Guards' June swoon in full view: 'We need to relax'
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CLEVELAND -- The Guardians have recorded twice as many errors as they have hits over the past two games. They’ve been shut out for 18 consecutive innings. The past two days have gone poorly, and they’ve only exacerbated an extended tough stretch.
Cleveland knows it needs to do something different. The players met to talk after Friday’s 5-0 loss to the Cardinals at Progressive Field.
"We just need to play better as a group,” said Guardians DH David Fry when specifically asked to assess the team’s state of things. “Show up every day and put our work in. We're going to get there, and I think everybody in here believes it.”
The Guardians fell back to .500 (40-40) on Friday after being shut out by Cardinals starter Sonny Gray on 89 pitches. They have not been under .500 since April 9 (5-6) but have had a tough month of June.
After improving to 29-22 on May 24 with a 7-5 win over the Tigers, the Guardians are 11-18 since, including 9-14 this month, as the offense has averaged 2.87 runs per game (last in the Majors).
Cleveland also ranks last in the Majors this month in average (.208), on-base percentage .274, slugging (.329), OPS (.603) and errors committed (24).
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On Thursday, the Guardians tallied two hits and one walk against Toronto’s Kevin Gausman. On Friday, Gray allowed a Nolan Jones single with two outs in the fifth, and nothing further. A Cleveland lineup that was without José Ramírez (right wrist contusion) recorded 15 outs on three or fewer pitches, and six on the first pitch.
"We need to score more. We need to get more going,” Vogt said. “We're working. The past two days, we faced two pretty good pitchers, but we need to have better at-bats. We're all trying to be perfect right now, whether it's pitchers, position players, doesn't matter. Everybody's trying to be perfect.
“We need to relax. We need to just take a deep breath, take a step back and just go play baseball.”
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The Guardians made four errors vs. Toronto on Thursday and two more on Friday against the Cardinals, both by starter Luis L. Ortiz. He made a fielding error on an Alec Burleson squibber back to the mound in the first and a throwing error on a pickoff attempt that got past Kyle Manzardo in the third. Ortiz also was late getting over to cover first on a Willson Contreras infield single. Manzardo made a flip to the bag, which Ortiz was not there to cover.
"I feel like we’re playing a little tight,” Ortiz said through interpreter Agustin Rivero. “We have to go there like we do, giving 100 percent, but also try to enjoy the game, try to have fun. It seems at times that we're kind of thinking too much about what has happened recently or previously, and it’s putting a little extra pressure on the guys.
"So we just need to continue going out there and trying to have fun.”
"The mistakes we're making, they're mental,” Vogt said. “They're not physical; they're mental and we're sped up, and we just need to be better.”
Could they use a boost? Outfielder Chase DeLauter (the Guardians’ No. 2 prospect, No. 46 overall, per MLB Pipeline) is riding a 24-game on-base streak with Triple-A Columbus, and first baseman/outfielder C.J. Kayfus (No. 5, No. 94) has hit 10 homers and recorded a .961 OPS in 48 games with the Clippers this season.
There’s a question of playing time based on the roster construction, and expecting either guy to transform the lineup obviously isn’t fair. DeLauter’s focus with Columbus, too, has included building his volume to get his body used to the rigors of playing.
He has 128 games under his belt since being drafted 16th overall in 2022 due to injuries. But he and Kayfus certainly have earned a look, which figures to come at some point this season.
As tough as June has been, the Guardians sit just 1 1/2 games back of the final AL Wild Card spot. They believe they can get on track to make a run.
"We're still very much in this thing,” Vogt said. “It's a long way to go. That's why you have to play all 162. The month of June has not been kind to us. We all know that. That doesn't mean that July is not going to be our best month, and August isn’t even better and September, even better. We still have 82 games. Eighty-two games to turn this thing around. This is a really talented baseball team.
"We’ve got a long way to go, and I still have the utmost confidence. [The season is] not even close to slipping away.”