Guardians are back in the playoff race: Can they keep rolling in Anaheim?

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Guardians have played their way back into the American League playoff race after sweeping the Rockies in Colorado, getting contributions throughout a deeper lineup and enough from their starting pitching to extend their winning streak to four games. On Monday’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast, Paul Hoynes and Joe Noga discuss whether Cleveland’s recent surge is enough to consider the Guardians a legitimate playoff team, what they need to accomplish in Anaheim and how Jo Adell might handle his first return to face the organization that drafted and developed him. They also debate whether red-hot prospect Ralphy Velazquez — who has 16 home runs in 21 games since July 28 — should be a September call-up despite a crowded first base/DH picture, and examine other roster expansion possibilities, including Rhys Hoskins, Kyle Manzardo and potential pitching reinforcements.Guardians, Los Angeles Angels series preview, pitching matchupsGuardians complete sweep of Rockies with 7-2 win, stay in second place in AL CentralGuardians’ Jo Adell looking forward to saying goodbye in his Angel homecomingRead the automated transcript of today’s podcast below. Because it’s an AI-generated transcript, it may contain errors and misspellings.Podcast TranscriptJoe Noga: Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynsie, the Guardians get a huge sweep in Colorado again. They take three straight from the Rockies and roll into LA to open a series on Monday night against the Angels with a lot of momentum. They’ve won four in a row since, you know, starting this stretch of games, 12 games against teams with under.500 records. They’re 5 and 1 at 65 and 66. They woke up Monday morning essentially in a three team battle with Houston and Texas for the final AL wild card spot. The tiebreaker here matters because they lost the head to head series with the, with the Rangers this year. But the bigger point is, you know, this time last week things look pretty bleak and you know, with the way that they’ve played in the last seven days, they put themselves back in, back in the race.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, Joe, I mean, they essentially did what they had to do. What they took two out of three from the Giants at home and then, you know, swept the Rockies. And you know, you just, as you said, they, they’ve got themselves back in not only the division race, but they are, you know, tied for the other, the wild card, the third wild card spot in the American League. So it couldn’t have gone much better.Joe Noga: Yeah, and really they, they went into Colorado and it’s not, not a huge surprise that it happened there, but they actually hit the ball. It sounds, you know, pretty obvious, but this is a team that has struggled with hitting, with runners, scoring position. They did that over the weekend. They scored early in pretty much every game of the series and you know, they, they actually built a big lead in one of the games and gave themselves a chance to sort of, you know, cruise to a win on Friday night. Chase the Lauder was big throughout the series on Sunday he was 3 for 4, a couple of triples, a walk and two RBIs while scoring two runs. Joe Adele had a couple of hits and two RBIs on Sunday, had a big game Friday and Angel Martinez has really been solid in the month of August. Since he’s returned from his injury, he’s looked like he picked up right where he left off.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, they’ve got contributions up and down the lineup and you left out Bazzana’s. Four hit game. They’ve gotten offense from every part of the lineup, which is something they’ve been lacking, Joe. And they’ve been able to add on during these games against the Rockies, which, you know, has always kind of played them and as you said they, they really, they’ve been, they’ve been clutch with runners in scoring position. So, yeah, just a really a great series by the Rock by, you know, Cleveland and the Rockies are, are not a real good team, though, so we should take that into account. Joe. They’ kind of team just reminds me, you know, they play like three decent innings and then the wheels come off and when the wheels come off, you can’t put them back on. They, they kind of skid into the, into the ditch.Joe Noga: Well, and that’s what made Saturday’s win was. It was a 43 win, I think, on Saturday. Just a big thing too, you know, you took care of business against a team that you didn’t give them a chance to get back into the game. And Saturday was a nice win. Patrick Bailey with a big hit. Joe Adele hit a hit, a home run. And Tanner Bibee, you know, you felt like Saturday sort of felt like it. It was trending towards one of those, oh, you know, what’s going to happen to, to rob Tanner Bibee of a potential win there, even though he gave them a chance and, you know, things worked out. Kate Smith came in, got the last three outs of the game after giving up a home run, and they were able to come out with the win there. So they were able to win games in a variety of ways this past weekend.