News & Notes: A rough week for the Guardians and Tim Anderson
The first thing you need to do, you depressed Guardians’ fan, is go read this excellent look at what the Guardians are trying to do to solve their lineup issues from Matt Dallas, a great Guardians Twitter follow @MattDallas27
Now that you’ve done that, would you rather have seen the Guardians sweep the series against the White Sox if Jose Ramirez had been the one knocked on his keister by Tim Anderson instead of the reverse? I have to admit, I think I’d go with our boy Jose defending himself ably after confronting Anderson for his treatment of Guardians’ rookies and decisions to use hard tags, unnecessarily. Especially given where the Guardians are this season, four games under .500 and with the most difficult schedule in MLB the rest of the way. Neither the Guardians nor the White Sox 2023 seasons are likely to be remembered fondly by their fans, but the meme of Jose’s right hook will last forever.
There are plenty of good retrospectives on Saturday’s main event:
José Ramírez, Tim Anderson ejected as benches clear (mlb.com)
Behind a Paywall:
Zack Meisel did a fun interview with Tom Hamilton, Guardians radio voice, about his call of the brawl: https://theathletic.com/4753374/2023/08/06/tom-hamilton-tim-anderson-jose-ramirez/
No word on any suspensions for the various combatants in Saturday night’s kerfuffle as of yet. Meanwhile, Tim Anderson is tweeting through it.
There are so many fascinating mysteries in the events of world history, but I think the one that intrigues me the most is the question of why Kole Calhoun was left in the game to play first base in the bottom of the 9th on Sunday’s game, where he misplayed two scoops both with the immense potential to help the Guardians secure a victory?
The first clue to the decision-making was that David Fry was apparently nursing a hamstring injury. Ok. So, why not put Arias at third where his arm is superior and move Rocchio to short? Or put Arias at first base and Tena at short? Or lose the DH, get Jose at third, put Rocchio at short and get Arias at first base? Just too much effort, I suppose.
Manager Terry Francona said about Calhoun at first base: “From the little I’ve seen of him, I like him” and added he didn’t see putting defensive-first, rookie shortstop Jose Tena in the game as a better option than playing a guy who was a minor-league DH for the Dodgers last week and hasn’t played first base since 2015.
Calhoun, to his credit, took full blame for the loss, indicating that it was his (!!!) decision to not take a defensive replacement and that both of Rocchio’s throws should have been good enough to result in an out. Personally, I have zero interest in blaming Calhoun, Rocchio or Clase. Sure, any of the three could have done their jobs better. But, none of their performances were surprising or egregious given their skillsets. This is on the manager for not putting his players in the best position to succeed by trusting a gritty veteran over a rookie with a great glove with a one-run lead and a contact-oriented closer on the mound.
The Guardians now turn their attention to the Blue Jays who come into town on a three-game winning streak putting them a half-game back in the wildcard race. The Guardians will start Gavin Williams and the Blue Jays will start Hyun Jin Ryu, a lefty with an ERA over 7. Faithful followers of the Guardians will know that the Guardians notoriously have issues with lefties who enter the game with ERA’s north of 5. Let’s hope that trend changes tonight.
Other MLB News:
What do the New York Mets need to play better? Is U.S.A. Today suggesting maybe hiring a magician?
The Angels have lost every game they’ve played since the trade deadline.