Cleveland Sports Forum

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Have Guardians catchers been lost in the shadow of rookie pitchers’ success? Hey, Hoynsie!

Updated: Aug. 12, 2023, 10:05 a.m.|Published: Aug. 12, 2023, 8:55 a.m.

By Paul Hoynes

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Do you have a Guardians question that you’d like to have answered in Hey, Hoynsie? Submit it here. You can also subscribe to get Guardians Insider texts here or text Hoynsie at 216-208-4346 for a two-week free trial.

Hey, Hoynsie:

The G’s starting rotation, with rookies in four of the five spots, entered Friday’s game with the lowest ERA among big league rotations since the All Star break. Don’t you think the catching core should be receiving more accolades, especially given that Bo Naylor is a rookie? -- David England, Baton Rouge, La.

Hey, David:

I was talking to rookie right-hander Tanner Bibee, and he was saying that he relies on the Guardians’ catchers for so many things. One of the biggest things is trust. I think that’s what all Cleveland’s pitchers have in Naylor, Cam Gallagher and David Fry.

Hey, Hoynsie:

What did Toronto’s George Springer and manager John Schneider say to the plate umpire to get ejected so quickly on Thursday at Progressive Field? -- Brent, Hunting Valley.

Hey, Brent:

You’re not allowed to argue balls and strikes, so that probably had something to do with it. And I’m sure there were a couple of magic words uttered during Springer and Schneider’s conversation with umpire Jeremie Rehak.

Hey, Hoynsie:

Will Jose Ramirez be moving up a weight class for his next title defense? -- Mark D., Bakersfield, Calif.

Hey, Mark:

Hopefully, Ramirez hangs up the gloves (boxing gloves, that is) after his one-punch knockout of Tim Anderson. The Sweet Science is a dangerous business.

But if Ramirez does step into the ring again, I want Tom Hamilton calling the action from ringside.

Hey, Hoynsie:

Do you think Terry Francona is onboard with the youth movement going on with the Guards? -- Shaun, Ashtabula.

Hey, Shaun:

He was on board last year when they won 92 games with the youngest team in the big leagues. The trades of Aaron Civale, Amed Rosario and Josh Bell certainly changed the look of this team, but he was working in concert with the front office throughout the process.

Saying that, I wouldn’t be surprised if Francona pushed for the additions of veterans Kole Calhoun and Ramon Laureano after the trade deadline passed. There was a veteran void in the clubhouse.

Hey, Hoynsie:

With the recent additions of veterans Kole Calhoun and Ramon Laurendo, what does this say about Cleveland’s prospects down in Columbus? Did the G’s need veterans in the clubhouse or are their prospects overrated? -- Patrick Grijak, Garfield Heights.

Hey, Patrick:

The Guardians are the youngest team in the big leagues. They’ve got prospects throughout the lineup and 26-man roster. Thursday they had four rookies in the starting lineup.

I think they needed a veteran presence in the locker room. Plus, no team has an endless supply of prospects. I’m not saying the well has run dry, but for two years the Guardians have done little besides play prospects.

Let’s not forget that.

Hey, Hoynsie:

Do you think the Guardians are going to make any long-term decisions for the shortstop position based on the rest of this season? Or might we expect to see Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio, Jose Tena, and Tyler Freeman all at spring training next season? -- Xavier, Fairview Park.

Hey, Xavier:

The remainder of the season has to be about making a decision at shortstop. Only one guy can play the position at the time. Another will compete for the utility job. Whoever is left behind could be part of a deal to acquire some offense.

Then again, they could always move second baseman Andres Gimenez to shortstop next year, and start the competition all over again for the second base job.

Hey, Hoynsie:

Gabriel Arias has looked completely lost at the plate the last few weeks. Do you think he would profit by being sent to Triple-A for a while to get his swing and confidence back? -- Art Greenbaum, Worthington.

Hey, Art:

Believe me, that question has been asked. But the Guardians are trying to find out what kind of player Arias is going to be. They’re trying to decide if he’s going to be part of their future. The best place to do that is in the big leagues.

Hey, Hoynsie:

The Guardians have a number of injured pitchers who will eventually get healthy. They have exciting rookies and a lot of middle infielders. Do you think they will use some of that talent to trade for an established big league hitter with power? -- Bill, Tennessee.

