Cleveland Baseball Insider

What We Learned About The Guardians: May 23

Aaron Civale might be back on track and the top of the order continues to struggle. What else did we learn about the Guardians last week?

Tommy Wild

In this story:

The Guardians took on both the Reds and the Tigers last week where there were some positives and negatives to look at. 

The Aaron Civale Get Right Game

Aaron Civale has not had the start to the season that he or anyone had hoped for. It has been pretty tough to watch him pitch at times with his ERA being a 7.84 on the season. But last week, we may have seen his turn around and get right game that fans have been waiting for.

In the series opener against the Detroit Tigers, Civale went for 6.1 innings pitched with three strikeouts and zero walks. He also only gave up three hits and did not allow a single run. Civale was cruising through the Tigers’ lineup.

The only thing that stopped his dominance was some groin discomfort that eventually forced him out of the game. Hopefully, this start was a sign of the Aaron Civale we will get for the rest of the season.

The Top Of The Order Is Slumping

The storyline for the Guardians at the beginning of the season was how great it was going to be for Jose Ramirez now that he had two hitters in front of him like Myles Straw and Steven Kwan. Now, almost 40 games into the season, the narrative has shifted.

Myles Straw is known for being a danger to opposing defenses when he gets on base. He is always a threat to steal a base and is pretty much always in scoring position because of his speed. But the last few weeks for Straw have not been great.

Over his last 15 games, Straw has a batting average of .182 and an OBP of only .281. This slump is definitely out of the ordinary for Straw as his career OBP is a .373. Hopefully, this is just a small slump he is going through and he will break out of it.

Steven Kwan has not been much better either though. Over the last couple of weeks, Kwan is batting .193 with a .292 OBP. Tito and the coaching staff recognized Kwan's struggles and moved him down to bat eighth on Sunday.

Kwan was able to go 1-3 so hopefully, this is a sign of a turnaround for him too. 

Guardians Need To Take Advantage Of Their Schedule

Overall, this week was a little disappointing in terms of wins and losses. The Guardians were swept in the two-game set with the Cincinnati Reds during the week and then split two games with the Detroit Tigers over the weekend.

While yes, the Reds have been playing better as of late, the Guardians clearly have the more talented roster and to lose to them at home is not a great look. The Guardians did put up a fight in the first game of the series with an Owen Miller game-tying home run in the ninth, but they were not able to get it done in extras.

The Tigers are another team that has dealt with their fair share of injuries and even though the Guardians did beat them on Friday, it was Sunday’s game that is viewed as the disappointment.

In a game in which the Guardians had their ace in Shane Bieber on the mound, at home, against a struggling divisional rival, they were not able to bring home the win. 

The Guardians now head to Houston to take on the Astros and then up to Detroit for another weekend series with the Tigers. Hopefully, they are able to take advantage of their matchups the rest of the season. 

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Tommy Wild
TOMMY WILD

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