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, and, you know, I’m glad you mentioned the starting pitching. It seemed like, you know, Cantillo, Bibby and Foster Griffin all had one inning early where it took them time, you know, it took them several pitches to just kind of, kind of get the feel of Coors Field, the mound, the high altitude, you know, the dry conditions where the ball flies. You know, Cantillo and, and Bobby had big first innings where they threw, you know, 30 plus pitches. And yesterday Griffin had the second inning where he threw 46 pitches and still got through it, got out of the jam with the bases loaded and then was able to give them, you know, three more innings, get through the fifth with the lead to get the win and to also give the bullpen some protection.Joe Noga: Yeah, it’s, it was big. The pitching was big all weekend and you know, you only have to play in, in Coors Field in that altitude, you know, once every other year. And, you know, there’s a lot of guys on that roster who might not be accustomed to it. So it was, it was good to see them, you know, get through and, and not have those, those big letdown innings after the offense came up so big, so clutch throughout the, the weekend. You know, how much. Let’s play devil’s advocate for a second. How much credit do you want to give these guys for beating a team that’s as bad as Colorado is? I mean, you saw firsthand just what Colorado can’t do in certain situations. They don’t have the ability to come back once. Once you take a lead against them and they’ve got a lot of holes, not only in their roster, but on their pitching staff sweeping them. Does it really mean much of anything or is this a sign that, you know, is. Is. Is a. A confidence builder for a young Guardians team? Can this indicate that this, this is a team that might have a real chance to make the postseason?Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I think it. I think you’ve got to look at it from a positive standpoint. You know, sometimes the games you’re supposed to win are the hardest games to win. And obviously they, you know, they were supposed to beat the giants. They go 2 and 1 against the giants. They were supposed to beat the Rockies. But you don’t expect to sweep on the road. Maybe you expect two out of three, but they swept them. I think it’s a confidence builder. I think it’s. It shows you something that they recognize where they are in, in the schedule and in the standings. And it was time to, you know, make a move. It was a time to make a move or kind of run up the white flag. And, you know, they’ve done that and now they’ve got another team that’s been struggling all season, the Angels, for, for three more. So, you know, can they do it again? I don’t know. I mean, you’re asking for a sweep. That’s a lot to ask. But they’re in a position now, Joe, where, you know, they don’t have much of a choice.Joe Noga: Yeah, you’re right. And, you know, it all goes back to the broader question of is this a playoff team? And they’ve answered some questions. Is this a team that can make the playoffs? Yeah, there, there’s no doubt, absolutely. This is a team that can make the playoffs. Is this a team that, if they make the playoffs, that they can play playoff caliber baseball once they’re there in October? That, that’s still open for debate. But, you know, they’re 65 and 66 right now. They would be tied for first place in the AL west if, if they played out there. They’re still one of the weaker offenses in, in all of baseball. But the roster looks so much different than it did a month ago with we, you know, with, with the Lauder really, you know, producing runs, not just, not just getting hits, but he’s, he’s producing runs, he’s driving runs in, he’s scoring runs. Joe Adele has added something to, to the middle of that lineup and really the, he’s, he’s added protection for, for DeLauter and, and sort of replaced, you know, sort of that power engine that, that they’re lacking from, from Jose Ramirez and Nathaniel Low continues to put up professional at bats. We’ve seen that. What do you think of guys like Angel Hanau, who’s, who’s come in and just sort of injected some energy into this lineup as well?Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I think that’s a great point. You know, Vogt was talking about it, I think on Saturday, saying how different this lineup is, how deeper and longer it is, you know, with the addition of Adele and Low and Hanau and also, you know, DeLauter, the way he’s hit, you know, he’s, he’s reached base in 16 of 17 games in, in August. He’s just become a force, you know, like you said Sunday, he goes what, three, he has three hits, two doubles, drives in a couple runs. And Quan has been a force at the top of the lineup. So just, you know, this is a, excuse me, an offense that’s emerging right now. We’re seeing it get better in front of our eyes.Joe Noga: Yeah. And every year it’s figure out what that formula is, whether it’s guards ball, whether it’s, you know, rely on the pitching, that, that sort of thing. You know, it’s, it’s a matter of finding that formula. And right now, you know, maybe it’s, you know, get enough out of Jose Ramirez and, and the offense and you know, rely on these starters to get you five, six innings. Looks a lot like it did in September last year when they, they made that furious rally to come back and win the division. So, so we get to Monday and now the question is, you know, you sort of raised it a moment ago, can they keep this going in Anaheim? The angels are 52 and 79. This is a, like you said, a series that presents another opportunity. But like, like you said, those are the hardest games to win. Going 2 and 1 in Anaheim would give them a 7 and 2, you know, stretch since the, the start of that 12 game stretch of under 500 opponents. The minimum you’ve got to come out of there is with two wins in Anaheim. Don’t you think? Wednesday.