Don’t look now, but the Cleveland Guardians are in first place in the American League Central Division.
You know, the Cleveland professional baseball team that, during the past offseason, transitioned from being the Indians to the Guardians. The move was fraught with controversy, and was the talk of Cleveland sports, and baseball in general.
On top of the name change angst, the front office made no major moves in the free agent market to address perceived shortcomings of the team. The Guardians were heading into the season with a solid pitching staff, Jose Ramirez and — gasp! — prospects.
Preseason prognosticators had the Guards buried behind Chicago and Minnesota — and some even Detroit — in the Central division, with little hope of sniffing the playoffs.
What the naysayers were leaving out of the equation was the manager, Terry Francona. Nicknamed Tito after his father, Francona is a baseball man’s baseball man. He grew up around the game with his professional baseball dad, who played for, among other teams, Cleveland. Terry lives and breathes baseball.
His success speaks for itself, having won a world championship with Boston that ended a 95-year World Series drought for the Red Sox. In his 10 years in Cleveland, he has led the Indians to an American League pennant, a World Series runner-up, and five playoff appearances.
But what Francona is doing with this year’s young club may turn out to be his best managing performance of an illustrious career. The inaugural edition of the Guardians is the youngest roster in all major league baseball. Yet, with Tuesday’s improbable 6-5 win over the Twins in 11 innings, Cleveland moved into a virtual tie with Minnesota for the lead in the Central and are three games better in the loss column.
The win that put them in first gave the Guards a 6-1 record on their current nine-game road trip, which has included stops at hard-to-win at places like Los Angeles (Dodgers) and Colorado (Rockies), where they hadn’t won since 2002.
Cleveland is 16-4 in its last 20 games as of Tuesday. When this run started after a 2-1 loss at Detroit on May 29, the Guardians were mired at 19-24 and had even lost seven games in a row in late April. In just under a month, they have bum-rushed themselves into the pennant race.
It’s not that Francona had nothing at all to work with. As mentioned, the starting staff of Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac, Cal Quantrill, and Triston McKenzie matches up with anybody — though Bieber, Civale, and Plesac all had injury problems in 2021.
Add to that a solid bullpen headed by fire balling closer Emmanuel Clase and Eli Morgan and pitching was not seen as an issue. Perennial all-star third baseman Ramirez also signed a five-year extension which keeps him in the fold through the 2028 season.
But after Ramirez, and streaky power hitting designated hitter Franmil Reyes, many wondered where the offense was going to come from. Francona, however, was undaunted.
The veteran manager — whose 782-629 record with Cleveland and 1816-1544 mark in his 22 years as a manager also in Boston and Philadelphia have him on the road to Cooperstown someday — has somehow mixed and matched a bunch of kids into a winning machine.
The front office — maligned for its perceived lack of activity in the offseason — gambled that with Francona’s guidance, the prospects would come into their own. They have done that in spades, perhaps sooner than even Francona and management had hoped.
Outfielder Steven Kwan burst onto the scene early in the year and is currently hitting .281 with a .364 on base percentage. Kwan has worked his way into the leadoff spot in the batting order, bumping the slumping Myles Straw to the nine hole.
Middle infielder Andres Gimenez has put himself in all-star conversations with his .841 OPS (on-base plus slugging), seven home runs and 33 runs batted in. Gimenez has been one of the best clutch hitters in baseball so far.
Oscar Gonzalez has made a splash since coming up when Reyes went on the injured list in May, compiling an .834 OPS in 23 games, while playing a solid right field.
Josh Naylor returned from a serious leg injury last year that threatened to end his career and has helped lead the young group. Owen Miller has been versatile, playing both first and second base as needed and hitting up and down the lineup.
Team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Chris Antonetti were crazy like foxes. The farm system has the second most Top 100 prospects of any major league organization. Rather than rolling the dice by signing high-priced free agents, they kept the one they had in Ramirez and ran with the kids.
Their ace in the hole was Francona. They knew that they had one of the best managers in the game with Tito. He’s a players’ manager, perfect for bringing along young talent. Francona has the touch to get more out of the whole than the sum of the parts.
Of course, it’s June — as Francona constantly reminds us in his post-game pressers — and fortunes can turn, injuries occur, and other teams get hot. But for now, the Guardians are the talk of baseball.
Through all the turmoil of the name change, baseball is fun again in Cleveland. A large share of the credit goes to the manager.
Can they keep up the pace? Time will tell, but I wouldn’t bet against Terry Francona. This may prove to be his best job with a team yet. In the meantime, Guardians’ fans get to enjoy the ride.