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Hello Hoynsie: Now that the Guards are neck and neck with the Twins and the White Sox, are there factors that favor any team like strength or weakness of the schedule, injuries, etc.? – Jim Mullen, Bay Village.
Hey Jim: The White Sox and Twins have dealt with more key injuries than the G’s. Right now, the White Sox are without All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson (left middle finger), while the Twins are without outfielder Alex Kirilloff (right wrist).
Here’s how Fangraphs.com ranks the strength of the Guardians, Twins, and White Sox schedules for the remainder of the season: G’s .498, Twins .500, and White Sox .475. Fangraphs give the Guardians a 59.4% chance of making the postseason through Friday night, followed by the Twins at 54.4% and White Sox at 36.3%.
As for AL Central winning, the G’s come in at 42.9%, the Twins at 36.9%, and the White Sox at 20.3%.
Hello Hoynsie: When a player like Myles Straw struggles with batting, don’t batting coaches spend extra time with him? It’s been like this for a while. -Bev B., Cleveland.
Hello Beve: The Guardians have a team of three hitting coaches and they spend time with all of the hitters on the list, especially those in a funk. Straw had a rough season, to be sure.
It started at 0.291 in April but has been erratic ever since. It reached 0.178 in May and 0.149 in June. It rallied to 0.278 in July but is back in the tank in August, hitting 0.093 (5 out of 53).
Last season, Straw hit a .285 (68 to 239) from the lead after Cleveland acquired him from Houston. The Guardians were so impressed that they extended it for five years. Perhaps trying to justify the extension is weighing on him. This is a humbling game, but at least Straw still plays well in midfield.
Hello Hoynsie: In the most recent series with Detroit, players seemed tired after 27 games in 26 days. Given the younger squad, are there any concerns that the youngsters will or have hit the wall as these are more games than they have played in their pro careers? – Gene La Suer, Des Moines, Iowa.
Hello genes: Fatigue is a real problem, but not as much as in the past when the AAA season ended in the first week of September. In 2021, the triple-A season extended into October because of the pandemic. This year, the Triple-A schedule has been increased from 144 to 150 games and will run through September 20th.
The new schedule allows minor league players to adjust to the longer season they would experience in the major leagues. It also gives big league teams a place to rehab injured players and a pool of ready players to call back in the final weeks of the season.
Hello Hoynsie: Will there be expanded rosters in September? If so, who could the Guardians summon? — Dave Brothers, Canton.
hey dave Squads can expand from 26 to 28 players on September 1st, so don’t expect many reinforcements. Ahead of the 2020 season, teams could promote as many players as they wanted from their 40-man roster.
Hello Hoynsie: As you come down the stretch, who’s the bigger threat to the Guardian’s chances in the Central – Minnesota, the White Sox or themselves? – Carl, Orlando.
Hello Karl: As the comic book character Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” All the Wardens have to do is tend their own garden.
Hello Hoynsie: When I look at the box score for the Guardians’ 8-4 win over Detroit on Wednesday, I see that the runs they made in that bizarre eighth inning were counted as earned. Since they all occurred after a wild pitch on the third strikeout, why are they earned runs? – Jeff Spiess.
Hello Jeff: If Luke Maile had used a pass ball first instead of a wild pitch, the runs would have been undeserved. According to the rule book, a wild pitch is considered solely the fault of the pitcher and contributes to an earned run just as much as a base on balls or a balk.
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