2024 Guardians Spring Training Thread

[sportscoach]

It has nothing to do with service time manipulation. The Guardians feel they gave up on Will Benson and Nolan Jones too soon ("not enough runway"). They signed Josh Bell and gave him 347 AB's before trading him. That's 347 AB's that could have gone to Benson or Jones, and if Benson, for example, had gotten those at-bats he might have hit .275/.863 for us last year like he did for the Reds and we would have a 25-year-old right or center fielder with power, speed, and defense right now which is exactly what we need.

Service time manipulation involves keeping players in the minors LONGER than necessary to push their free agency farther into the future. They signed Zunino last year when Bo Naylor was ready for the majors and delayed his arrival, even though he was better than Zunino. I don't know if service time manipulation was involved in that one.

I can't blame the Guardians too much because the year before they won the division, swept the Rays, and took the Yankees to five games with the youngest team in the majors. The thinking was that for 2023 they needed more power and a little more veteran leadership to push them to the next level, hence Bell and Zunino were acquired and Benson and Jones were traded.

We still might salvage the Jones trade because Brito is looking really good. So far the prospect we got for Benson has been mostly injured.

I was wanting to run the 23 season with Naylor as the starting C and having Hedges as the backup... In hindsight, we should have chosen that type of route, but I don't blame them for signing who they did, if anything on paper it did make a ton of sense...

I mean, we did need some veteran help and both guys have produced in the past so it's not like the FO wasn't trying, but maybe in hindsight, they let the early production move the schedule up to quickly in the time line. DH and C had little to no production in 22...

Maybe we should have went a different route with the acquisitions? Like kept Hedges and Maile while having Gallagher to work with Naylor at AAA for one more season. Then taking the best off available for Tena, Palacios etc and acquiring a RH OF bat like a Luplow to pair with the young guys... Then allowing Benson, Jones to get the ABs and rotating DH/Giving that to like Oscar Gonzalez...

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I noticed an interesting stat today; last year the Guardians tied for third in the majors in "late and close" games with 87. The Reds and Phillies had 95 and 90, respectively. Good pitching and below average run production gets you in a lot of those games.

The Guardians ranked 5th in batting average in those 87 "late and close" situations, 4th in on-base percentage, and 8th in OPS. They hit well above average when the games were late and close. They were average in slugging percentage, ranking 13th.

In terms of pitching the Guardians ranked 2nd in the number of late and close games (87). They were 3rd in late and close innings pitched, 16th in WHIP, 20th in opponents' batting average, 20th in K/9, and 4th lowest in walks. MLB.com did not provide an ERA, probably since some innings were pitched partly by the starter and the rest by a reliever.

Their pitching let them down late in close games. The pen gave up too many hits and didn't get enough strikeouts. The Guardians were 27th in BABIP in high leverage situations - they were very unlucky in terms of batted balls finding holes.

I don't know what their record was in those 87 late and close games, but the good news is that getting some bullpen help in the person of Scott Barlow (assuming he's better than DLS, who he replaced) could take some load off Clase and improve our late inning pitching. I'm hoping the luck will even out as well. And a little more run production and better starting pitching will turn some of those late and close games into "late with a 3-run lead" games.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I was wanting to run the 23 season with Naylor as the starting C and having Hedges as the backup... In hindsight, we should have chosen that type of route, but I don't blame them for signing who they did, if anything on paper it did make a ton of sense...

I mean, we did need some veteran help and both guys have produced in the past so it's not like the FO wasn't trying, but maybe in hindsight, they let the early production move the schedule up to quickly in the time line. DH and C had little to no production in 22...

Maybe we should have went a different route with the acquisitions? Like kept Hedges and Maile while having Gallagher to work with Naylor at AAA for one more season. Then taking the best off available for Tena, Palacios etc and acquiring a RH OF bat like a Luplow to pair with the young guys... Then allowing Benson, Jones to get the ABs and rotating DH/Giving that to like Oscar Gonzalez...

