians nearly went wire-to-wire in the AL Central in 2024 and made a run to the ALCS.
Francona said he watched more baseball last summer than he ever has. He flipped between games that were close in the late innings. Eventually, he started to perversely miss the agony of helplessly leaning against the dugout railing while praying his team could find a way to win.
He missed the steady beat of the 162-game schedule. He missed the camaraderie. Most of all, he missed the people.
Then, the Reds called.
Sunday night when the Reds arrived at their hotel in downtown Cleveland, Francona received a text from the security guard who was stationed outside of his old office at Progressive Field. As he relayed the story Monday, he beamed. It took a second for Francona to go through his mental Rolodex to pull the security guard’s name (Tyrone), but he did.
“That made my night,” Francona said. “To me, that’s baseball. That stuff never changes. The people in the game make it really special.”
Everywhere Francona went Monday, there was a familiar face, a kind word, a handshake. After a lifetime in Major League Baseball, that reception isn’t just in Cleveland or Boston, but everywhere the Reds go. When the Reds go to Detroit later this week, there will be another security guard, another clubhouse attendant, another coach, another hotel bartender who will greet Francona with a smile or hug.
After stepping away from baseball for a year, Terry Francona returned to the dugout to manage the Reds. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
Francona has repeatedly said he was happy at his home in Tucson, Ariz., last season, arm’s length from the game that’d consumed nearly every day of his 66 years on earth. He did it again Monday. The life he led in Tucson, surrounded by a small group of friends with plenty of golf, drinks and laughs, was the picture-perfect portrait of retired life.
“It was a really good year,” Francona said. “I did stuff I’ve never done before.”
The retired life was like sitting still in the middle of a merry-go-round, with the world revolving around him. Surviving a major-league season is like hanging off the end of the merry-go-round as it spins for eight months. Like the toddler who pleads to go again and again once the spinning stops, Francona craved that pit in his stomach that surfaced anytime the game hung in the balance in the ninth inning.
For Francona, those stakes are addicting. They always have been.
“You used the word addicting, which really isn’t a bad word,” Francona said. “That ninth inning. At some point, when you do it for so long, that also can become a burden. The losses were weighing on me more than I was enjoying the wins.”
That was in 2023, when Elly De La Cruz, now his shortstop, hit two home runs to give him a loss in his final game at Progressive Field as the manager of the Guardians.
Last spring, he wanted to hop in his car and drive the two hours to see all the people in the Guardians organization whom he’d gotten to know and care about over the previous 11 years. He stayed away, though, in deference to those who had taken over.
“It didn’t feel right,” Francona said. “I thought for the new staff here, they needed to be able to do things. They didn’t need me telling them how to do it or acting like I’m gonna tell them how to do it.”
What You Should Read Next
Why Terry Francona just couldn’t stay away from baseball: ‘I probably love it too much’
Why Terry Francona just couldn't stay away from baseball: 'I probably love it too much'
Francona has tried to escape the sport many times, yet he keeps coming back, baseball’s most reliable boomerang, unable to resist the grind.
Telling people what to do has never been the part of the job Francona’s enjoyed the most. Instead, it’s finding a way to make people want to do what you think they should do. Francona’s calling card has never been as a strategic mastermind, though it’s a bigger part of his success than the sport’s chief self-deprecator will admit. It’s about building relationships and finding out how to help his players be better than anyone thought they could be.
Baseball to Francona is giving a baby-faced shortstop from the Dominican Republic his first taste of the big leagues as a pinch runner in a tie game just days before his 21st birthday, and then watching from his couch a dozen years later as Ramírez continued to showcase why he’s among the best players in baseball.
It’s watching former players of his, such as Kevin Cash or Dave Roberts, become two of the best managers in the game. It’s the hours spent huddled with his players around a cribbage board in his office or on a plane.
Baseball, for Francona, is more than baseball.
Returning to managing only entered his mind when an old friend, former Reds announcer Marty Brennaman, called to gauge Francona’s interest. His response was that he’d always listen.
Days later, Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall and general manager Brad Meador were on Francona’s weathered old couch at his house in Tucson, and it didn’t take long for all three to realize Francona was energized to return to the dugout.
