The record may not show it, but what we learned about this Guardians team last week had a lot of positives.
Luke Maile Has A Solid Bat
Luke Maile saw his most time playing as a Guardian last week and showed he can be an offensive jolt at the bottom of the lineup when needed.
Maile had three hits in the series opener against the Astros, but his impressive offensive week did not stop there.
Maile caught in two of the games against the Tigers. In the first game, he had an RBI double, which ended up being the first run on the board for the Guardians.
In Sunday’s game against the Tigers, Maile was responsible for the only run scored by the Guardians with a sacrifice fly to center field that allowed Andres Gimenez to score.
This offensive production from Maile was very impressive for the Guardians. Knowing they have him on the bench could be a useful tool down the road.
Oscar Gonzalez Belongs In The Majors
When minor leaguers get called up it can sometimes take them a while to find their footing in the big leagues. However, Oscar Gonzalez has hit the ground running and already has a three-game hit streak through his first three games played.
Two of these were multi-hit games including his major league debut.
Everyone is talking about Gonzalez’s hitting, but he also showed his defensive ability. Gonzalez started in right field in all three games that he played over the weekend. He had a total of five putouts and no errors.
It has only been three games for Gonzalez and it has definitely been a small sample size. But Gonzalez showed in those three games that the big league is where he belongs.
Triston McKenzie: Pitching Staff Ace
Last week was a big week for Triston McKenzie because he showed that he may be the pitching staff’s ace.
Against an impressive and talented Astros lineup, McKenzie went seven innings pitched and only gave up three hits and one run. It was arguably the best outing of any Guardians pitcher this season.
Then against Detroit, McKenzie had another spectacular outing where he pitched 7.2 innings and only gave up four hits, two of them being solo home runs.
What makes me most excited about McKenzie is not just what we are seeing in the box score. It is very clear that McKenzie is becoming confident in himself as a pitcher which can only lead to more good.
When asked about coming out in the seventh inning, McKenzie said “I am out there trying to get outs from pitch one until the end of the game, so it's more just me being competitive …”
I am looking forward to more starts from McKenzie like this.
Make sure to come back next week to see what else we learned about the Guardians!
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