With the baseball season roughly a month into its 162-game marathon, one thing that’s not surprising to many baseball followers is the Cleveland Guardians are hovering around .500.

The Guardians came into the 2023 season as the defending AL Central Champions, after winning 92 games but started out the 2022 campaign at 15-15. The Guardians finished the final 30 games of the season, with a 24-6 record.

The Guardians are notoriously slow season starters offensively and this year, that recipe has had the same bitter flavor. Cleveland is 28th in OPS, 26th in batting avg, 29th in HR, 26th in RBI, and 25th in runs scored.

With the offense being so abysmal, the pitching has to be good, and the Guardians have been. They are 12th in ERA, 2nd in saves, 10th in hits allowed, and 5th in walks allowed. The pitching has not been lights out like it can be, but injuries to Triston McKenzie and Aaron Civale early on, have put the rotation in flux.

The Guardians have found some bright spots even with the rotation injuries with the call-ups of starting pitchers, Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen who have provided strong outings in all four of their combined starts. Closer Emmanuel Clase also looks dominant , and he will need to be as Cleveland plays in many one-run games.

Other notable Guardians’ positive is that the team is 2nd in the majors stealing bases, and have the 3rd fewest strikeouts offensively.

One thing is certain, the weather will be warming up but can the Guardians? Their recent history says with almost the same certainty, “yes.”

-Ed in Columbus

@Ed_In_Columbus

*Photo courtesy of Chron*