The wins are still important and the losses still sting. Francona has had plenty of both in his lifetime in the game, but it’s the comfort level, the ease with which he sits in front of an audience and plays his greatest hits. Monday, in a familiar but changed venue, he delivered his customary array of one-liners and self-effacing punchlines and conveyed his desire to spoil the week for his old friends.
“I had 11 really fun years here and I had some great relationships. That never changes,” Francona said. “But now, we’re trying to figure out a way to beat them tonight. That’s why we’re here.”
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain
Re: Articles
11121Guardians takeaways: How well do you know Carlos Santana, José Ramírez, Cade Smith and more?
CLEVELAND, OHIO - JUNE 06: José Ramírez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians attempts to throw out Jeremy Peña of the Houston Astros at first base during the first inning at Progressive Field on June 06, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
By Zack Meisel
3
June 12, 2025 7:00 am EDT
Look, you probably think you know your Guardians. They’re 67 games into the 2025 season, and you may feel like you have a handle on what they’re all about. Well, if you’re so confident, why don’t you put your expertise to the test?
Here’s a 10-question pop quiz that covers the state of Stephen Vogt’s 35-32 club.
1. How many American League second basemen with at least 125 plate appearances have a higher OPS than Daniel Schneemann?
A. Zero
B. One
C. Four
D. Eight
Answer: B
Toward the end of the 33rd round of the 2018 draft, hundreds and hundreds of picks after Casey Mize and Grayson Rodriguez and Logan Gilbert and Bo Naylor and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, Cleveland selected a light-hitting shortstop from BYU. Schneemann was the 1,003rd overall pick. He could have returned to BYU for another season. But he wanted to play pro ball. He thinks it’s a cool story, a 33rd-rounder reaching the big leagues, but he doesn’t get caught up in the numbers.
“I felt like I was better than that,” he said.
There aren’t even 33 rounds in the draft anymore. It stops at 20. Daniel Schneemanns now latch on with teams without a signing bonus, or they play independent ball, or they follow a backup plan.
There were times, he said, when he doubted if he’d ever make it, especially after a rough season at Double-A Akron in 2022. But he overhauled his swing, bulked up, gained some confidence and caught the attention of a new staff last spring. He debuted, wound up starting playoff games and now he has emerged as one of the Guardians’ most reliable hitters against right-handed pitching.
If we consider Twins utility player Willi Castro a second baseman by trade, he entered Wednesday as the AL leader with a .790 OPS. After that, it’s Schneemann and Detroit’s Gleyber Torres close behind.
2. At which position have Guardians hitters been the least productive at the plate? (Using wRC+, weight runs created, with 100 indicating league average)
A. Shortstop
B. Catcher
C. Center field
D. Right field
Answer: C
Cleveland ranks last in the majors in output from its center fielders (34 wRC+) and right fielders (42 wRC+) and next-to-last in output from its shortstops (51 wRC+). The catcher position has seen a boost lately, thanks to a Naylor power surge, lifting the wRC+ at that spot to 85, which ranks 18th in the majors.
3. José Ramírez has reached base in 37 consecutive games, the longest streak by a Cleveland hitter since …
A. Jason Kipnis
B. Jim Thome
C. Victor Martinez
D. Tony Bernazard
Answer: C
On Wednesday afternoon, Ramírez surpassed Kipnis, who had a 36-game on-base streak in 2013. Martinez reached in 45 consecutive games from September 2005 to May 2006. Thome holds the franchise record, with a 55-game streak in 2002.
Ramírez has at least one hit in 32 of his last 33 games. In that stretch, he’s batting nearly .400 with an OPS north of 1.100.
4. How many active major-league hitters are older than Carlos Santana?
A. None
B. One
C. Two
D. Three
Answer: B
Santana, who hit a grand slam Wednesday on the 15th anniversary of his major-league debut, is making 39 look like the new 29. Only Cubs veteran Justin Turner (40) is older. Yuli Gurriel, 41, had a brief stint with the Padres this season, but it didn’t go well. Hey, it happens. It’s difficult enough to roll out of bed without a backache or knee pain at Santana’s age, let alone post above-average numbers at the plate and stellar defense at first base.
