What We Learned About The Guardians After Series Loss To Rockies

Starting pitching was one of the main reasons the Cleveland Guardians dropped their series against the Colorado Rockies.

May 27, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder Charlie Blackmon (19) slides safely into second against Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez (0) as umpire Jeremie Rehak (35) looks on in the first inning at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Guardians have been one of baseball’s hottest teams over the last week. However, their latest opponent the Colorado Rockies has also recently played their best baseball of the season.

Let’s take a look at what we learned about the Guardians after their series loss to Colorado.

Guardians Still Have Starting Pitching Inconsistencies

On one hand, Colorado is notorious for giving pitchers trouble due to its high elevation. On the other hand, these conditions just highlighted one of the Guardians’ biggest holes on the roster.

Cleveland’s starting pitchers combined for just 10  innings and gave up 17 total runs against the Rockies. Xzavion Curry gave up six, Triston McKenzie gave up four, and Logan Allen allowed seven. Each of these pitchers also struggled with their command giving extra base runners to their opponent. 

It’s hard to win any series against any opponent when the starters aren’t efficient and that’s exactly what happened to the Guardians in this series. 

Andres Gimenez’s Silent Contribution

Jose Ramirez and David Fry have been getting a lot of attention for the Guardians’ recent hot streak. However, Andres Gimenez has slotted nicely into the two-hole nicely this season and his production has been a key reason for Celveland’s success. 

Gimenez hit .285 (4-for-14) against the Rockies, recorded a hit in each game, and even scored three runs in the series. His final at-bat in the series finale was rough, but the Guardians may not have been as close in this series as they were without Gimenez’s silent contribution.

May 27, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies right fielder Charlie Blackmon (19) slides safely into second against Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez (0) as umpire Jeremie Rehak (35) looks on in the first inning at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Bullpen Needs A Slight Reset

The Guardians’ bullpen has been one of the best in baseball this season. However, it’s not uncommon for this group to have a slight rough patch. 

Nick Sandlin and Tim Herrin both uncharacteristically were tagged for a combined three runs on in 0.2 innings of work in the second game of the series. This was after Sandlin pitched 1.2 innings in the first game. 

Cleveland’s bullpen pitched well in the finale, but they had a tall task of eating a lot of innings with Allen exiting in the second.

The bullpen needs a little reset because of their recent workload and hopefully, Thursday’s off day is exactly what they need to get back to their