What We Learned About Guardians After Series Loss To Braves

The Cleveland Guardians fall to the Atlanta Braves in their best-of-three series.

Apr 26, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan (38) is caught stealing tagged out by Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley (27) during the tenth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians and Atlanta Braves met over the weekend as the two best teams in baseball. While Cleveland didn’t win the series, they did put up a respectable fight in all three games which showed a lot about who they are.

Tanner Bibee Is Back?

Tanner Bibee had not looked like the version we saw last year through the first four starts of the season. However, a switch flipped for him on Saturday night. 

Bibee threw 7.0 dominant innings in the second game of the series. He gave up just two hits and struck out nine batters but most importantly, he didn’t issue a single walk. Command has been an issue for Bibee through the first month of the season, but not in his most recent start.

This was the first start of the season that he had control with his fastball and it’s visible what that did for the rest of his pitch mix.

Hunter Gaddis Learns Crucial Lesson

Hunter Gaddis’ transition from a starter to a dominant reliever was one of the best stories of April. However, the Braves taught him a key lesson in this series.

Gaddis gave up seven hits and four earned runs in his 2.0 innings of work in the series. He gave up the lead in each of the final two games. The Guardians were able to recover in game two, but not in game three.

The key issue here was the location of his pitches. Gaddis found out the hard way what happens when you throw too many balls in the zone against a lineup as good as the Braves.  They won't swing and miss, they tee off.

Apr 26, 2024; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan (38) is caught stealing tagged out by Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley (27) during the tenth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Mental Mistakes Hurt More Against Good Teams 

Mental mistakes are never a good thing. However, sometimes you can make up for them against inferior teams. The Guardians learned the long way that making these types of miscues against contenders such as the Braves

Cleveland had a chance to win the series in game three, but Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez made crucial errors on the base path. 

Kwan was caught stealing in the seventh inning, which is going to happen from time to time. But he was then picked off in the extra inning as the automatic runner on second base. Ramirez was also thrown out stealing in the tenth inning as he neglected to slide into second. 

The Braves limited their miscues and ended up as the series winners.