Tarik Skubal is the frontrunner for the AL Cy Young award as of this writing. It would be his second straight season winning the award. Heck, some players have even suggested Skubal should be in the running for AL MVP, as unlikely as that may be for a starting pitcher. On Sunday, Skubal will face off against the rival Cleveland Guardians, who have been through it of late.
Cleveland has lost 23 of its last 29 games, and have averaged under three runs per game during that time span. Yet, despite all of this, manager Stephen Vogt does not believe they need to change their approach. That's...a large sample size, friend. Are we sure?
"I don't think change is necessarily what we're looking for...we're not playing horribly. We're not playing bad," Vogt claimed after Saturday's game.
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Guardians aren't showing enough urgency against Tarik Skubal
The Guardians have been notoriously terrible with runners in scoring position of late. Per MLB.com, Cleveland is hitting under the Mendoza line with RISP, and are hitting just .170 in such situations over their last eight games and even worse over their last five. It's not great, and probably something Vogt ought to address heading into a gauntlet against Skubal and then Hunter Brown of the Houston Astros.
"We got some stuff going. We just weren't able to get that hit,” Vogt said after Saturday's 1-0 loss to not Skubal. “I thought our guys battled all night and put ourselves into a ton of positions to get some runs. Just unfortunately weren't able to come through.”
Guardians must change their approach against Tarik Skubal and Hunter Brown
There is something to be said about keeping concerns in the clubhouse. Vogt isn't going to call out his entire lineup to the media – that's just not smart business. However, Vogt is also managing fanbase concern. Whether he likes it or not, that definitely factors into his job description. The lack of urgency is telling.
“... We know where we are. We know that we haven't won a game in a while, but we bring that same energy and that same mindset every day, because that's the game of baseball. It's 162 games. It's long. You have to stay consistent. You have to keep telling yourself that you're good and we're going to win," Vogt continued.
Like much of the AL Central, the Guardians are having a down season. The Detroit Tigers are the runaway favorites to win the division, and currently hold a 12.5-game lead over the second place Minnesota Twins. Cleveland is 14.5 games back and bordering on deadline sellers. This is the same team which made the ALCS last postseason and defeated the Tigers along the way. That same magic is long gone.
As if Skubal needed any more motivation against Cleveland – putting the Guardians out of their misery is a nice consolation prize for a July start.