Guardians-White Sox: a study in contrasts

A pair of American League Central teams are playing a four-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field this weekend without many big-name hitters, each lineup pretty much a who’s-who of, “Who?”

Each team has a struggling rotation without anyone who’d be considered a true No. 1 starter, and a bullpen regularly taxed to the max.

No-name managers: check and check.

Outside expectations of a losing season coming into 2024: The White Sox and the Guardians both can check that box, too.

So how in the world did the Sox enter this series 15 games behind the Guardians in the standings? Yes, the Sox being an abject disaster of a squad has a lot to do with it. More to the point, then: What business do the Guardians have being 10 games over .500 and leading a surprisingly decent-looking division?

Sox fans have seen Guardians teams overachieve before. After eight straight seasons with winning records, the Guardians went into 2021 with a bargain-basement payroll — second-lowest in the majors — and were a tough out anyway, going 80-82. In 2022, loaded up on rookies and again not spending, they won the Central in one of ex-skipper Terry Francona’s finest seasons while the own-worst-enemy Sox wasted their potential like knuckleheads.

The Guardians went to the playoffs six times in Francona’s 11 seasons, led not only by a likely Hall of Fame manager but by an elite general manager-turned-president of baseball operations in Chris Antonetti. Only 49, Antonetti oversees a bottom-three payroll this season, but — what do you know? — the on-field product is humming along. Perhaps he’ll add to his collection of MLB executive of the year awards.

It’s possible the success of these Guardians — the youngest team in the big leagues — won’t last. It would make perfect sense, after all. Ace Shane Bieber had Tommy John surgery a month ago after making just two starts. Right-hander Gavin Williams, who has star potential, is on the 60-day injured list with elbow soreness and has yet to pitch. Outfielder Steven Kwan and his .353 batting average are on the shelf due to a strained hamstring.

The starting pitching has been so bumpy, the Guardians lead the AL in bullpen innings. A middle-of-the-pack offense has been extremely opportunistic but not explosive. There are reasons this team was pegged by the projection models for a tick under 80 wins.

And have we mentioned Francona is gone, on top of it all?

Yet, it’s working. Why?

“Because this team doesn’t quit,” rookie manager Stephen Vogt said. “This group of guys believes in each other, and we fight until the very end. And we have different guys stepping up every night. To me, that’s the mark of a really good team.”

But those are broad strokes. What are specific things Vogt shows up to the ballpark daily knowing he can count on?

“We’re going to play hard,” he said. “We’re never going to quit. We run the bases hard. We run out ground balls. We run out fly balls. We break up double plays. We steal bases. We cause chaos. We’re going to do whatever we can to put pressure on the other team.”

Vogt, 39, broke in with the Rays, played his longest stretch — five years — with the A’s and also played for the Brewers, Giants, Diamondbacks and Braves, most of it as a catcher. The list of managers he played for — Joe Maddon, Bob Melvin, Craig Counsell, Bruce Bochy, Torey Lovullo, Brian Snitker — is, well, a legit who’s-who. Always intending to become a manager, Vogt pulled pieces from all of them along with a good-size one from his high school coach, his dad.

“I prepared my whole life for this,” he said. “I prepared my whole career for this. I felt very ready.”

He’s undoubtedly biased, but he puts these Guardians at the top of the list of the hardest-playing teams of which he has been a part.

“I don’t know if I ever played for a team like this,” he said.

The players, along with Vogt and certainly Antonetti, are making the tight-fisted Dolan ownership group look good. Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf definitely can’t relate.

Kwan’s return shouldn’t be far off. First baseman Josh Naylor has 10 home runs, one off the AL lead, and both he and third baseman Jose Ramirez — ever the lineup’s anchor — rank in the top six in the league in RBI.

But where the Guardians truly stand out is with the “little” things that actually aren’t little at all. They entered the Sox series hitting a robust .293 with runners in scoring position and a far-better-than-most .277 in the late innings of close games. They don’t strike out much and swipe all the bags they can. The bullpen has been second-best (to the Yankees’) in baseball, and closer Emmanuel Clase is as automatic as it gets.

It helps to have a five-time All-Star who busts it as hard as anybody.

“He plays his ass off and loves the game so much, we just try to stay at his level,” Naylor said.

And to have a skipper who appears to have a knack for the gig.

“I honestly think he’s good at everything,” Naylor said.

Best of all might be the overall attitude and vibe. It’s hard to beat.

“It’s hard to describe how good the team chemistry is,” Naylor said, “but it’s the way we play for each other. We don’t play for any individual stats. I know other [teams] say that, but I’m not just saying it. What encourages us daily is to fight for each other. We do a lot of things for each other on this team. We take care of each other.”

The Sox could probably learn a thing or two.