Why Guardians Upcoming Series vs. Diamondbacks Is So Pivotal

With the Guardians running out of time in the season, those 5.0 games, while not impossible, could be incredibly hard to make up in the final five weeks of the season.

That said, Cleveland is actually in a good spot heading into this pivotal series against the D-Backs.

To start, the Guardians will have their top two arms pitching in the first two games. Gavin Williams, who has a 2.38 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in his last seven starts, will take the mound for the series opener. Even though Tanner Bibee has had his struggles this season, he’s easily Cleveland’s second-best option in the rotation, and he’ll take the ball on Tuesday.

If these two pitchers throw the ball the way they're capable of, they’ll give the Guardians a chance, at minimum, to win the first two games and the series.

That leaves it up to the offense, which, before the Braves series, had been on a roll since the All-Star Break. 

Even with just their five runs against Atlanta, Cleveland has scored 131 runs over the last month, the ninth most of any team in MLB. The Guardians’ team, .723 OPS in that stretch, is ranked eighth in the American League.

This offense must show up against the Diamondbacks to give Cleveland a chance to win the series.

Out of every hitter on the roster, the one who might be the most important over this three-game stretch is Gabriel Arias. The Guardians need to somehow help the right-handed hitter going again at the plate. 

Arias has been critical in Cleveland’s wins this season and has routinely stepped up in big moments. However, he’s hit a little bit of a rough patch of late.

Over Arias’s last 15 games, he’s slugging just .388 and only has 10 hits in 49 at-bats. 

The entire offense needs to step up, but if Arias can turn in a big series, the Guardians have a better chance of taking at least two of three games against the Diamondbacks and staying in the thick of the postseason hunt. 

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