Antonetti: Best still ahead for young Guardians
CLEVELAND — The Guardians entered the week with a 17-20 record and in third place in the American League Central behind the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox, yet president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti was feeling bullish.
“Although it’s early, we’ve seen this group come out and play competitive baseball, and we actually think our best baseball is still in front of us,” Antonetti said. “Hopefully, it plays out that way.”
Part of the reason for Antonetti’s optimism was an almost mind-boggling statistic.
“I think when I looked the other day, the average age of our roster was younger than the average Triple-a roster. That provides some context,” he said.
Numbers change daily with roster moves, but per baseball-reference.com, on Saturday the International League average was 26.5 years old for batters and 27.2 for pitchers. The Guardians’ averages were 26.2 and 26.6, respectively.
Other numbers that caught Antonetti’s eye: The Guardians’ .247 batting average led the American League going into Saturday’s action, while its 4.01 team ERA stood 12th.
“That’s one of the things that we’re so excited about as we look forward, this group of young position players is really starting to mature and develop and carry a significant load,” Antonetti said. “Now if we can align that with our pitching performing the way it has in the past, we think we have a chance to be really good for the balance of the season.”
From 2018-2020, the Guardians’ ERA ranked among the top four in the AL.
In the worst slump of his career with all but his curveball deserting him, righthander Aaron Civale turned in his best start of the season in Friday’s 6-1 victory over the Tigers, giving up three hits and one unearned run over 6 1/3 innings.
“On the pitching staff, that group probably has a little bit more of a track record than some of our position players,” said Antonetti.