If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, can we do a mental health check on Cleveland Guardians fans right now? Earning a first-round bye only to immediately drop the first two games of the ALDS against the surging Chicago White Sox would be a gut punch enough. But it's how the Guardians have lost that's particularly infuriating — because it's exactly the same way Cleveland has been losing in October for years now.
A non-existent offense? Check. Pitching that inevitability buckles under all that pressure in a crucial moment? You bet. Confusing decisions from Stephen Vogt? Absolutely. Barring a miraculous winning streak from here, the Guardians are doomed to once again fall short of the best in the league, always the bridesmaid and never the bride. And it can only happen so many times before fingers start getting pointed at the team's most foundational players.
3B Jose Ramirez
It brings us no joy to engage in narrative-building here, given how great Ramirez has been for so long. At a certain point, though, the narrative becomes inescapable, and the fact is that J-Ram entered Monday's Game 2 slashing .229/.314/.359 in the playoffs for his career ... then went out and went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Is it entirely Ramirez's fault that Cleveland's offense is once again falling short? Of course not. But he's the engine of this lineup, and he simply needs to be better no matter how much (or how little) help he has around him. We're going on years and years of postseason failures from a future Hall of Famer, and that's just unacceptable.
LHP Erik Sabrowski
Sabrowski gave up a run over 1.2 innings of work in Game 1, and he wound up costing Cleveland Game 2, failing to deliver in relief of Gavin Williams while the White Sox put up three runs in the decisive sixth inning. It's a brutal turn for a guy who was the Guardians' No. 1 lefty for most of the regular season.
Of course, it's hard to ask any bullpen to be perfect, which is the bind that Cleveland's offense puts them in. Twice in a row now, though Sabrowski hasn't been good enough, the weak link in the chain. Then again, part of the blame here has to go to the guy who put him in less than advantageous situations ...
Manager Stephen Vogt
... which brings us to Vogt, who's earned his sterling national reputation but has earned the ire of Cleveland fans across multiple playoff shortcomings. And his decision-making in Game 2, particularly in that all-important sixth inning, was pretty confusing.
Not only did he decide to let Williams start the sixth inning despite pushing 100 pitches, only to watch the righty give up a single to Miguel Vargas. He then went to Sabrowski, letting him face not one, not two, but three straight right-handed hitters — the last of whom, Braden Montgomery, delivered a two-run double that gave the White Sox the lead for good.
Vogt has prided himself on being analytics-forward, always playing matchups whenever possible. His failure to do so on Monday may well have cost his team this series.
OF Steven Kwan
While Ramirez is undoubtedly Cleveland's most important player, it often feels like Kwan is their talisman. When he's at his pesky best and finding ways to get on base consistently, Guards Ball is at its best. But he's gone just 1-for-7 with a single and a walk across two games, and that's an awfully hard way for any offense to live.
Kwan went a long way toward redeeming himself with a scorching second half of the regular season. And he, unlike Ramirez, has actually been pretty good at the plate over his playoff career. Given all the uncertainty in the bottom half of this lineup, Cleveland simply cannot afford for him to lay an egg, and that goes double given the bullpen game strategy Chicago has employed — one that needs to get off to fast starts to succeed.
OF Angel Martinez
Really, you could swap Martinez out for any number of other hitters here, from Brayan Rocchio to Travis Bazzana. We're going to pick on Martinez here, though, because he was one of Cleveland's best hitters across the second half of the regular season and one of the biggest reasons why the Guards won the AL Central in the first place.
Through two games in October, though, he's hitless through eight plate appearances. Remove his bat from this lineup, and suddenly you're very reliant on inexperienced youngsters or middling veterans to have any depth at all. Martinez was a feel-good story this year, but he's turning into a pumpkin at the worst possible time.
Paul Dolan
Sure, Dolan hasn't thrown a pitch or picked up a bat. But really, how can any list like this not include the owner of the team — and the man who's ensured that Cleveland remains pretty good but very much not good enough in recent years. One gets the sense that Dolan is just fine with this ceiling, cashing his home postseason checks and running it back with a bottom of the barrel payroll next year. Credit where due, the Guards actually added real pieces at this year's trade deadline. The result looks to be the same, though, and at the end of the day, that comes back to the owner's door.
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