2024 Guardians Regular Season Thread

[Lee]

1999 Kenny Lofton and his .405 OBP? 100% would be batting leadoff.

2024 Kenny Lofton? Batting 9th.

The old Ted Williams quote when asked what would he hit today if facing todays hitters. "About .300" ... "oh is that because today's hitters are so much better than in your time? "No, thats because I am 60 years old you idiot"

Hilarious response.

 

[thestatman]

Tito and his managing style really was a problem, maybe even THE problem for such a young roster in need of regular playing time and confidence.


The stubborn set roles, the vet love (Amed, fucking washed up Calhoun), the talk about how he can't get Freeman playing time etc. He was stuck in his ways and so were the players who didn't fit his squares.


Now we're seeing and reaping the rewards of meritocracy instead of Tito's circle of trust. We're seeing this with lineups, in game PH, bullpen usage.


I've said for a couple of years that the only difference between the Guardians and Rays was the manager. We're finally doing it the Rays way of maximizing the roster and talent instead of our manager's comfort zone. Really opened things up.

Well said. Tito played the guys who made the most money and not the guys who gave them the best chance to win. Straw. Bell. Zunino. Swisher Bourn, Uribe are just a few examples of that.

Last year he poo poohed the new rules and spent no time at all dealing with that in spring training which led to a pitching staff that was horrible at holding runners on.

Tito also had an obsession that if relief pitchers had to warm up they would be coming in regardless of what happens on the field. Vogt is much more flexible and has sat down people like Clase several times already.

 

[Kiddo]

That and he pointed out 2 games that we won by more the 2 runs and yet he said 22 of 23.

Wham is always solid...except this one time.

The other crazy stat is in every one of our 17 wins, we’ve out scores our opponent. Incredible

 

[Beanie4Heisman]

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Why I'm optimistic the Guardians will be even better:

1. Gavin Williams and Sam Hentges will soon bolster the pitching staff, which currently ranks 3rd in ERA.

2. Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee, and Triston McKenzie will improve on their ERAs, which are currently 5.06, 4.44, and 5.00, respectively.

3. The starters will improve upon their 25th ranking in innings pitched.

4. Jose will hit much better than his current .240/.680 the rest of the season.

5. Bo Naylor will hit better than his current .179 and Tyler Freeman will hit better than .222. Laureano will hit better than .174; his career line is .244/.745 and he's still just 29.

6. The Guardians will improve upon their current on-base percentage with the bases empty of .288, which ranks 25th. More base runners will lead to more scoring.

Why I'm pessimistic the Guardians will continue to play at this level:

1. Ben Lively can't maintain his 2.38 ERA from his first two starts. He's 32 years old and his career record is 8-18, 4.91. OTOH, after his first 13 starts for the Reds last year his ERA was 3.76 despite pitching in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball. On Aug. 1 he gave up 13 earned runs in 4.0 innings. Then he didn't pitch for 25 days and only pitched 18 innings the rest of the year. I have to believe something was wrong with his arm on that day.

2. Carlos Carrasco won't maintain a 3.44 ERA. He's 37 and his ERA last year was 6.80.

3. The bullpen is first in FIP and second in ERA despite pitching the seventh most innings. They won't be able to keep that up. (However, if the starters throw more innings and with Hentges coming back the bullpen could throw fewer innings per game going forward).

4. The Guardians will not continue to hit .321 with RISP, which ranks 2nd in baseball. They are hitting .224 with the bases empty.

5. Steven Kwan will not continue to hit .351 and Josh Naylor will not continue to have a wRC+ of 182.

What I expect to happen:

Josh Naylor and Kwan will cool off (but not too much) while Bo Naylor, Laureano, Freeman and Jose's offense will pick up. The Guardians will get more runners on base but not hit as well with RISP. Overall the offense will be better because Naylor and Kwan have figured it out and won't regress much. The others will definitely hit for higher averages, especially Bo and Jose.

The starters will pitch more innings and Gavin Williams will take Logan Allen's spot. McKenzie will continue to improve from start to start after missing almost all of last year. Bibee will not continue to have a 4.44 ERA. The starters will begin to work deeper into games. Eventually it will be Williams, McKenzie, Bibee, Carrasco, and Lively, in some order.

The bullpen will continue to dominate. When Hentges and Eli Morgan are ready it will be hard to decide who goes, and there's also Karinchak who is now throwing 250 feet and Xzavion Curry standing by in Columbus. We actually have about 12 viable relievers.

Overall I think there are more reasons why the Guardians will be better than worse.

 

[MikeOC33]

Stupid pointless question, but I will still throw it out there.

If we had Lofton in center, do we trade Kwan or do we just make the high OBP work for us at the top of the order. And if so, where would you bat Lofton and where do you bat Kwan?

Like others said, prime Kenny? Mid 90's (94-96) multiple year Gold Glover, averaging 100+ runs, 60+ sb's, .300+ ba in those 3 years Kenny? Come on. You leave him in center, bat him leadoff, and don't look back. Different era, with a much different battery behind him, but as you know, Kenny was a talent. My second favorite player behind Manny.

Like Ostego said, move Kwan to 2 hole, and move Andres to either 3 or 5. Good problem to have.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

He's definitely got some bat-to-ball ability as evidenced by the very low whiff percentage and very high hard hit percentage and xBA. However, he chases more bad pitches than 95% of the league. If Will could ever acquire enough plate discipline to put that number around the 50th percentile he'd be one heck of a hitter.

 

[Otsego Mar]

Tell me Brennan is a good baseballs player without using advanced stats...

 

[Lee]

The other crazy stat is in every one of our 17 wins, we’ve out scores our opponent. Incredible

Its just nice to know with all of the incredible writeups @Wham with the Right Hand does for all the sports, we have proof he is actually human and not an AI Bot, lol

 

[Lee]

Like others said, prime Kenny? Mid 90's (94-96) multiple year Gold Glover, averaging 100+ runs, 60+ sb's, .300+ ba in those 3 years Kenny? Come on. You leave him in center, bat him leadoff, and don't look back. Different era, with a much different battery behind him, but as you know, Kenny was a talent. My second favorite player behind Manny.

Like Ostego said, move Kwan to 2 hole, and move Andres to either 3 or 5. Good problem to have.

I like starting Lofton debates because he IS my favorite player of all time, ahead of Manny.

I just love the dude, everything about him and yes, I think he should be in the Hall

 

[jmilo]

Well said. Tito played the guys who made the most money and not the guys who gave them the best chance to win

Wait, do fans in Cleveland actually think this way?

Because that is not what anyone else thinks of Tito. If you wanted to criticize him for sticking with his vets, go for it--but I find it laughable if you think it had to do with how much they were being paid.

 

[MikeOC33]

I like starting Lofton debates because he IS my favorite player of all time, ahead of Manny.

I just love the dude, everything about him and yes, I think he should be in the Hall

Lofton debate? Not with me. Kenny rocks!

 

[Gimme Some Mo]

This has me pretty nervous. Cleveland injury luck has just been awful for all 3 teams the last year or 2. Bieber, Gavin and Triston all having arm issues is just a killer for the long-term potential of this team.

 

[macbdog]

This has me pretty nervous. Cleveland injury luck has just been awful for all 3 teams the last year or 2. Bieber, Gavin and Triston all having arm issues is just a killer for the long-term potential of this team.

 

[zDawg45]