Can you imagine how much critcism the front office would have gotten if after falling short of getting to the third round of the playoffs by ONE game they stood pat with Hedges and Maile and their big free agent signing was career pinch hitter Jordan Luplow? Luplow hit .208 last year, by the way.

They should have given Benson and Jones more major league at-bats before trading them, but their success in 2022 convinced them that they just needed more pop in the lineup and that Bell and Zunino were the guys who could deliver. Also, the roster was top heavy with left-handed hitting and replacing Jones and Benson with right-handed and switch-hitting power bats helped rectify that. On paper.

This year they're not coming off a division championship and nearly making it to the A.L. Championship series, so it's easier to stay out of the free agent market and stay the course of developing young talent.

 

[sportscoach]

Can you imagine how much critcism the front office would have gotten if after falling short of getting to the third round of the playoffs by ONE game they stood pat with Hedges and Maile and their big free agent signing was career pinch hitter Jordan Luplow? Luplow hit .208 last year, by the way.

They should have given Benson and Jones more major league at-bats before trading them, but their success in 2022 convinced them that they just needed more pop in the lineup and that Bell and Zunino were the guys who could deliver. Also, the roster was top heavy with left-handed hitting and replacing Jones and Benson with right-handed and switch-hitting power bats helped rectify that. On paper.

This year they're not coming off a division championship and nearly making it to the A.L. Championship series, so it's easier to stay out of the free agent market and stay the course of developing young talent.

Didn't have to be Luplow, just a right handed platoon bat that plays OF...

On paper the FO, made the right moves in a sense. They went and got players in areas of need but sadly it didn't actually pan out. I still wanted to keep Hedges personally since he was a team captain. I felt that had some effect on the 22 success. Though when it comes to Bell, we needed to take that gamble and now we have Watson for that gamble so at least the FO wasn't afraid to say we messed up at the end of the day...

 

[MadThinker88]

I noticed an interesting stat today; last year the Guardians tied for third in the majors in "late and close" games with 87. The Reds and Phillies had 95 and 90, respectively. Good pitching and below average run production gets you in a lot of those games.

The Guardians ranked 5th in batting average in those 87 "late and close" situations, 4th in on-base percentage, and 8th in OPS. They hit well above average when the games were late and close. They were average in slugging percentage, ranking 13th.

In terms of pitching the Guardians ranked 2nd in the number of late and close games (87). They were 3rd in late and close innings pitched, 16th in WHIP, 20th in opponents' batting average, 20th in K/9, and 4th lowest in walks. MLB.com did not provide an ERA, probably since some innings were pitched partly by the starter and the rest by a reliever.

Their pitching let them down late in close games. The pen gave up too many hits and didn't get enough strikeouts. The Guardians were 27th in BABIP in high leverage situations - they were very unlucky in terms of batted balls finding holes.

I don't know what their record was in those 87 late and close games, but the good news is that getting some bullpen help in the person of Scott Barlow (assuming he's better than DLS, who he replaced) could take some load off Clase and improve our late inning pitching. I'm hoping the luck will even out as well. And a little more run production and better starting pitching will turn some of those late and close games into "late with a 3-run lead" games.

Some bounce back by Trevor Stephen (a performance closer to 2022 than 2023) in conjunction to adding Scott Barlow would go a long way to making the bullpen solid once again...

 

[Gson]

Some bounce back by Trevor Stephen (a performance closer to 2022 than 2023) in conjunction to adding Scott Barlow would go a long way to making the bullpen solid once again...

I'm curious to see what The GOSE has to offer.. small guy..big arm.. He may bring magical moments.. or a waste of time..

 

[petes999]

I'm curious to see what The GOSE has to offer.. small guy..big arm.. He may bring magical moments.. or a waste of time..

Not expecting much especially in first part of season coming off of late season TJ in 22. Control is last to come back especially when he walked 14 in 21 inn in 22 ….

 

[sportscoach]

Not expecting much especially in first part of season coming off of late season TJ in 22. Control is last to come back especially when he walked 14 in 21 inn in 22 ….

His issue was the walks, but the velo, was legit, so now it's a question of have they reworked any of his mechanics? How is his velo? Etc... But it's not like we don't need a second lefty bullpen guy...