Hey, Bill:

I would think the front office would be open to that. They tried to bring power into the organization this year through free agency with Mike Zunino and Josh Bell. It didn’t work.

There’s also a question of who gets traded. They dealt Nolan Jones and Will Benson after last season, and both are showing power with their new teams. Who gets traded is just as important as who is acquired in a deal.

The future if often cloudy. That’s why every trade is a gamble.

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Tanner Bibee (8-2, 2.92 ERA), Gavin Williams (1-3, 2.90)

They don't have enough innings to qualify but they would rank No. 3 and 4 in ERA in the AL if they did Allen about no. 15.

Brayan Rocchio Is Looking Like The Future Shortstop Of The Cleveland Guardians

By Tommy Wild | Last updated 8/11/23

The Cleveland Guardians traded away both Amed Rosario and Josh Bell at this year's deadline so they could see who had the most potential for the team's future.

At the time Gabriel Arias and Tyler Freeman were the lead candidates on the roster to get the majority of playing time with these moves. Arias could play first while Freeman filled in at shortstop. Or Arias could play short and Freeman could DH with that position opening up.

But since then, the team has brought up more of their young talent due to injuries and the departure of the pair of veterans and this is complicating the future of the shortstop position in the best way possible.

Out of all the players Cleveland has given a shot, Brayan Rocchio looks like he could be the one with the most potential at the Major League level. He's playing like he is the future shortstop for the Cleveland Guardians.

Rocchio played in a handful of games earlier this season and got many of his firsts out of the way. First game. First hit. First error. So this time around it was all about hitting the ground running which is exactly what he's done.

Since being promoted on August 2, Rocchio is hitting .308 (8-for-26) with 4 doubles and 2 RBI. He’s hit safely in six of the eight games he's played in. The best game of his young career was on Thursday afternoon when he had a pair of RBI doubles which helped Cleveland split a series with the Toronto Blue Jays.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1689707840351453184

Rocchio Double Plates Tena

Rocchio has also made a number of nice defensive plays as well such as this over-the-head grab in shallow left field and a 360 throw at shortstop.

Terry Francona described Rocchio as having a "really live body. Looks like from both sides of the plate, he's going to be able to handle himself pretty well. It'll be interesting to see, as he gains experience, where it goes. Because he kind of has all the tools."

The 22-year-old indeed does have all tools to be a tremendous MLB player and he's putting them all together at the right time.

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Certainly happier with Rocchio at the plate than Arias, who the last I looked was 5-42 with RISP. has a very fine record of ending rallies

Gavin Williams



A guide for Cleveland Guardians fans with eyes on 2024

by Jeff Mount 12 hours ago

For the 75th consecutive season (sigh), fans of the Cleveland Guardians are left to think about next year. It’s happening a little earlier this season than in some others, but the recent trades and injuries have rendered them ill-equipped to make a serious run in 2023. But where does it leave them for 2024?

Much of 2024 depends on what we see over the next two months from the Cleveland Guardians

Start with the pitching staff. Rookies Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee have staked strong claims to be part of the next great Cleveland Guardians rotation, with ERAs under 3 and performances that at times have been dominant. Logan Allen has been nearly as good, if not as consistent. One goal for the remainder of this season is for Shane Bieber, Tristan McKenzie, and Cal Quantrill to regain their health and form from 2022, so that the front office can determine whether further reinforcements are needed … or, in Bieber’s case, to possibly maximize his trade value.

If Cleveland goes into spring training with the starting shortstop job still up for grabs, it will probably mean that nobody took charge in 2023, which would negate one potential benefit of the Amed Rosario trade. Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio, and Tyler Freeman have all shown enough to merit consideration, but none seems ready to solidify the position for 162 games. All three are likely to be on the MLB roster next year, but, with the other three infield spots in capable hands, two of them will be limited to fill-in roles.

Another hope for the rest of this season is that either Will Brennan or Oscar Gonzalez grabs the right field job. They project as a decent platoon combo, but in a lineup where Myles Straw has to hit ninth and shortstop and catcher will be manned by unproven players, whoever plays right field will likely hit in the middle of the order, so a ceiling of “decent” probably won’t cut it. Unless one of these guys steps up over the next two months, right field is probably one place where the Guardians will focus their trade chips in the offseason.

