Why Saturday's Events Could Be A Defining Moment For The Guardians' Season

Today's events in the Bronx could lead to an even more galvanized Guardians team for the rest of the season.

Now that we have had some time to digest what happened at the end of today’s game, let’s think about how this could affect the team for the rest of the season.

Moments such as what we saw today have the power to bring the team together and strengthen the bond that this young Guardians team has shown so early in the season. Today, we Guardians fans saw teammates sticking up for one another, coming together, and demonstrating resilience in a hostile environment. 

While Steven Kwan was getting checked out by Tito and the training staff after having a nasty collision with the wall, Myles Straw took it upon himself to shut down Yankees fans yelling at Kwan. Reflecting on the altercation Straw said, “That’s my teammate. That’s my brother and some of the things that were said to him, just for me, wasn’t going to fly.” 

I mean, where can I get my Myles Straw jersey? That’s the type of player I want on my team and it’s safe to say that Kwan probably feels the same way too. 

Straw may be getting most of the attention, but he wasn’t the only one who stuck up for his teammates. While a visibly emotional Oscar Mercado was getting showered with cans from Yankees fans, Josh Naylor runs straight for him, puts his arm on his shoulder, and got Mercado out of there before there could be any more escalation. Franmil Reyes also can be seen running in to support Mercado, along with the rest of the Guardians’ dugout. 

It’s unfortunate that it took a situation such as getting trash and cans thrown at players on the field to see how close this team is. The Guardians have already shown they are a close-knit group of players even before today through their chemistry in the dugout. But after this, the team can only come together and galvanize even more in light of this ugly scene. 

Today will be a defining moment for the Guardians' season. If it does lead to the team coming together, the increased chemistry could lead to even better play on the field. Each player on the team knows that someone has their back no matter what happens. 

From the other perspective, it has got to be incredibly demoralizing for the Yankee players to see this happen at the end of the game. Gleyber Torres, who has been struggling in his own right this season, hits a walk-off to clinch a series win, but his teammates can’t celebrate with him because they have to calm down their own fans from embarrassing themselves even more. 

The Yankees’ season has not been going as their fans expected, and now their players have to deal with the national backlash brought on them by their own fans. This certainly can’t be ideal for the clubhouse morale.

The Guardians and Yankees finish up their series tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. with Aaron Civale and Gerrit Cole taking the mound. For the sake of everyone’s safety, let’s hope that everything remains calm during the series finale. 

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