KANSAS CITY -- The Guardians have decisions to make ahead of Thursday’s Trade Deadline. But despite playing two games on Saturday, the path ahead is still murky.
Buyers? Sellers? Standing pat? With just four games to go before the club has to decide about their future, the Guardians (52-52) are once again back at .500 after splitting a doubleheader against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City took Game 1, 5-3, on a walk-off homer in 10 innings before the Guardians ambushed Kris Bubic early and took Game 2, 6-4.
The result?
Cleveland sits three games behind Boston for the third and final AL Wild Card spot, holding onto second place in the AL Central (seven games behind Detroit) with 58 games remaining. The Guardians also hold a 5-3 advantage over Kansas City in the season series, needing just two wins over the final five contests to secure the tiebreaker.
“Any time we are playing a divisional opponent, it means a lot,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “So where we’re at right now, we just need to win every game. That’s the goal. It does matter who we’re playing, but it doesn’t. We just need to string wins together.”
The Guardians trailed the Tigers by 15 1/2 games on July 8 -- but less than three weeks later that number has been cut by more than half.
“I feel like you have to pay attention to it,” said Tanner Bibee, who tossed five innings of four-run ball in a Game 2 win. “We’re in the clubhouse, like, MLB Network’s everywhere, ESPN’s everywhere, you see the headlines. … We have no control over what they do until we play them again, so it’s one of those things where we just got to take care of business for what we’re doing.
“ … It’s going down to the last third of the season, obviously these games do matter a lot.”
Since July 7, Cleveland has won 12 of 16 since dropping to a season-worst eight games under .500. That run has vaulted the club -- which reached the American League Championship Series a season ago -- firmly back into the postseason conversation after they appeared headed toward being sellers a few weeks ago.
“I feel like even through rough patches this year, this team hasn’t really been phased,” Bibee said. “Even when we had that really, really bad stretch, I feel like we were still showing up to the field every day [believing] it’s going to turn back in our favor. It’s going to turn back in our favor, you just got to wait it out. … We’ve just been resilient all year I feel like and we showed that today.”
General manager Mike Chernoff described the 13-game stretch before the Deadline as “a period of high significance and importance for the team” on July 18, and the Guardians have responded by winning four of six since the All-Star break and face the Rockies (27-77) at home starting Monday.
“I think we always want to win, whether it’s the Deadline or first game of the year,” said Steven Kwan, who hit a career-long 431-foot homer in Game 2. “Maybe a little bit [of added pressure], I don't think any of the guys are internalizing that, [though]. It just feels like another couple series for us.”
The Guardians’ schedule provides an opportunity to make a run down the stretch that could influence the front office's decisions this week. With the third-easiest remaining strength of schedule (.483) in MLB entering Saturday, and another six games against Detroit, Cleveland not only has a path to stay ahead of the half-dozen teams vying for a Wild Card spot, but push back into the AL Central race.
If the Guardians do add, it would make sense for the club to target a bat that could impact a lineup which ranks 25th in runs per game (3.85). But like any other club, Cleveland will have to weigh the present with the future -- its prospects of making a run in 2025 versus the potential to boost the club’s outlook this season and beyond.
Right now, the Guardians are doing everything they can to prove this version of the club has what it takes for another postseason run. It’s stretches like this that make decisions before the Deadline difficult.
And even with only four games remaining, a lot can still change.
“ … These guys pull for each other and they want to win,” Vogt said. “When a group of guys come together that are pulling in the same direction to try and win, it’s really powerful. And that’s what you’ve seen over the last few weeks, is our guys really come together, rooting for each other, talking with each other, sharing information, and they’re really coming together as a team.”