Finally, it would be good to at least see Kyle Manzardo swing a bat before the end of this season, preferably in Cleveland, but at least in Triple-A Columbus. As a lefty-hitting first baseman who came in a trade from Tampa Bay, Manzardo will be thought of as the second coming of Jake Bauers by Cleveland fans until they can see with their own eyes that this trade will work out better than trading Yandy Diaz for Bauers in 2019. With Aaron Civale having been traded to acquire Manzardo, fans are not expecting to wait years to see an impact.

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Gavin Williams Makes Impressive Cleveland History In Start Against Rays

By Tommy Wild | Last updated 8/13/23

Gavin Williams is officially 10 starts into his Major League career with the Cleveland Guardians. He's had a fair share of growing pains while showing he could be the future ace for years.

Williams has displayed in his last two starts what he's truly capable of when he has all his stuff going and it's truly been special to watch. He also made Cleveland history in these starts as well.

The Toronto Blue Jays were in town last week and Williams was on the mound for game one of the series. He pitched 7.0 clean innings only allowing one hit and set a new career-high with 12 strikeouts.

His next start was against the Tampa Bay Rays and Williams once again shined. He pitched 5.0 innings and struck 10 more batters while only allowing a single run.

Williams becomes just the third rookie in Cleveland franchise history to record 10 or more strikeouts in back-to-back starts. You may know the other two. They are Herb Score who did it back in 1955 and Bob Feller in 1936.

Both players are inducted in the Hall of Fame.

Williams has always had a great fastball that can easily hit triple-digits, but the biggest difference in these two starts has been his curveball efficiency. He threw the pitch 33 times over his last two starts resulting in five whiffs. This offspeed combined with his fastball velocity is difficult for even the most experienced hitters to adjust to.

9TH & 10TH K'S

https://twitter.com/i/status/1690478981525426176

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If he is set to follow in the footsteps of Feller or Score, we can expect either a Hall of Fame career, or a long life as a broadcaster

"ALL MLB WATCH"

THIRD BASE

First team: José Ramírez (CLE)
Second team: Matt Chapman (TOR)

Ramírez continues to demonstrate his consistent excellence both at the plate and at the hot corner. His 3.9 fWAR leads all full-time third basemen, and his .282/.357/.487 slash line with 18 homers, while a little light on the slugging side compared with recent years, is in line with the type of production you’d expect to see from him by this point in the season.


Naturally no one else on the G's got any consideration, outside of Clase who "also received votes" but certainly not any from anyone who follows the Guardians

Oscar Gonzalez trying to stay relevant in Guardians’ mix-and-match lineup
Updated: Aug. 14, 2023, 7:03 p.m.|Published: Aug. 14, 2023, 5:57 p.m.



By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One of the reasons behind the Guardians’ deadline trades of shortstop Amed Rosario and DH-first baseman Josh Bell was to create playing time for the organization’s younger players.

Before the dust and angst of those trades settled, the Guardians pivoted and added veterans Kole Calhoun and Ramon Laureano. Calhoun, 35, spent the season at Class AAA with the Yankees and Dodgers. Laureano, 29, was claimed on waivers from the A’s.



They were curious moves.

Perhaps the front office was trying to convince itself that they hadn’t surrendered the season following the trades of Rosario, Bell and right-hander Aaron Civale.


Perhaps they needed to quell the outcry from the rank and file, not to mention the fans who have attended games in big numbers this year at Progressive Field.

Perhaps they just felt there was a need for a veteran presence in the clubhouse after so much of it had been pushed out the door.

But in doing so, they’ve created another logjam. Calhoun and Laureando have been in the lineup almost every day since they were acquired. Laureando has bounced around the outfield. Calhoun has played mostly first base with one start at DH and the other in the outfield.

The trade of Rosario flung open the door at shortstop. Gabriel Arias (nine starts), Brayan Rocchio (six), Jose Tena (two) and Tyler Freeman (one) have all been given a chance. A right shoulder injury limited Freeman, but he’s expected to be activated for the Cincinnati series Tuesday night with Tena being optioned to Class AAA Columbus.



At first base, DH and the outfield, it’s close quarters. With the trade of Bell, and the oblique injury to Josh Naylor, Kole has been getting most of the playing time at first base even though he’s essentially an outfielder.

