MLB Insider Sums Up How The Guardians Keep Winning
Before the regular season started, no one predicted much for the Cleveland Guardians.
Yes, they had a lot of good prospects, but the Chicago White Sox were supposed to run away with the division.
As it turns out, the Guardians were the ones winning the AL Central with a comfortable 11-game lead over the pale hose.
Cleveland closed out the regular season with a furious September run and finished at 92-70, playing at a really high level.
They extended the great moment on Friday, when they beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-1, at Progressive Field in the first game of the 2022 postseason.
It was the Guardians’ first playoff victory since 2017, which seems like a long time ago.
They did it with their usual brand of baseball.
“Cleveland 2, Tampa Bay 1. Shane Bieber was a stud. Emmanuel Clase is damn near unhittable. Jose Ramirez changed the game with one swing. This is how Cleveland wins. And it’s been doing it all year,” MLB insider Jeff Passan tweeted.
Cleveland 2, Tampa Bay 1
Shane Bieber was a stud. Emmanuel Clase is damn near unhittable. Jose Ramirez changed the game with one swing. This is how Cleveland wins. And it’s been doing it all year.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 7, 2022
He couldn’t have said it better.
The Guardians were near the bottom of the league in home runs, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have dangerous hitters capable of knocking one out of the park from time to time.
Ramirez Is The Heart And Soul Of The Guardians
Ramirez has shown over the years that he hits homers more than just “every once in a while.”
He is no stranger to homering: he did it 29 times in 2022, and drove in 126 runs, too.
Josh Naylor, Amed Rosario, Andres Gimenez, Steven Kwan, Oscar Gonzalez and others help him, but J-Ram is the clear offensive stud.
He needs a great pitching stuff to make sure his offensive efforts don’t go to waste.
Bieber pitched 7.2 one-run innings to help the cause.
When he is not on the mound, Triston McKenzie usually delivers.
When healthy, Aaron Civale is a reliable starter.
And, additionally, the Guardians bullpen is a top unit headlined by perhaps the nastiest reliever in the American League, Clase.
Pitching, small baseball, and the occasional homer: that works for the Guardians and there is nothing wrong with that.