Poor Performance Against White Sox Proves Guardians Still Need Another Bat

The Cleveland Guardians score just two runs over an 18 stretch against the Chicago White Sox as the MLB trade deadline looms.

Whether the Cleveland Guardians want to go for it all this season or are trying to build for the future, it's still clear they badly need another bat. 

The Guardians took the first game of their series against the White Sox after scoring four runs in the first three innings. They held off Chicago for the rest of the game while grabbing a couple of insurance runs and secured the victory.

Final.#Guardians | #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/BPI4XoyiFb

— Cleveland Guardians On SI (@GuardiansOnSI) July 30, 2023

They were blanked in game two after Touki Toussaint, who made one start for Cleveland earlier this season, pitched 5.0 innings and only gave up three hits. The bullpen only allowed three hits on top of this.

The Guardians finished the night with only six hits and Josh Naylor was responsible for three of them.

Another former Cleveland pitcher in Mike Clevinger took the mound in game three and produced similar results for his club. He threw 5.0 scoreless innings after not pitching in a Major League game since June 14. 

The Guardians finally snapped their scoreless innings streak in the seventh as Tyler Freeman put together a nice at-bat to drive in Josh Bell.

Scoring just two runs over 18 innings is frustrating enough for a team that could be making up ground on the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins. But it's more defeating when you remember the White Sox have traded five of their pitchers over the last two days.

The bottom line is that Cleveland needs outside help in order to make this lineup one that opposing pitchers fear. Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor have done a tremendous job this season driving in runs, but two players can't do it all.

There is a bright side to all of this though. The trade deadline is only a couple of days away and Cleveland has the pieces to go and get another bat. 

World Series contenders and those teams looking to make a playoff push are always looking to add more pitching. Aaron Civale could be a starter that draws interest and the Guardians also have relief pitchers that could be coveted as Cleveland still has the second-best bullpen in terms of ERA (3.55).

The Guardians need to take advantage of the deadline and get a hitter who can be a part of this lineup for years to come. 

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Photo Credit © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports