Why We Shouldn't Overreact to Cleveland's Offensive Playoff Struggles So Far
Postseason baseball feels like an entirely different sport than the 162 games we watched from early April through the beginning of October.
The intensity of every pitch and the heightened weight of each little moment or miscue can loom so much larger.
Unfortunately, Cleveland's hero on Saturday (Oscar Gonzalez) probably isn't feeling so well after his A.L.D.S. Game 1 performance. Gonzalez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Cleveland's 4-1 loss to the Yankees, which included a costly 2-base error that directly allowed New York to take the lead.
Amed Rosario also finished the night hitless, as did Josh Naylor, Will Brennan and Austin Hedges.
The team went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight runners total.
Even though the Guardians took both games from Tampa Bay last weekend, offense has been at a premium so far in the playoffs.
The team was 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position, stranded seven and struck out 19 times in the 15-inning affair on Saturday.
Friday's numbers weren't much better: 0-for-2 with RISP, five left on base and seven strikeouts.
So in three postseason games so far, the team has five extra-base hits (two doubles tonight and three total home runs) and they are 0-for-the-playoffs with runners on second or third base (0-for-12).
That's obviously not very encouraging. But I don't think it's time to panic quite yet.
Shane McClanahan, Tyler Glasnow and Gerrit Cole are three premium starting pitchers and they're going to make life really tough on you. Now, that's part of what you should expect in the playoffs - you're not going to see substandard pitching from teams that have earned their way into October.
But despite not coming through with those clutch hits, Cleveland has had extremely few non-competitive at bats thus far. Tuesday night, they hit into two double plays that were rally-killers and ran into some tough luck on a couple other occasions.
Given their propensity to come up with clutch hits all year long, I'm encouraged they'll snap out of this before it's too late. The Guardians have gotten terrific starting pitching too, which has certainly helped keep them in games. Terry Francona has done an awesome job keeping this group level-headed no matter how good or how bad things have gone this year.
So no, that's not exactly the kind of start the Guardians were looking for offensively this week. But they lead Major League Baseball in last-at bat victories (which broke the 1995 franchise record) and they have generally done a really good job of working their plate appearances so far. And perhaps above all else, this team has a habit of surprising everyone the moment you count them out.
They don't have long to snap out of it and the Guardians are going to face a really tough lefty on Thursday (weather permitting) in Nestor Cortes. But I'm confident they'll get it going again in Game 2 against the Yankees.
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Read More:
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Cal Quantrill Talks How The Guardians Will Pitch Aaron Judge
The Guardians Need To Do This Against The Yankees In The ALDS
Guardians Make Two Bullpen Moves Ahead Of A.L.D.S In New York
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