5 duds, 3 studs from Cleveland Guardians New York flop vs Yankees

Lost among the Saturday afternoon brew-ha-ha at Yankee Stadium, the Cleveland Guardians dropped three straight to New York, capping off a disappointing weekend with a 10-2 loss in the series finale.

It was frustrating because Cleveland went into the Bronx fresh off sweeping the White Sox. But when the Guardians lose in 2022, they lose big and have now been swept by the Giants and the Yankees.

Losing the second game of the series really hurt because they went into the ninth with the lead, more on that later.

Entering a three-game series in LA against the Angels, the Guards are 7-8 and a half game behind the Twins for first place.

Ideally, they’ll continue keep pace throughout the rest of April and finish over .500.

Cleveland Guardians studs and duds

Stud: Myles Straw: Statistically, it wasn’t a great series for Cleveland’s center fielder, as he went a dismal 1-for-12 in the three games.

However, he makes “Stud” here for climbing the wall to get in the face of unruly Yankee fans. As the bleacher’s unsavory tenants doused Cleveland’s outfielders in beer and threw items in them, Straw took a stand. The team couldn’t rally around his effort in the finale, but hopefully this is bigger picture stuff.

From the fans point of view, Straw went a long way to convert Indians fans into Guardians.

Dud: Emmanuel Clase got a legit save opportunity in the second game and blew it. He’s now 1-of-2 for the season. He’s allowed six hits in 4.2 innings–high for someone who’s stuff is supposed to be as electric as his is.

Dud: Aaron Civale, the rest of the Guardians’ staff, is ramping up his workload. Hopefully, he flips the switch fast because he’s been terrible early on.

He was shelled for six earned runs by the Yankee in the series finale and has now allowed 11 earned runs in 10.1 total innings pitched. The opposition is batting .326 against him!

Dud: Amed Rosario currently has an on-base percentage of .297. He’s batting .237. He’s below average defensively and doesn’t offer a lot of pop at the plate. So, he’s got to get on. It’s been a slow start for the shortstop/outfielder.

Maybe I’m asking to much, as he only has a career .307 on-base percentage. I don’t understand how he can hit behind Franmil Reyes, because he’s offering no protection to the Guards’ clean-up hitter.

Stud: Andres Gimenez went 3-for-7 with a couple RBIs in the series, raising his average to .345. While still early, if Gimenez continues to hit, I don’t know know he can be taken out of the lineup because he’s such a superior defender when compared to Rosario.

My infield would be Gimenez at short, Owen Miller at second and Josh Naylor at first.

Dud: We’re all rooting for Oscar Mercado, especially after Saturday, but the facts are the facts and he went 0-for-8 in the series. He didn’t even draw a walk.

He’s becoming Hedges in my eyes–automatic out.

Stud: Josh Naylor collected four hits, which included a double and a home run the first two games before going 0-4 in the finale. Overall, Naylor continues to hit, going 4-for-11 in the series.

Dud: It looked like Bobby Bradley was going to wear the Golden Sombrero in Game 1, but Terry Francona spared him, pinch hitting Oscar Mercado.

Bradley did get a hit later on in the series as the knock upped his average from .067 to .125.