What We Learned About Guardians After Series Victory Over Tigers
The Cleveland Guardians got their first look at their American League Central rival Detroit Tigers over the last few days. The Tigers have vastly improved from where they were a couple of seasons ago, but Cleveland still managed to take two of three and win yet another series.
Here are a few key points we learned about the Guardians over the last three games.
David Fry Deserves More Playing Time
Stephen Vogt has been given the difficult task of finding playing time for many different players. Therefore, David Fry’s role has been limited to primarily being a hitter against lefthanded pitching. However, all he has done in those opportunities is hit.
Fry hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning against righty Andrew Chafin in the series finale. This would help the Guardians go on and walk off the Tigers in extra innings and clinch the series.
Fry’s slashline is now at .316/.438/.491 with a .929 OPS and he can play pretty much anywhere on the field. There’s a solid ball player there and Fry needs to be getting more opportunities.
Hitting Against Major League Pitching Is Hard
Vogt said it himself, hitting against Major League pitching is not an easy task. Kyle Manzardo learned that the hard way as he struggled through his first two games as a big leaguer striking out five times in seven at-bats.
Finally, Manzardo got his for career hit in a pinch-hit situation on Wednesday in the series finale.
We need to give Manzardo time to put it all together. He has all the tools to be a tremendous hitter but making the adjustment from minors to majors isn’t something that happens in one series.
Logan Allen Has Command Issues To Figure Out
Lasting just 2.1 innings for a team that already has an exhausted pitching staff isn't ideal. That was how long Logan Allen’s start in Game 2 lasted in Cleveland’s only loss of the series.
The same problems that plagued him during his rookie season are still around and it has everything to do with the command of his pitches. This lack of pitch authority has cut his starts short too many times. Allen has only pitched more than 5.2 innings three times in his nine starts this season.
The Guardians aren’t in a situation where they can sub Allen out of the rotation which means he’ll still have more options to prove he can be a major league pitcher.
TOMMY WILD