The Cleveland Guardians have underperformed in 2023 compared to what the team did when they made the ALDS last season. Now, Cleveland is simply waiting for the schedule to end so they can refocus their attention on 2024 and beyond.
There are a number of answers as to why the team did not live up to the expectations put on them during Spring Training. Much of the attention has been on the offense which has struggled to score runs, hit home runs, and win games. This criticism is fair and has undoubtedly been a part of the problem, but it's not the only issue.
Another area of the roster that is going to need to spend some serious time looking at the bullpen.
Take Monday afternoon's loss in Kansas City as a prime example.
The Guardians held a two-run lead over the Kansas City Royals looking to make it their fourth straight win tying a season high. Trevor Stephan came into the game in the eighth inning hoping to make short work of another underwhelming offense.
Instead, he threw 31 pitches with only 11 of them being strikes. Stephan walked three batters and was charged with four runs in his 0.2 innings of work as he simply lost all command of the zone while the Royals took advantage of it.
We can't be victims of recency bias when discussing Cleveland's reliever trouble. Yes, it was Stephan who lost control the last time out but the entire bullpen has had their moments this season.
The Guardians have blown 28 saves in 72 opportunities as a team this season with Emmanuel Clase owning double-digit blown saves all on his own. Cleveland holds a 3.77 ERA, .313 OBP, .291 BAbip, given up 64 home runs, and has a 1.29 WHIP.
One of the most concerning stats is that the Guardians strikeout 8.98 batters per nine innings which is in the bottom half of baseball. Not having a go-to punch-out pitcher is like playing with fire when opposing teams have runners in scoring positions.
Having a good bullpen is crucial to get through a full regular season let alone going on a long play of fun. The Texas Rangers' reliever struggles are a perfect example of this. The Guardians will need to find a few more bats over the winter to ensure they can score enough runs, but it looks like they'll also need a few more relief arms to stop other teams.
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