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, that’s, it’s a big, you know, that would be, that would be a Great situation. Cap this road trip to come home and then open what with three against Kansas City, another team that is, you know, struggling. So, you know, you would really. I think you put your best foot forward by taking two out of three with the. Against the Angels. And you know, they really kind of, you know, outdid expectations with the sweep in Colorado. But yeah, you know, this is a series. You can’t have a letdown. I think they know what’s at stake and you know, I just think this lineup may be kind of gelling at the right time.Joe Noga: Yeah, you know, three in. In LA against a team that, that you should beat. And then you said Kansas City struggling. Hoynsie, I’m looking at the standings right now. Yeah, Kansas City is in dead last place in the Central Division, 58 and 74. But they have won eight straight games and they’re 9 and 1 in their last 10. The Royals might have figured something out or it just figures that the Guardians might be catching the Royals at exactly the wrong time come the end of this week back once they get home. As an aside, I just want to mention the. The. The American League west this year leads the league in number of directors of baseball operations who have been deposed by their franchises. As. As. Again, it’s the. The Astros let their. Parted ways with Dana Brown after a few seasons, he becomes the third, you know, head of baseball operations GM to. To be let go in that division. Perry Manasian, the. The Angels general manager, uh, earlier in the year. And uh. And who else. Who else is out in that division? I. I think they uh. Uh. Was it the Athletics. The Athletics, uh, parted with theirs, uh, their baseball operations guy as well. So, you know, must be. It must be a rough time to be an executive in the AL West.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, that’s. That’s unusual. You know, it’s. It’s always the hitting coach or the pitching coach or. Or the manager that usually, you know, pays the price initially till they work their way up to the GM and. But to, you know, to see the kind of. The head of the snake chopped off in those three. Three examples is. Is. Is startling. Especially when you. The stability that the Guardians have had over the years, you know, with Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff and you know that. That entire front office.Joe Noga: That’s an interesting term phrase there. The head of the snake when you’re talking about the Astros. You know, I. Some of us are still bitter about 2018, but we’ll go back to that. Joe Adele returning to Anaheim obvious storyline. Obviously something to keep an Eye on the Guardians Acquiring Adele after what, six, seven years with the Angels and you know, he was a former top prospect with Anaheim and really had just come into sort of his own in the last couple of years in their lineup and now he’s, now he’s overdoing it for Cleveland. He’s been just really good. When he’s been healthy and in the lineup for the Guardians, he’s been able to give them the threat of doing damage. Watching him hit that 44055 foot home run on the last home stand was, was a thing of beauty. It’s just something that the Guardians haven’t had from a right handed hitter in so long and this is what he’s capable of. What do you think it’s going to be like for him emotionally and, and productivity wise when he gets back to Anaheim beginning tonight?Paul Hoynes: Yeah, it’s always interesting to see how a guy, you know, that has established himself in one city, you know, gets traded or moves on and then comes back to that city for the first time. And how he handles it, how well he performs, it’s really, you know, does he try too hard? Does he, does he, you know, does he put too much pressure on himself? Does he try to prove the Angels wrong? You know, I talked to Adele about, about that and I didn’t get any of that vibe, Joe. I got it. I got a guy that said, you know, he reminded me me that, you know, I was traded, when I was traded, it was an off day and I didn’t get to say, you know, goodbye to a lot of the, my teammates. So, you know, that he said he was looking forward to say, you know, to saying hello and goodbye to a bunch of people that he didn’t get to, you know, talk to. When he was traded to Cleveland on August 3rd, I thought that was kind of an unusual way to approach this. But he said, you know, he’s always, you know, like you said, he was the number one pick in 2017. He said this angel fans supported him. He’s a part of that organization for nine years and you know, he really felt well supported all that time. So I think, I’m sure it’ll be emotional, but I think this is, this is kind of a, I think he’ll handle it well, you know, but I think on the field, I think he’ll handle it well because just, he has really given the Guardians an element that they, they haven’t had for a long time. Which you, you know, talked about is a right handed power hitter. I mean, he, he hit that 455foot home run in Cleveland and, and almost topped it with the 450 foot running foot home run over the weekend against the Rockies.Joe Noga: Yeah, it’s just in my, my limited time being around Joe Odell, I talked to him after they traded for him. I talked to him a little bit in Detroit and again on the, the last home stand. I feel like the prevailing attitude tonight’s game is going to be gratitude for him. He’s very grateful for everything that the Angels did for him, but he’s also happy to be where he is and in the position he is. And, you know, it’s