News and Notes for Monday, July 22nd, 2024
There was a big shakeup with a number two yesterday ...as the Kansas City Royals tied the Minnesota Twins for second-place in the AL Central.
Ok, jokes aside, the Guardians lost just their second home series of the 2024 season as Michael King of the Padres absolutely carved them up. The photo I chose to go with this article was of the hit that scored their one run - and that hit was an RBI groundout.
Ben Lively danced around trouble and the Guardians’ bullpen was good again. Angel Martinez continues to be the one consistent bright spot offensively. After the game, manager Stephen Vogt said the team isn’t in a funk, they’ve just been beat by a couple good pitchers throwing exceptionally well. I remain unclear how this approach will hold up if Tarik Skubal today and Jack Flaherty on Wednesday do good pitcher things against the Guardians. If they can’t figure out a way to scratch some runs across and get a series win against Detroit, will that be a funk? Does it matter?
It’s always helpful to remember, in times like this, the Guardians still have a five-game lead and they are 20 games over .500. We would have all been delighted to hear that would be the case if someone had told us on March 28th, 2024. It’s also fair to say - if players like Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Bo Naylor, David Fry, and Andres Gimenez don’t turn things around, this team will eventually be fighting for a wildcard spot. Personally, I share Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes’ view that however you want to look at it, a slump is a slump. My state of alarm is about a 3 out of 10, but the schedule gets tougher, so these hitters need to put up some tough at-bats.
Meanwhile, we’ll see if the team does anything at the trade deadline to fortify the roster. There are eight days left so I imagine the rumors will start flying soon.
Around MLB:
Thank you, Brewers, for beating the Twins.
Thank you for nothing, White Sox. Royals win again. You can make it up to us by trading us Garrett Crochet or Eric Fedde.
Thank you, Blue Jays, for beating the Tigers. You can still help us out by trading us Chris Bassitt, though.