5. In how many big-league ballparks has Santana hit a home run?
A. 17
B. 23
C. 28
D. 31
Answer: D
The only venue in which Santana has taken hacks but not homered is Turner Field in Atlanta. The Braves no longer play there, though. Santana has homered in every active location, aside from the Athletics’ temporary home in Sacramento (which he’ll visit next week) and the Rays’ temporary home in Tampa. He homered in the Oakland Coliseum and the Ballpark in Arlington, two venues no longer in use (plus Tropicana Field in Tampa). He also homered at the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa., in 2018 with the Phillies.
The five ballparks he has homered in the most: Progressive Field, Target Field, Kauffman Stadium, Angel Stadium and Citizens Bank Park.
6. What is Steven Kwan’s batting average after an 0-2 count this season?
A. .222
B. .250
C. .300
D. .333
Answer: D
Kwan boasts a .333/.346/.412 slash line in 52 plate appearances after falling behind 0-2. That .758 OPS is 142 percent better than the league-average performance in those situations.
7. Which reliever owns the lowest ERA since the start of the 2024 season (minimum 50 innings)?
A. Andrés Muñoz
B. Emmanuel Clase
C. Kirby Yates
D. Hunter Gaddis
Answer: B
Ah, you thought it was a trick question. You went with Gaddis, didn’t you? Well, it’s not a bad inclination, given Clase is the only reliever who sits ahead of Gaddis on the ERA leaderboard.
Lowest ERA since start of 2024:
1.39: Emmanuel Clase
1.51: Hunter Gaddis
1.76: Tommy Kahnle
1.86: Jason Adam and Andrés Muñoz
1.87: Kirby Yates
2.07: Cade Smith
8. How many regular-season home runs has Cade Smith allowed in 104 innings as a big-leaguer?
A. One
B. Three
C. Six
D. Nine
Answer: A
On June 18, 2024, with the Guardians ahead by five runs, Smith surrendered a solo shot to Mariners infielder Dylan Moore. That should earn Moore a medal. He’s the only one to do it. (Yankees colossus Giancarlo Stanton tagged him for one in the ALCS last year, too.) Smith’s up to his usual shenanigans this season, with a 2.48 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 29 innings. He makes most hitters look ill-equipped at the plate. But the Guardians head to Seattle this weekend, and Moore will be lurking.
9. What is the collective OPS of Cleveland’s No. 2 hitters this season? (League average is .752.)
A. .505
B. .615
C. .675
D. .725
Answer: A
It’s 65 percent worse than the league-average No. 2 hitter, typically a spot reserved for one of a team’s top hitters. The Guardians have cycled eight players through that place in the lineup.
Games started in the No. 2 spot
19: José Ramírez
14: Angel Martínez
10: Nolan Jones
8: Daniel Schneemann
6: Gabriel Arias
5: Lane Thomas
3: David Fry
2: Bo Naylor
The only spot in Cleveland’s lineup with a worse OPS is the ninth spot, and it’s close (.500 OPS). Entering Wednesday’s action, Guardians No. 2 hitters had combined for a .165/.226/.280 slash line.
10. Ramírez is trending toward earning his seventh career All-Star Game nod. That would leave him one shy of the franchise record, held by whom?
A. Lou Boudreau
B. Bob Feller
C. Manny Ramirez
D. Julio Franco
Answer: B
Boudreau, Ken Keltner, Bob Lemon and Larry Doby all made seven All-Star teams with Cleveland. Ramírez should join them next month. This would be his fifth straight trip to the Midsummer Classic.
By Zack Meisel
3
June 12, 2025 7:00 am EDT
Look, you probably think you know your Guardians. They’re 67 games into the 2025 season, and you may feel like you have a handle on what they’re all about. Well, if you’re so confident, why don’t you put your expertise to the test?
Here’s a 10-question pop quiz that covers the state of Stephen Vogt’s 35-32 club.
