This was originally supposed to be an article bashing the Guardians’ new hitting coach, Grant Fink. However, as this eight-game losing streak continues with no end in sight, I am beginning to believe that the issues stem from more than just coaching. So, what is wrong with the Cleveland Guardians? Where did our bats go?
Before José Ramírez was hit on the forearm during the series against the Blue Jays, in an act of retaliation for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. getting hit, he was batting .317 on the year, while the rest of The Guards were batting .218 combined (Steven Kwan included). This inevitably poses the question: What happened to our bats? Last year, we made it to the ALCS. We were a small-ball team, who could occasionally hit bombs (especially in clutch time, flashback to David Fry and Jhonkensy Noel in that infamous game against the Yankees), while also relying on our impenetrable bullpen to close us out (of course that fell apart in the ALCS, with Clasé collapsing first, followed shortly by Gaddis).
The most notable change was the loss of our hitting coach, Chris Valaika, who reunited with Tito in Cincinnati. This led to a promotion from within, and Grant Fink came up to take over hitting coach duties. He was the minor league hitting coordinator, and we know that our young prospects have thrived in Columbus, so what gives? According to an article from Yahoo Sports, the Guardians went 9 and 15 in June and had a paltry team batting avg. of .206, which ties for the 3rd worst batting month in franchise history (with at least 13 games played). And yet, the only noticeable loss to our lineup is Josh Naylor, who, in Arizona, is batting far and above what he ever did with us, although he is not mashing at the rate he did back in Cleveland.
One other thing to look at is the management’s refusal to bring up young prospects. Guys like Juan Brito and C.J. Kayfus are absolutely destroying the minor leagues and yet management will not promote them. The only new bat getting noticeable minutes is Johnathon Rodriguez, who has, truthfully, been just fine, with plenty of errors to go along with him in RF. The loss of Andrés Giménez defensively has also been very apparent. The Guards have been plagued with loads of defensive errors, which was not an issue last year. Gabby Arias has been one of the few pleasant surprises this year; however, his streaky hitting is reminiscent of that of Giménez. There have been rumors that second-year manager Stephen Vogt also sets his lineups way in advance and refuses to adjust based on recent performance. In our eight-game losing streak, but also in the season as a whole, our bright spots like José and Kwan are hitting streakily and have lacked consistency. Meanwhile, guys like Jhonkensy Noel and David Fry seemingly have forgotten how to hit a baseball.
The one other place to look is our pitching. While we should be able to score four runs a game, Tanner Bibee, our supposed ace, has an ERA of 4.22! Sadly, friends and family of mine have vowed that they will not renew their season tickets next year, due to the awful performance we are seeing. In fact, they are reselling their tickets to as many games as they can at this point. It would honestly be less painful if we just never got on base, but that is not the case. We are getting on base and then leaving guys stranded. The Guardians are batting .225 with RISP. This ranks 29th in the MLB. It feels like if any adjustments were to be made, they should’ve happened already.
So I ask you, how much of this is Vogt’s fault? How much responsibility falls on the management and specialty coaches like Grant Fink? It just feels impossible that we were one series win away from the World Series last year, and now we are multiple games under .500. Did our players forget what a baseball looks like? Did the Grinch steal our bats? It seems hopeless, like the season is already done for, and we aren’t even at the All-Star Break. I don’t know what the answer is, but something better change. If it doesn’t, we may be in for a long second half of the season.
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