This is the time of the year when desperate teams start to make serious postseason pushes. The Cleveland Guardians may look to be serious for a postseason appearance, but their offense says otherwise.
Guardians’ Offense Goes From Bad to Worse
On Monday, Cleveland fell at home to the Tampa Bay Rays with a 9-0 score. It was their ninth loss in ten games. What is even more embarrassing is that this was the Guardians’ third consecutive shutout performance. The Guardians fell on Sunday to the Texas Rangers 5-0 and, before that, to the Rangers 10-0 on Saturday.
It is no surprise that the Guardians had one of the least efficient offenses in the league, but three shutout losses are shocking for a playoff hopeful team. The last time Cleveland suffered three consecutive shutouts like that was in 1991, which was the most losses the franchise has ever encountered in a season at 105.
There was hope for the Guardians after their 9-4 home win over the Miami Marlins on Aug. 14. At that time, Cleveland had a 63-57 record. Then disaster struck offensively as the Guardians would only score 16 runs in the next 10 games. Four of the games would be shutout losses, including the three consecutive three.
Is There Playoff Hope for the Cleveland Guardians?
It was going to be hard for Cleveland to make a hard case for the AL Central Divisional title by midseason, but it is an even harder case for them to make a case for the playoffs.
By the time the Guardians lost on Monday, their chance to make the playoffs fell to 2.7%, according to ESPN. They are currently the third team behind the final wild card spot, currently owned by the Seattle Mariners. Behind the Mariners are the Guardians’ rivals in the Kansas City Royals and the Rangers, whom they just got swept by.
Former Cleveland Guardians pitcher and current host and analyst of Vegas Stats & Information Network, Jensen Lewis, spoke on FanDuel’s The BIGPlay Cleveland Show about the frustration of the lack of offensive production from the Guardians.
“There’s just no attack here day in and day out that’s really going to leverage this good-to-great pitching staff. This is just tough to watch, guys, because you’re throwing away another great season from Jose Ramirez. If they could find some….oh wait…they had people that could help produce. It’s just really frustrating to watch for a guy season in and season out, you’ve got the best years of his career, and you’re kinda throwing away.”
He went to talk about the dimming hope for a postseason appearance for the Guardians.
“It’s easier to say, harder to accomplish. You have to win both of these series at home and regain any momentum whatsoever because you get to about six or seven games out before the calendar turns to September, you’re asking the impossible to try to find a way back to October.”
Cleveland will conclude its home series against Tampa Bay on Wednesday. Then, they take on a set of Wild Card teams and contenders in the Mariners, the Boston Red Sox, the Rays again, and the Royals. They get somewhat of a break with series against the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox, but then they have to finish out against the Detroit Tigers and the Rangers.
Guardians’ Third Shutout Extinguishing Any Playoff Spark