1. How many American League second basemen with at least 125 plate appearances have a higher OPS than Daniel Schneemann?
A. Zero
B. One
C. Four
D. Eight
Answer: B
Toward the end of the 33rd round of the 2018 draft, hundreds and hundreds of picks after Casey Mize and Grayson Rodriguez and Logan Gilbert and Bo Naylor and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, Cleveland selected a light-hitting shortstop from BYU. Schneemann was the 1,003rd overall pick. He could have returned to BYU for another season. But he wanted to play pro ball. He thinks it’s a cool story, a 33rd-rounder reaching the big leagues, but he doesn’t get caught up in the numbers.
“I felt like I was better than that,” he said.
There aren’t even 33 rounds in the draft anymore. It stops at 20. Daniel Schneemanns now latch on with teams without a signing bonus, or they play independent ball, or they follow a backup plan.
There were times, he said, when he doubted if he’d ever make it, especially after a rough season at Double-A Akron in 2022. But he overhauled his swing, bulked up, gained some confidence and caught the attention of a new staff last spring. He debuted, wound up starting playoff games and now he has emerged as one of the Guardians’ most reliable hitters against right-handed pitching.
If we consider Twins utility player Willi Castro a second baseman by trade, he entered Wednesday as the AL leader with a .790 OPS. After that, it’s Schneemann and Detroit’s Gleyber Torres close behind.
2. At which position have Guardians hitters been the least productive at the plate? (Using wRC+, weight runs created, with 100 indicating league average)
A. Shortstop
B. Catcher
C. Center field
D. Right field
Answer: C
Cleveland ranks last in the majors in output from its center fielders (34 wRC+) and right fielders (42 wRC+) and next-to-last in output from its shortstops (51 wRC+). The catcher position has seen a boost lately, thanks to a Naylor power surge, lifting the wRC+ at that spot to 85, which ranks 18th in the majors.
3. José Ramírez has reached base in 37 consecutive games, the longest streak by a Cleveland hitter since …
A. Jason Kipnis
B. Jim Thome
C. Victor Martinez
D. Tony Bernazard
Answer: C
On Wednesday afternoon, Ramírez surpassed Kipnis, who had a 36-game on-base streak in 2013. Martinez reached in 45 consecutive games from September 2005 to May 2006. Thome holds the franchise record, with a 55-game streak in 2002.
Ramírez has at least one hit in 32 of his last 33 games. In that stretch, he’s batting nearly .400 with an OPS north of 1.100.
4. How many active major-league hitters are older than Carlos Santana?
A. None
B. One
C. Two
D. Three
Answer: B
Santana, who hit a grand slam Wednesday on the 15th anniversary of his major-league debut, is making 39 look like the new 29. Only Cubs veteran Justin Turner (40) is older. Yuli Gurriel, 41, had a brief stint with the Padres this season, but it didn’t go well. Hey, it happens. It’s difficult enough to roll out of bed without a backache or knee pain at Santana’s age, let alone post above-average numbers at the plate and stellar defense at first base.
5. In how many big-league ballparks has Santana hit a home run?
A. 17
B. 23
C. 28
D. 31
Answer: D
The only venue in which Santana has taken hacks but not homered is Turner Field in Atlanta. The Braves no longer play there, though. Santana has homered in every active location, aside from the Athletics’ temporary home in Sacramento (which he’ll visit next week) and the Rays’ temporary home in Tampa. He homered in the Oakland Coliseum and the Ballpark in Arlington, two venues no longer in use (plus Tropicana Field in Tampa). He also homered at the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa., in 2018 with the Phillies.
The five ballparks he has homered in the most: Progressive Field, Target Field, Kauffman Stadium, Angel Stadium and Citizens Bank Park.
6. What is Steven Kwan’s batting average after an 0-2 count this season?
A. .222
B. .250
C. .300
D. .333
Answer: D
Kwan boasts a .333/.346/.412 slash line in 52 plate appearances after falling behind 0-2. That .758 OPS is 142 percent better than the league-average performance in those situations.
7. Which reliever owns the lowest ERA since the start of the 2024 season (minimum 50 innings)?
A. Andrés Muñoz
B. Emmanuel Clase
C. Kirby Yates
D. Hunter Gaddis
Answer: B
Ah, you thought it was a trick question. You went with Gaddis, didn’t you? Well, it’s not a bad inclination, given Clase is the only reliever who sits ahead of Gaddis on the ERA leaderboard.