 

[petes999]

His issue was the walks, but the velo, was legit, so now it's a question of have they reworked any of his mechanics? How is his velo? Etc... But it's not like we don't need a second lefty bullpen guy...

We managed w 1 last year … Just hope Herrin got a 3rd pitch

 

[sportscoach]

We managed w 1 last year … Just hope Herrin got a 3rd pitch

Hence why I was hoping we would get a veteran like Barlow but from the left side. I feel like this FO has the means to get one IF necessary. I don't see us doing anything outside of maybe another MiLB deal or two before spring starts unless an injury happens. We lack LH RP depth and catching depth right now, so an injury to Bo Naylor or Hentges could cause a trade.

 

[petes999]

Hence why I was hoping we would get a veteran like Barlow but from the left side. I feel like this FO has the means to get one IF necessary. I don't see us doing anything outside of maybe another MiLB deal or two before spring starts unless an injury happens. We lack LH RP depth and catching depth right now, so an injury to Bo Naylor or Hentges could cause a trade.

The other issue w MiLB deal just for lefty at this point is who is dropped if we just add a vet to have vet lefty RP come opening day? We all said Espino to 60-day but that starts his rookie service clock. He is one that you don’t waste service time on anyway just for a Loogy.. if he is a starter (Bible/Morris effect on losing a year of service time at expense of a possible draft pick if he is fav next year).

 

[PIP]

Fanatics should have them fly commercial and stay at Motel 6 and drink frozen Orange Juice in a can….

Fanatics is trash. They even sell fake memorabilia too… They buy a bunch of stuff from years ago, throw their hologram on it as authentic and sell it…

I’ve seen so many fake Jordan, Brady, Griffey, LeBron, Bonds memorabilia on their site with their hologram…

 

[petes999]

Tweet saying Kar dealing w shoulder fatigue

https://x.com/fantasyprosmlb/status/1758585326929433013?s=61&t=M0HBWMmxWTBuhPF-FIvLzA

 

[sportscoach]

Tweet saying Kar dealing w shoulder fatigue

https://x.com/fantasyprosmlb/status/1758585326929433013?s=61&t=M0HBWMmxWTBuhPF-FIvLzA

I really doubt it's any worry...

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Not expecting much especially in first part of season coming off of late season TJ in 22. Control is last to come back especially when he walked 14 in 21 inn in 22 ….

The surgery was in September, 2022 so Gose is coming up on 18 months and it's usually a 12-18 month recovery. Is he throwing in the high 90's again? He'll be 34 in August - how does the success rate for TJ on pitchers in their 30's compare with pitchers in their mid-20's?

In two partial seasons with the Guardians Gose struck out 12 batters and allowed 5.5 hits per 9 innings. The guy has some serious stuff, although he walked too many.

In 2021, in his first major league appearances as a pitcher, they brought him up at the end of the season. He allowed two hits and one earned run in 6.2 innings, striking out 9. His fastball averaged 99.5 mph. I was pretty excited about him for 2022.

In April of 2022 he pitched six innings, allowing one run, and striking out eight. In 2022 he held opponents scoreless in 16 of his 22 appearances, striking out 28 in 21 innings. In late June he pitched six times in 12 days, allowing no earned runs. That might have been too much because in his next outing he was rocked. That was the last game he pitched.

In 2022 his fastball velocity dropped from 99.5 to 97.3 and his slider increased from 84.9 to 86.4. His fastball effectiveness plummeted from +3.2 to -6.2 while his slider value increased from +0.1 to +3.9. It looked like he started throwing the slider harder and fell in love with it. His fastball percentage dropped from 73% to 65% while his slider percentage increase from 27% to 35%. More sliders and thrown harder - I wonder if that led to his arm injury.

I don't know if he can come back from TJ at age 33. His stuff was outstanding but he started pitching so late in his career I don't know if his command is good enough to make the team over a guy like Tim Herrin, another lefty with nasty stuff. He's kind of intriguing, though, especially if the surgery was a success and he's throwing 99 again.