CONTENDERS?
Young, energetic Guardians pushing to threaten AL Central
"Just push. You never know. Push." With one out and two runners on in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night, and with the Cleveland Guardians and Oakland A's tied 2-2, Steven Kwan hit a ground ball to the left side. A's shortstop Elvis Andrus corralled it and threw to second base, hoping to take the closest out. But Andres Gimenez, hustling from first, beat the throw with a slide.
Instead of having two outs with runners on the corners, the Guardians had the bases loaded with only one out. A few pitches later, catcher Luke Maile hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Oscar Gonzalez to win it.
Gimenez's sprint from first epitomizes what the Guardians, the youngest team in baseball, have wanted to be about from the moment players reported to spring camp in Goodyear, Ariz. in February.
And to manager Terry Francona, it's what they had to be about if they wanted to truly contend.
"We've been preaching since the first day of spring training," Francona said. "Just push. Push. You never know. Push."
The youngest roster in baseball has shown a knack for pushing late in games. Kwan's goal is often to be as annoying as possible, setting up difficult matchups against Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Gonzalez and others. The Guardians have aimed to put balls in play at above-average rates and make pitchers work more than normal. And it has paid off. Francona said they know they can't simply throw the bats and balls out onto the field and expect to win without going the extra mile. Maile sees it as wearing opposing teams down.
"We just have a lot of guys that constantly have great at-bats," Maile said. "I think when you have to face that type of a lineup, three and four and sometimes five times, eventually it's going to catch up with teams. It's not going to happen every night, but I think mathematically, that's why it keeps on circling back to us rallying."
Nobody knows at this point if the Guardians will have enough punch to keep pace with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox, along with the other American League contenders as it pertains to a wild-card spot.
But the youngest team in baseball has done enough to be in the discussion as the calendar hits mid-june. It is an organization better set up for 2023 and beyond than it is for 2022, but the Guardians of the here and now are challenging that notion.
Bumps in the road are likely ahead. Francona has said on multiple occasions that the team has to expect some "hiccups" along the way. They know with such a young roster, it's unreasonable to expect everything to go their way. They already slogged through a seven-game losing streak in April, after all. And it is, of course, possible to happen again with so many players on the roster lacking extended track records in the majors.
But with great youth comes great potential. The Guardians, relative to other possible contending teams in the AL, have perhaps a wider variance of outcomes. Such a young team could have a relatively a high ceiling but also a relatively low floor, should things fall off the rails or some key injuries hit them all at once.
Gonzalez has carved out a role in the middle of the Guardians lineup. Gimenez has taken a major step forward in his production at the plate. Sam Hentges, Trevor Stephan and Eli Morgan have joined Emmanuel Clase to build a formidable bullpen. The Guardians have received contributions from some of the club's youngest players. And the league's youngest team has been energized from it.
"The biggest thing that jumps out is the energy," Maile said. "Some of them are in their first month, second month, and you know they're going to bring it every
night. Luckily for us, we haven't seen too many jitters — we've seen the excitement. We've seen the good, positive stuff of having a young team and I'm sure it's gonna continue form here."
“Sometimes you just get out of their way because you don't want to make them nervous," Francona said. "They're young, they're having fun, they're playing. As long as they try to play the game the right way, it's enjoyable. We're going up against some men. We got some kids and they're doing OK.”
The Guardians have an uphill battle to reclaim the AL Central crown. But a roster that is younger than the average Triple-a team is squarely in the race — which is a statement of its own.
Entering Tuesday's games, the Guardians (29-27) were 3 1/2 games behind the Twins. Both the Twins and White Sox have sustained heavy injuries — the Twins just lost former No. 1 overall pick Royce Lewis for the season — leaving the door cracked up just a bit more.
The high-energy, youthful Guardians have a chance to make more noise than most outside of the clubhouse anticipated.
The odds remain against them. The projections remain against them (Fangraphs has the Guardians with a 24.8% chance of making the playoffs). It's a long, grinding season, and contending teams rarely have this much youth for a good reason. But they are fighting to give themselves a chance.
They're pushing.