Let’s Talk Cleveland

The Yanks are in Cleveland for a three-game set, so let’s talk about the Guardians.

I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I’d bet that we’re going to hear about the surprising, upstart, Guardians who currently sport a 9-3 record.

Don’t buy it. They’re the same old Guardians. They swing A LOT, make plenty of contact – usually weak – and hope that they get lucky. That strategy often works when you play against crap teams, as Cleveland has. (All four of the teams Cleveland has played so far in 2024 are sub .500 and have a combined record of 14-32.)

Don’t believe me? Guardians batters have the third highest swing percentage in MLB, the 7^th lowest whiff rate, the second highest weak contact percentage, the second worst barrel rate and average exit velocity, and the lowest walk rate in MLB.

Can that good BABIP luck continue over the next three games? Sure, but it’s unlikely as the Yankees have been above average in both defensive runs above average and in turning batted balls into outs so far in 2024.

In addition to catching batted balls, I’d also expect the Yanks batters to continue to grind out PAs – the Yankees currently lead MLB in both BB percentage and lowest chase rate – and take two out of three this weekend.

Of interesting note (to me anyway), the Yankees will be facing Carlos Carrasco this evening. I had the good fortune of seeing Carasco pitch for the Lakewood BlueClaws a half dozen times or so in the mid aughts, and I enjoyed watching his aggressive, throw hard strikes approach. (Plus, on that level, he was rather dominant.) Now 37 years old, he’s gone through more than a few tough health stretches, and is looking to get it going again. I want to see the Yankees win, but I also want to see Carrasco do well.

Speaking of the Cleveland baseball franchise…

I’m just about to start reading “Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball” by Luke Epplin about the 1948 Cleveland Indians. I’m shocked that a Bill Veeck team that had Satchel Paige, Larry Doby and Bob Feller hasn’t had dozens of books written about them already*. I’ll circle back to this as I progress through it…

(*They also had a rookie infielder make his MLB debut that September – Ray Boone, the grandfather of the current Yankees manager.)

Did I miss anything? Let me know. Leave a comment below, or yell at me @mybaseballpage1 on Twitter and/or the “My Baseball Page” on Facebook.