Lowest ERA since start of 2024:
1.39: Emmanuel Clase
1.51: Hunter Gaddis
1.76: Tommy Kahnle
1.86: Jason Adam and Andrés Muñoz
1.87: Kirby Yates
2.07: Cade Smith
8. How many regular-season home runs has Cade Smith allowed in 104 innings as a big-leaguer?
A. One
B. Three
C. Six
D. Nine
Answer: A
On June 18, 2024, with the Guardians ahead by five runs, Smith surrendered a solo shot to Mariners infielder Dylan Moore. That should earn Moore a medal. He’s the only one to do it. (Yankees colossus Giancarlo Stanton tagged him for one in the ALCS last year, too.) Smith’s up to his usual shenanigans this season, with a 2.48 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 29 innings. He makes most hitters look ill-equipped at the plate. But the Guardians head to Seattle this weekend, and Moore will be lurking.
9. What is the collective OPS of Cleveland’s No. 2 hitters this season? (League average is .752.)
A. .505
B. .615
C. .675
D. .725
Answer: A
It’s 65 percent worse than the league-average No. 2 hitter, typically a spot reserved for one of a team’s top hitters. The Guardians have cycled eight players through that place in the lineup.
Games started in the No. 2 spot
19: José Ramírez
14: Angel Martínez
10: Nolan Jones
8: Daniel Schneemann
6: Gabriel Arias
5: Lane Thomas
3: David Fry
2: Bo Naylor
The only spot in Cleveland’s lineup with a worse OPS is the ninth spot, and it’s close (.500 OPS). Entering Wednesday’s action, Guardians No. 2 hitters had combined for a .165/.226/.280 slash line.
10. Ramírez is trending toward earning his seventh career All-Star Game nod. That would leave him one shy of the franchise record, held by whom?
A. Lou Boudreau
B. Bob Feller
C. Manny Ramirez
D. Julio Franco
Answer: B
Boudreau, Ken Keltner, Bob Lemon and Larry Doby all made seven All-Star teams with Cleveland. Ramírez should join them next month. This would be his fifth straight trip to the Midsummer Classic.
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain
Re: Articles
11122
There’s plenty riding on this West Coast trip: Guardians breakfast today
Updated: Jun. 13, 2025, 9:58 a.m.|Published: Jun. 13, 2025, 8:59 a.m.
By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the Guardians awoke Friday morning in Seattle, they were 8 1/2 games out of first place in the AL Central. They have not faced that big a deficit since finishing 11 games out at the end of the 2023 season.
As for the wild card race, it is always a fool’s errand to check those standings until after the All-Star break (July 14-17), but let’s be foolish just this once.
The Guardians at 35-32 are a half-game out of the third and final spot, which is currently occupied by the Rays and Twins with identical 36-32 records.
While this nine-game West Coast swing may not be critical, there is a lot at stake.
The Guardians open the trip with a three-game set against the Mariners starting tonight. Seattle is in second place in the AL West at 33-34.
They’re 6-4 against Seattle in the last 10 games between the two teams. Over the last two years, they’ve gone 8-5 against Mariners.
After Seattle, they’ll travel to San Francisco for a three-game series against the Giants starting Tuesday night. The Giants are one of baseball’s big surprises, going 40-29, while sitting in second place in the rugged NL West.
They are 7-3 against the Guardians in their last 10 meetings. Overall, they are 16-8 against Cleveland.
The final stop will be in Sacramento where they play the displaced A’s in a three-game series starting June 20. The A’s are 26-44 and in last place in the AL West.
Over the last two years, the Guards are 11-2 against the A’s.
The front office will be studying this trip from every angle. In 2023, with the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaching and the Guardians wavering between being one and two games out of first place, veterans Amed Rosario, Aaron Civale and Josh Bell went spinning out the door.
They are more than pragmatic when it comes to shutting down a season in an effort, in their mind, to improve the future.
