The Locked On Guardians Podcast is a daily podcast that is dedicated to the Cleveland Guardians from the minors to the majors. Join hosts Jeff Ellis and Justin Lada as they look at the night before, who to know in the minors, and what the future may hold for the Cleveland Guardians as they try and capture their first World Series victory since 1948. Locked On Guardians is a proud member of the Locked On Podcast Network.
We gotta get Kwan back on the pinball grind. His hand eye at the plate looks off. Hopefully he just sat in front of a pinball cabinet all day with the off day
Thanks for the mention, guys. Rocchio was a key player in Tiburones de La Guaira's championship, after a 38 years curse, in my hometown Venezuela, back in January. Hopefully, he will do the same with Cleveland, just be patient 😂. Go go Guardians!
Love you guys, but I think Justin may have been incorrect on the magic number being the same against the Twins and KC. The formula I use is 163 (162 if we have the tie breaker) minus our wins minus their losses, so even though KC and the Twins may be the same number of games over .500, the magic number might be different if one of them has fewer losses. I may be wrong about that formula but it seems to work.
Lively may not be on the roster for a 3 game series, that is not a knock on him, it is about the other guys stepping it up and getting it done. This is not a knock on him, it is a good thing to be in this situation.
Agree. Kwan has stopped hitting line drives, especially to left field. His swing is long. When he is short and compact, he can hit line drives. We are becoming team PopUp. The last month, optics are we are hitting more pop ups than the first half of year. Teams are learning we cannot hit change ups.
As far as playoff rotation is concerned, I'd rather see Cobb in game 1 and potentially game 5 in a 5-game series. For a 7-game series, Cobb should pitch game 3 and a potential game 7. Cobb has the most experience and the freshest arm of anyone in the rotation right now. Yes, Bibee is the de facto ace but he's also labored the hardest to get where he is today. He's not a finished product yet. I would prefer not to pitch him in the most pressure-packed games of any playoff series if it can be avoided. Williams and Boyd can pitch any of the other games depending on matchups and how much rest they have had between starts.
I would say not to get too hasty with pushing kwan out and moving Thomas up because Thomas just found his groove. I think we just have to have faith Kwan will figure it out the next couple weeks like we did with the rest of the team over that horrendous past month we just had
You don’t have to pitch Bibee game 2 bc that ruins the biggest advantage we will have playing a team that had to play in the 1st round. We will be facing their 3 or 4 so you throw your ace and get the win.
The trouble with setting up your rotation for the playoffs is it might not be what you plan if you need to win that last series against the Astros to win the division or get a bye
Love Kwan, but he is not looking good. Did he set a mark that has now become a pressure to return to? And I agree, he is the best fit for the leadoff role, but hitting first, is that pressure on top of pressure? How do you go from touching .400 to .200 if not part struggling with pressure? He is not recovering from the pressure at 1. I think he needs to be told that batting 8th or 9th right now is just for him to let go of the added pressure of batting first. I also think we now have a chance to long term him. What is your batting order if Kwan is given a break from leadoff?
@@davidvankirk7721 Kwan has been the leadoff batter his entire career, I seriously doubt he’s feeling too much pressure batting first. You saw the heat map of how he’s being pitched to. He’s not seeing fastballs on the inner half at all anymore which is the pitch he can do the most damage with. Baseball is a game of adjustments, Kwan made an adjustment over the off season and the league adjusted back in the second half. Now it’s up to Kwan to readjust and figure out how he can be effective again.
playing better.. but every has seen what can happen week to week. need to see the guards finish strong in september to feel any kind of confidence in a postseason run. this is the year to try and sneak a title. i think the brewers might sneak in the world series this year. maybe the harry doyle / bob uecker series we all need to see.
Guardians fans need to be laser focused on Houston as well!!!! Beat out the Twins AND Houst to get that 1st round bye!!! That has to be the goal now!!! Just imagine how huge those last 3 games against Houston could be at home!!! Great job as always Guys!
Will be lost since the game turned into a romp, but boy was Bibee getting out of that 6th inning jam giving up only 1 run when the score was just 2-0...getting Melendez to strike out on a 97.3 mph four seamer to boot....such a hopeful sign for the playoffs. Just great to see. 6 games without a strikeout for Josh, no jinx!
Realize Boyd and Cobb are coming on strong, but Lively has been too important to the team this year to take him out of the postseason rotation. He’s earned at least one start in round 1… without Lively this season would’ve spiraled.
Despite having Eric Staments and Max Moroff, the Indians did win 93 games in 2019. They were 18-1 against the Tigers that season. Only 5 playoff teams at that time (they came in 6th place). They got swept the last 3 games against the eventual champions, the Washington Nationals. We won 94 in 2022 for context and could win the division this year winning less than that. The Diamondbacks won 84 last year and made to game 6 of the World Series!
Bottom of the lineup has been exceptional lately. Rocchio finally turning that corner and the role players are doing their thing. Different contributors each game is the sign of a deep and talented roster.
@@davidwindell Please remember you said this when Rocchio's play cost the Guardians wins in the playoffs! They can get by with his "miscues" in the regular season play. But that kills teams in the playoffs against the best teams.
This rotation lately has been awesome . Bibee and Williams start in the playoffs for sure. Who’s the third? My vote is Cobb mainly for the experience. If you need a 4th, then it’s Boyd
ATM it would seem that the postseason rotation is Bibee, Lively, Williams and Cobb. Maybe even add Boyd to go with five, but they’ll ride the hot hand no matter who it is. I don’t think they’ll let Lively be a rock for the entire season only to take him out of the postseason rotation. He’s earned at least 1 start in the postseason.
@@davidwindell I mean, there's always some grey area as to how the rotation lines up come October, but no way am I choosing to pitch Lively...or anyone else for that matter...second in a series over Williams. I'd sooner go Williams first than third. No one else's top end is close to Gavin's.