not like he’s a rental in Cleveland. He’s got one more year of team control beyond the end of this season. Whether or not that season gets played as fodder for another podcast here as we continue to look ahead to the potential for a lockout. And that plays into our next topic a little bit. But yeah, I think, Poiser, you’re ready. You’ve got three, three games in, in Anaheim and three straight nights. You’re gonna hear the, the, the song that they play every game with the montage on the video. Calling all Angels by Train. You won’t be able to get the song out of your head. They play it every single pregame with that video montage. The history of the Angels flashing on the scoreboard. And I’m sure they’ll do a video tribute to Joe Adele as well. But Calling all Angels by Train. You like that song?Paul Hoynes: Yeah, I do like that song. That’s interesting that you bring that up, Joe. I can hear. I’m playing it in my head right now. So. Yeah, yeah, I do like that song.Joe Noga: And they did they do a good job with those video tributes. That’s pretty good.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, definitely. And the only thing. How much of the. Do they still do the Rally Monkey? That’s the one thing I don’t know. I hated seeing that thing because it meant the Angels were rallying and I was gonna have to rewrite my story.Joe Noga: Well, there you go. That’s your assignment for the, for the week is find the Rally Monkey or a reasonable facsimile or tribute to the. The Rally Monkey. I think they might still sell them in the, in the team shops there. They, they might sell the, the stuffed Rally Monkeys that you can Velcro their hands around your neck. I, I think that that might be something so you keep an eye out for it. But yeah, I, I want to get into something, a topic that you wrote a little bit about over the Weekend, uh, with the September 1st, uh, roster expansion, uh, approaching, uh, I believe it’s uh, a week from tomorrow. On Tuesday, uh, September 1st. The big name, the talked about name is Ralphie Velazquez. He is absolutely tearing up International League pitching right now for Triple A Columbus. What has he got? 24 doubles, 20 home runs, 70 some RBIs. He’s got 16 home runs in 21 games since July 28, and he hit three home runs for Columbus on Saturday. But Saturday also happens to be the day that you wrote your column that said don’t look for them to call Ralphie Velazquez up and here’s all the reasons why. But you know, he did his best. He did his best to prove you’re wrong. Go out there and hit three home runs that night. Hoynsie, are you, are you still holding on to the idea that they’re not going to call up Ralphie Velazquez on September 1st?Paul Hoynes: I’m, I’m, I’m almost, I’m not, I might not be as convinced as I was when I wrote that story, but, but I’m still, I’d say 90% convinced that they’re not going to call up Ralphie. But he’s making a case for himself, Joe. I mean the, the, the more, you know, the naysayers naysay, the louder he, he knocks on the door and you know, he’s knocking on the door in a way that, that is really hard to ignore. Like in this whole season at Double A and Triple a, he’s hit 27 home runs already. I can’t remember a guy like that in Cleveland. It’s been a while since, since, you know, someone has had a minor league season, you know, from the power production that, that Velazquez has had. But you know, Joe, I just don’t think when you look at the first base in the DH situation, you know, they, they traded for low for a reason and he has given them no, you know, nothing. You know, he’s on his return, it’s been positive. You know, you’ve got David Fry as a right handed platoon at first base and he hit six home runs in his last six games at AAA before he was promoted. And he hasn’t gotten in a bat yet. Joe there, you know, the International League couldn’t cool him off, but the Guardians have, and, and then, you know, they’re using D, the DH spot for, you know, they’re kind of circulating Adele DeLauter and Ramirez through there to keep them healthy. So, you know, I don’t think they did call up Velazquez, you know, because one, they couldn’t give him every day at bats. And it’s a little different with only being able to call two guys up on September 1st instead of, you know, you could call as many before, I think what, 2020, the rule changed that where you could call up your entire 40 man roster if you wanted to. And also there’s, you know, obviously the reason that if there is a lockout and you know, you would have to put Velazquez on the 40 man if you called him up and if there was a lockout and it leaked into the regular season next year, he wouldn’t be able to play.Joe Noga: Right. Yeah, that, that’s the, that’s the big one in my mind is you lose that, that amount of control over him. And not just the control, but the ability to put him out on the field and let him continue to develop at, you know, at, not at the major league level, but just you want to keep, get him hot and, and continue to build on what he’s, he’s learned and sort of produced this year. You don’t necessarily want to just to stall that out, but you know, just for the, the sake of argument, just for the devil’s advocate, and I didn’t want this to sort of devolve into a discussion about the platoon system and you know, I guess Cleveland’s commitment and love affair with the platoon system. But Ralphie Velazquez has proven that he can hit right handed and left handed pitching. And I don’t know what you have to do to in, in the, the Guardian’s eyes to sort of prove that you’re a guy who can do both. If you’re a Stephen Kwan, if you’re a Chase the Lauder, you’re in there against lefties no matter what. Ralphie Velazquez seems to be the kind of hitter that that should be and should get those same opportunities he’s produced against lefties and he kills righties. If that means that, you know, a guy like a Nathaniel Lowe or David Fry doesn’t get an opportunity because you can put Ralphie in there against lefties and, and he’s gonna hit. It might take a little while for him to make an adjustment, but he’s proven at every level that he’s, he’s advanced to that. That’s the case. