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2022 Season | Series #36 | Guardians @ Jays | Aug. 12-14, 2022

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The great thing? It still is. We've had what, 14 players make their major league debut? This is a rebuilding year. This is a year to tear it down, shed weight, and see what you have. Just look at the list of guys we've gotten rid of. Chang, Zimmer, Mercado, Bradley, Logan Allen, Reyes, and I'm sure I'm missing a boatload.

We're rebuilding AND WE'RE LEADING THE DIVISION WHILE DOING IT.

It's fucking fun.
I still don’t know how they’ve been competitive. They’ve had one (Clase), maybe two (Gimenez) players be consistently good all year. The rest have either gone through slumps, or basically been in slumps the entire year (Reyes, Hedges, Straw). But I guess the slumps have been timed such that players have picked each other up. Hopefully, Bieber, Stix, and Quantrill settle into a groove, and Hosey pulls out of his present funk. Otherwise, we’ve got no choice but to let the young’uns learn on the job.
 
The general consensus thru the first half of the season was that this team could not compete for the division title against Chicago and Minnesota.

And even if they did, winning the division had little value, since this team, without any power, could not compete with the other post season qualifiers.

Few posters pushed back on this idea of present futility.

As things stand now, we are not only contending, but we are winning the AL Central. If we continue to do so, we will host a three game series in the first round. The opponent will be one of:

Toronto
Seattle
Tampa
Baltimore
Minnesota
Chicago
Boston

Anybody still think that we can't compete in a three game home series against any of them?
I love this. CATS shouting from the mountain top how he was right and the naysayers were wrong. Problem is, had they kept the original 26 man personnel then we likely wouldn't be in this position. Ironically, it was CATS that was opposed to playing/promoting the youth and wanted to trade them off for established players. It wasn't futile at all to suggest that roster couldn't cut the mustard. It was basic insight and recognition. Now that they've promoted so much young TALENT it seems our chances of making the postseason have dramatically increased. This kind of backdoor accusation used to irritate me, but now I find it comical.

I say keep promoting that talent when the opportunity presents itself. Right now C and CF might be the best opportunities, but we're winning with what we have so I don't expect any changes until the roster expands. Whatever happens this team is fucking quality entertainment and it's only going to get better.
 
OK, so they replaced Karinchak with Battenfield for the Toronto series. I'm sure Peyton will be going back to Columbus, but why not just roster him as opposed to Curry? I'm not suggesting they're wrong in doing so by any means. I'm just genuinely curious as to why. Regardless, I'm excited to see the talented prospects given opportunities and I'll be watching closely.
 
Trying to watch highlights of the game, and the Toronto color guy is almost unlistenable. He’s got the worst voice ever. Need Cleveland-based highlights.
Shulman was annoying, but Buck Martinez had a lot of complimentary things to say about the Guardians. He had good insights on positioning like Biggio in RF and Kirk and his playing with the one leg on the ground and pitch sequencing.
 
OK, so they replaced Karinchak with Battenfield for the Toronto series. I'm sure Peyton will be going back to Columbus, but why not just roster him as opposed to Curry? I'm not suggesting they're wrong in doing so by any means. I'm just genuinely curious as to why. Regardless, I'm excited to see the talented prospects given opportunities and I'll be watching closely.
Maybe because they think Curry gives them the best chance to win? Over Battenfield? Curry has been really, really good recently. His last outing he was perfect through 5 innings with 6 K's. Ended up a 2 hit shutout over 6 innings.
 
I still don’t know how they’ve been competitive. They’ve had one (Clase), maybe two (Gimenez) players be consistently good all year. The rest have either gone through slumps, or basically been in slumps the entire year (Reyes, Hedges, Straw). But I guess the slumps have been timed such that players have picked each other up. Hopefully, Bieber, Stix, and Quantrill settle into a groove, and Hosey pulls out of his present funk. Otherwise, we’ve got no choice but to let the young’uns learn on the job.
A lot more than 2 have been consistantly good. The lead off guy is the first one that pops in my head.
 
Maybe because they think Curry gives them the best chance to win? Over Battenfield? Curry has been really, really good recently. His last outing he was perfect through 5 innings with 6 K's. Ended up a 2 hit shutout over 6 innings.
Maybe, but they felt confident enough to take Battenfield to Toronto while Curry was in Columbus. Battenfield has had 4 games of 0 ER. He's had 14 games of 2 or fewer ER given up. There's an argument for both and trust me when I say I'm not disappointed, just curious. Maybe something as simple as timing.
 
Maybe, but they felt confident enough to take Battenfield to Toronto while Curry was in Columbus. Battenfield has had 4 games of 0 ER. He's had 14 games of 2 or fewer ER given up. There's an argument for both and trust me when I say I'm not disappointed, just curious. Maybe something as simple as timing.
They took Battenfield to Toronto most likely because they already had made the decision to start Curry on Monday. Battenfield has had an excellent season in his own right with an ERA under 3. I would have liked Tito to pitch him Friday in the ninth inning instead of Sandlin. Nevertheless, I can't wait to watch this kid deal tomorrow night
 
Soooo. The triple A team is 20 games above 500. The double A team is 13 games above 500. The high A team won it's ninth straight game and sits 16 games above 500. All this despite the fact that the varsity has raided them and took 14 players. And of course the varsity sits in first place by 2,5 games. It sure sucks to be a Cleveland baseball fan right now.
 
Soooo. The triple A team is 20 games above 500. The double A team is 13 games above 500. The high A team won it's ninth straight game and sits 16 games above 500. All this despite the fact that the varsity has raided them and took 14 players. And of course the varsity sits in first place by 2,5 games. It sure sucks to be a Cleveland baseball fan right now.

Some of those rookies are making a huge difference, not to mention 2 young all stars at 23 and 24 years old in Gimenez and Clase.

And still with 5 or 6 top 100 guys left in the minors. We also have a place holder in Rosario playing so well, he has forced the team to rethink the "place holder" status.

Its crazy really. I thought we had a good offseason extending 3 players and just not spending money so we can let the young players play and keep the core we are building, but i never expected the young players to play so well. It is funt o watch
 
A lot more than 2 have been consistantly good. The lead off guy is the first one that pops in my head.
I thought Kwan started off well, and he’s been good recently, but he slumped in May/June?
 
Give the front office credit for cutting the strings on Chang, Bradley, Mercado, Reyes, and Clement while promoting Kwan, Oscar Gonzalez, Jones, Benson, and Freeman.

It took the starters the entire first half to really get back in the groove after the abbreviated spring training. It looks like the staff was extremely cautious in limiting their work load and as a result all five starters are healthy and pitching well in mid-August while most other teams have one or more starters down.

The injury management has been exceptional - other than Gose nobody on the 26-man roster is out. We've also been lucky in that regard.

The fact that the catchers are finally starting to produce offensively has been a big factor. Now we just have one black hole in the batting order instead of three when Reyes was playing and the catchers weren't hitting.

30 home games left against 18 on the road and the G's are 29-22 at home. Ten games remaining against Detroit and KC - all at home and we're 7-1 against them at home. Five home games against the Twins against three on the road.

Everything is set up for this team to win the division. But a lot can also go wrong. Should be a fun ride the rest of the way.
 

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