Breakfast and trivia
If the Guardians and their fans are feeling sluggish on Friday after that five-hour, non-stop flight from Cleveland to Seattle, a breakfast that helps rehydrate and provides sustained energy can help. Drink plenty of water and why not try a Greek yogurt parfait? It’s a combination of Greek yogurt, berries, nuts and granola.
Now if you’ll refocus and try to answer this Guardians’ question: Who was the last player to hit a regular-season home run against Guardians’ right-hander Cade Smith? Here’s a hint, he plays for Seattle. Answer below.
Next
Friday: The Guardians open a three-game series against Seattle at T-Mobile Park. RHP Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.86) will start for the Guardians, while RHP Luis Castillo (5-3, 3.86) starts for the Mariners at 10:10 p.m. CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.
Saturday: RHP Tanner Bibee (4-6, 3.81) vs. RHP George Kirby (1-3, 6.53) at 9:40 p.m. CLEGuardians.TV, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.
Sunday: RHP Luis Ortiz (3-7, 4.26) vs. RHP Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.04) at 4:10 p.m. CLEGuardians.TV, MLB Network, WTAM 1100, WMMS 100.7 FM and the Guardians radio network will carry the game.
Monday: The Guardians are off before opening a three-game series against the Giants at Oracle Park.
Tuesday: The Guardians open a three-game series against the Giants at Oracle Park.
Trivia answer
Seattle’s Dylan Moore homered off Smith on June 18, 2024, in the sixth inning at Progressive Field. It was the only homer Smith allowed in 75 1/3 innings in the regular season last year. So far this season, he has said no to the long ball for 30 appearances, covering 29 innings.
[ It's not the all-star break, but, at this point in the season, it is time to start considering wild card opportunities. I think the Guards have the pitching to claim a wild card spot, but the offense will make it a challenge. ]
<
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO
-- Bob Feller
Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO
Re: Articles
11123
Caught in between is no place to be for Kyle Manzardo: Guardians breakfast today
Updated: Jun. 12, 2025, 4:04 p.m.|Published: Jun. 12, 2025, 9:13 a.m.
By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — We’ve all been caught in between.
The salesman who has one sure thing on the line, but gets distracted by a better offer. Two minutes later, he’s lost both deals.
It happens to batters a lot in baseball. A hitter is late on the fastball and early on the breaking ball. Caught in between is a bad place to be with a bat in your hands.
Guardians’ first baseman/DH Kyle Manzardo knows the feeling.
In March and April, Manzardo hit eight homers with 19 RBI. He was hitting just .220 (20 for 91), but had a .853 OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage).
Manzardo, in his first full season in the big leagues, was driving the offense.
In May, Manzardo hit .200 (17 for 85) with two homers and nine RBI. He struck out 29 times compared to 10 walks. His OPS dropped to .621.
Manager Stephen Vogt, when asked about Manzardo, uttered the dreaded “caught in between” explanation.
Manzardo offered no argument.
“Yeah, that’s it,” said Manzardo. “I’m not really on anything, specifically. I’ve been trying to be on everything ... that’s the trap I’ve fallen into the last couple of weeks.
“So I’m just going up there, hunting the middle of the plate, and trying to be on the hard stuff.”
The approach helped Wednesday in the Guardians’ 11-2 win over Cincinnati at Progressive Field. Manzardo, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter, hit a two-run double in the fourth inning and a bloop single in the sixth.
The Guardians are coming off a stretch where they’ve faced a lot of left-handed starters. That means fewer at-bats for the left-handed hitting Manzardo. This weekend in Seattle, however, the Mariners are starting three right-handers, which means Manzardo will get more chances to go hunting in the middle of the plate.
<
“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is.”
-- Bob Feller
Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO
-- Bob Feller
Democracy Dies In Darkness - WAPO
Re: Articles
11124"RHP Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.86) will start for the Guardians, while RHP Luis Castillo (5-3, 3.86) "
That sounded like quite a coincidence, but it was in fact a mistake
It's Gavin Williams 5-3, 3.86 vs. Luis Castillo 3.31
That sounded like quite a coincidence, but it was in fact a mistake
It's Gavin Williams 5-3, 3.86 vs. Luis Castillo 3.31