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be, it wouldn’t be the same at the majors.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, you know, I agree with you. I, and I forgot A guy. You’ve also got Manzardo down at AAA who’s, you know, having a, you know, is hitting decently and he’s a left handed hitting first baseman as well. So, you know, you’re kind of overloaded at those two spots at DH and, and first base. So, you know, you know, maybe if this, if Ralphie had gotten hot, hotter, this hot earlier in the season, they would have made a, it would have made a difference, Joe. But I think once they made that commitment at the trade deadline and moved their chips into the middle of the table with those three deals that they did, I think they were, they were committed to playing those guys.Joe Noga: Yeah. And like you said, Nathaniel Lowe hasn’t given them any reason to change their mind in terms of that. He’s been productive, he’s been a professional hitter, he plays great defense at first base and David Fry, you just haven’t given any chances to, ever since Reese Hoskins went on the injured list. Yeah. And you know, you also have to consider when the September 1st deadline rolls around, if, if Reese Hoskins is healthy at some point, you know, you, you going to have to add him back into the mix and, and he’s going to take up a roster spot. So, you know, that’s, that relates into the next question, which is who should they call up? You get two roster spots, one goes to a pitcher, one goes to a position player. With Hanau being as productive as he’s been and giving guys days off their feet around the infield and really looks like your outfield is pretty set with Adele and DeLauter and Angel Martinez, Stephen Kwan returning to his, you know, level of productivity. I think you’re in a good spot to, to maybe just add Reese Hoskins back if he’s healthy. Do you think that’s the most likely and most logical move on the position player side?Paul Hoynes: You know, I probably do, Joe. Unless, you know, unless they would call up Manzaro again, you know, recall him and give him another chance. I think we saw this a couple years ago with man Manzardo, didn’t he? He got called up at the break when the roster expanded and he had a great September. Maybe they would try to catch lightning in a bottle there. But, but other than that, you know, I think, you know, Hoskins, you know, bringing him back off the Il makes a lot of sense.Joe Noga: Yeah. And, and, and it’s one that it, it keeps the sort of temperature in the clubhouse, you know, level as well, because I think a lot of people want to see you Give that respect to the veteran. And he also has made the adjustment to being able to sort of accept that role where he might not get that many at bats in a week or, you know, in a series or, you know, maybe he’s only playing one game or coming off the bench a couple of times. So, yeah, that sort of, you know, takes us into this. The last idea of, you know, is there a. Is there a pitcher, is there a guy in the bullpen who you think, you know, would give Cade Smith an opportunity to, you know, sort of relax a little bit, a little bit more of a rest, help out the bullpen? Because obviously the bullpen’s been running hot for quite a while now.Paul Hoynes: Yeah, you know, I mean, you’ve got some options, you know, ailments. Aleman is down there, Espino is down there. You know, you could bring those, either one of those guys up. You know, I think, you know, they. They’ve been up and down a couple times. They’ve had some good outings. Some, you know, so, so outings. Is Ben Lively maybe a. A chance? I mean, I still coming back, obviously from the, from the Tommy John surgery, but he’s been throwing rehab games, so there’s some options there. Right.Joe Noga: You know, what about Slade Cecconi?Paul Hoynes: Oh, yeah, yeah, I forgot Slade.Joe Noga: Yeah, he. He should be getting ready to go out back on a rehab assignment as well. So, you know, maybe by the time he gets maybe a couple of appearances in, he could be an option to be added to the, the roster as well.Paul Hoynes: And, and would you. Could you go with the six man then like they did last last year? Would they move Logan Allen into there? You know, you know, kind of. They got some options as a six starter if they go that way.Joe Noga: Wow. Four lefties in the rotation. That’d be crazy. But just named, just announced Ralphie Velazquez the International Player of the Week, International League Player of the Week. So Hoynsie, all signs, I’m telling you, one more column. Just write one more column and you guarantee he punches his ticket to. To Cleveland at some point. Hindsight’s going to wrap up today’s edition of the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. We will check back in with you, wrap up the. The first game in the Angel Series tomorrow morning.Paul Hoynes: Good deal, Joe.This article was produced with assistance from AI tools and reviewed by Cleveland.com staff.