Kole ability to play first base is a good thing because the Guardians really don’t have a regular first baseman. Arias has made 10 starts there this season in his utility role, but the Guardians are giving him every chance to win the job at shortstop


Where does that leave outfielders Oscar Gonzalez, Will Brennan and Myles Straw? Well, they are part of manager Terry Francona’s juggling act.

“I don’t want guys like Gonzie (Gonzalez) to not play,” said Francona. “He’s got to play. The same with Arias. We’ve got to find out (about him).

“At the same time you’re doing everything you can do to win a game. You just try to balance that.”

Gonzalez, who helped turn Cleveland’s 2022 season into a feel-good story, has struggled this year. He opened the year with the big-league club but found himself in a right field platoon with Brennan and was optioned to Columbus at 25 games with a .192 (14 for 73) batting average.

He was sent to the Clippers to recognize the pitches he could hit and hit them hard when he did. They also wanted him to harness his aggressive approach at the plate so he wasn’t chasing so many pitches out of the strike zone.

Gonzalez hit .275 (72 for 262) with 15 doubles, 11 homers and 58 RBI in 65 games at Columbus. When players started flying out the clubhouse door in late July, Gonzalez was recalled.


In 14 games since returning, Gonzalez is hitting .326 (15 for 46) with four doubles, one triple, no homers and three RBI. He went 3-for-5 with three consecutive doubles and two RBI in Sunday’s 9-2 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field.

“The most important thing for me when I got sent down was getting consistent playing time,” said Gonzalez, through interpreter Agustin Rivero. “I needed to get into the ryhthm of the game.

“I was more selective with the pitches I swung at, but I think what really helped me was getting more consistent opportunities on a daily basis.”

There were times during the first four months of the season when it seemed like Gonzalez was landlocked in Columbus, that he would never get the call from the Guardians, no matter how poorly their offense was performing.


“I didn’t have control over that decision,” said Gonzalez. “But I know they know my talent. I was just able to put in my work in. . .and whenever they felt it was the right time they would call me. But I knew the decision was out of my control.”

Gonzalez, 25, has been in the lineup almost every day since his recall. He’s made six starts in right field and six at DH.

Brennan and Gonzalez have resumed platooning in right field. Brennan has also been getting starts in left, center and DH. Since Gonzalez’s recall on July 27, he’s made six starts in right, four in center, two in left and one at DH.

The left-handed hitting Brennan is struggling offensively, hitting .229 (11 for 48) with four RBI since Gonzalez was brought back from Columbus. He went 2-for-5 Sunday, but is hitting .172 (5 for 29) in August.

Straw has seen his playing time reduced since the arrival of Gonzalez and Laureano. He’s still the primary center fielder, but Brennan has made four starts in center and Laureano two.


Following the trade of Rosario, Francona said, “We’re going to make sure guys play. We need to. We’ll try to pick the right days where you hopefully put your best team on the field. But we’re going to mix and match, probably more than we have.”

He’s been true to his word.

In 14 games since returning, Gonzalez is hitting .326 (15 for 46) with four doubles, one triple, no homers and three RBI. He went 3-for-5 with three consecutive doubles and two RBI in Sunday’s 9-2 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Still the fans complain about Gonzaiez ! Let this big RH hitter play !

Time for Straw to develop a mystery injury and go on the DL for a while so auditions for outfield spots can start.

Not many audition candidates. Valera is hitting below the Mendoza line with little power. Johnathan Rodriguez is the only OF in Columbus looking good; he is definitely not a CF but of course Brennan or Kwan could slide over. Noel isnt a CF either and is really still too raw but he has been looking more polished at bat the past month. Is he an outfielder?

"One thing we got wrong for each team in 2023"

For the Guardians:
Guardians: That Josh Bell would take this offense to the next level
It had been a while since the Guardians made a splash in the free agent market like they did when they signed Bell this offseason. Last year’s offense refused to quit, despite the fact that it lacked power. So, the logical next step seemed to be adding Bell to bring pop, provide protection behind José Ramírez in the lineup and help take this team to the postseason. However, Bell never found his groove with the Guardians and was sent to Miami at the Trade Deadline so the organization could dump the approximately $21.5 million remaining on his contract. --

They were wrong for thinking that Josh Bell would take any offense to the next level. Did they not watch San Diego last year ?

When the season is over combine Bell's Cleveland and Florida stats and lets see how far off he is.