Is It Time For The Cleveland Guardians To Panic Amid Recent Skid?

The Cleveland Guardians' biggest flaws have been highlighted in their current slide, and it is definitely concerning moving forward.

Jul 9, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) take the ball to relieve pitcher Ben Lively (39) in the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports / Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians were hammered by the Detroit Tigers, 10-1, on Thursday afternoon, resulting in the Guardians losing three out of four to their AL Central rivals.

The Tigers are not a threat to beat out Cleveland for the division title this year. That's not the point.

The problem is that the Guardians have now gone just 6-9 since ripping off a seven-game winning streak late last month, and since starting the season 36-17, Cleveland has gone a very middling 21-18.

Sure, the Guardians have still been good enough that they entered play on Thursday with the best record in the American League. But that also has a lot to do with the New York Yankees falling into the abyss over the last several weeks. The Baltimore Orioles haven't exactly been playing their best baseball, either.

So, what does it mean?

Well, Cleveland gave up 23 runs the last three games of the Detroit series, highlighting just how bad its starting rotation really is. The newly-acquired Spencer Howard got the start in the final game of the set and was knocked out after three innings.

Plus, outside of Game 2 in which the Guardians scored nine runs in an extra-inning victory, Cleveland's offense was pretty listless. It was shut out on Monday and managed just five runs combined on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Guardians' bullpen is still nails, but it's becoming more and more obvious that they need to make some additions to their starting rotation and their lineup if they want to be taken seriously as actual World Series contenders.

That may sound crazy given how good Cleveland's record is, but there is very little doubt that this team is very flawed, and thus far, it has been able to skate by.

But here's the thing: what was once a very, very comfortable lead for the Guardians in the AL Central has suddenly shrunk to four-and-a-half games with the All-Star break on the horizon. There is still far too much baseball left to play to say that Cleveland has already gift-wrapped the division.

The good news is that the Guardians still have plenty of time to make some roster adjustments before the MLB trade deadline on July 30. The question is whether or not Cleveland will actually break tradition and do it.

The Guardians haven't really had a major deadline acquisition since acquiring Andrew Miller from the Yankees in 2016. It's just not their modus operandi. After all, Cleveland ranks 27th in the majors in payroll, and given that the Guardians are No. 1 in the league in homegrown talent, it's clear that swinging big trades is not something they typically do.

But that has to change in 2024 if Cleveland has championship aspirations.

The Guardians were not expected to contend heading into the season. They won just 76 games last year, and they didn't make any truly notable additions over the winter that would make one say, "See that team that didn't even make the playoffs? They're going to have a shot of winning it all next year!"

Taking that into consideration, you can understand that the front office may be somewhat jarred by the team's meteoric rise over the past several months. However, this is a team that has not won a World Series since 1948. Cleveland fans are desperate for a title, and it's about time that the organization exercises a sense of urgency here.

Yes, it is time to panic.

These past couple of weeks—heck, the better part of the last month-and-a-half—has made it crystal clear that the Guardians need to acquire some more pieces if they genuinely want to compete with the big boys.

You think teams like the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies are going to rest on their laurels and do nothing before the end of the month? No, they are going to work the phones tirelessly to make some moves to bolster their respective rosters.

Will Chris Antonetti and the rest of Cleveland's front office do the same thing?

Of course, there is only so much Antonetti can do if he doesn't get the go-ahead from ownership. The Guardians don't like to spend money. They have a lower payroll than the Miami Marlins, for crying out loud. They have managed to achieve a whole lot with very little, but now, it's time to open up the checkbook and start showing the rest of the majors that they mean business.

This team's needs are plain as day. Everyone knows the Guardians need pitching. Everyone knows they need a couple of bats. And if they think Howard, Matthew Boyd and calling up prospects like Jhonkensy Noel is the answer, they need a bit of a reality check. Those are shortcuts that are not going to deliver a championship. Not this year.

The clock is ticking for Cleveland.

If this series against the Tigers wasn't a major tell to the Guardians' front office, I don't know what will be.