NEW YORK — There’s a stark contrast between a baseball clubhouse after a team wins and after a team loses.
After a win, the bass from the blaring music makes the ground vibrate. Players sit at round tables and play cards, a Coors in one hand and a pair of fours in the other.
After a loss, it’s so quiet you can hear players zip shut their equipment bags, the smack of a stack of $20 bills hitting a clubhouse attendant’s palm and the squeak of shower-soaked flip-flops plodding across the carpet.
For two consecutive nights, the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium has resembled a library. With the American League Championship Series shifting back to Progressive Field, how can the Cleveland Guardians transform their postgame space into a party scene? How can they strike back against the New York Yankees?
Get something from the starters
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt wouldn’t name a Game 3 starting pitcher on Tuesday night, but signs point to Matthew Boyd. After that, it’s uncharted territory. Ben Lively replaced Alex Cobb on the ALCS roster, ending Cobb’s season after only three regular-season starts and two postseason starts (22 innings in all as a Guardian, following the July 30 trade). Gavin Williams still exists, though he’s creeping up on one month since he last appeared in a big-league game.
The guess is that Boyd and Williams will start Thursday and Friday in Cleveland, respectively. If the series requires a Game 5, Lively and Tanner Bibee could be the options. Bibee threw only 39 pitches in Game 2. He surmised he could return early, and Vogt said it could be a consideration, though Bibee added that he needs to see how his arm bounces back Wednesday before he can be certain.
No matter how they map this out, the Guardians need more from the rotation. Vogt has been aggressive in pulling his starters — they’ve averaged a tick more than three innings per start in October — and with a heat-throwing cyborg named Cade Smith ready to obliterate the humans that stand before him in the batter’s box, it’s understandable to a degree. But without an off day to allow Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin and Emmanuel Clase to catch their breath between Games 3, 4 and 5, Vogt will have to exhibit more patience. It’s up to Boyd, Williams and whomever else to earn his faith.
Get a timely hit or two from the heartbeat of the lineup
José Ramírez seems like he’s on the verge of one of his patented tears, but the clock is ticking. He whacked a home run to right field off Yankees closer Luke Weaver in the ninth inning of Game 2, and he pummeled a couple of balls to the outfield in Game 1, but both resulted in loud outs. He’s just a slight tick off, like when your mom or dad used to adjust the dial on the stereo to find Herb Score’s call, but some static accompanied his commentary. With Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan reaching base so frequently, Ramírez has had plenty of opportunities to cash in, but even with the ninth-inning blast Tuesday, he’s 4-for-24 this postseason.
So much has been made of Ramírez being an underrated superstar, especially on this stage, opposite Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, two of MLB’s household names, an endangered species in this age.
The narrative led Yankees manager Aaron Boone to say before the series that when he hears a talking head describe Ramírez as being underappreciated, “I want to rip my arms off and throw (them) at the TV. He’s not underappreciated. He’s not underrated. He’s a great on-track Hall of Fame player, and everybody knows it.”
There’s no better time for him to hog the spotlight and bury that talking point.
Get back to ‘Guard Ball’
The Yankees made some base-running blunders that may have kept Game 2 closer than it otherwise would have been, but Cleveland’s self-inflicted errors in both games in the Bronx gave the Guardians an uphill climb. Cobb and Joey Cantillo allowed a parade of Yankees hitters to stand idle at the plate and, eventually, score in Game 1. Rocchio dropped an infield popup in the first inning of Game 2. Will Brennan made a pair of miscues in right field. Cleveland can’t survive this series with such sloppy play.
“If we want to win some games,” Kwan said, “we’re gonna have to play Guard Ball. … Fundamental baseball: Make the plays that we’re supposed to, hit with runners in scoring position, get the guy over.”
Get some output from unlikely sources
Cleveland’s catchers are 0-for-October. Bo Naylor is 0-for-14 in the postseason. Austin Hedges is 0-for-9. Their inability to contribute has placed Vogt’s pinch hit decisions under a microscope. Hedges had to bat twice in the later stages of Game 2 because Vogt called for a pinch hitter to take what would have been Naylor’s second at-bat. The catchers aren’t the only ones scuffling at the plate. Jhonkensy Noel and Brennan, the right-field tandem, haven’t offered much. The Guardians could use a jolt of power from Kyle Manzardo, who figures to start the next two games against Yankees righties Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil.
The Guardians’ catchers, including Austin Hedges, have yet to record a hit this postseason. (Elsa / Getty Images)
Rocchio and Kwan have fueled the offense. Lane Thomas and David Fry supplied some muscle at pivotal moments against Detroit. But it’s pretty simple to predict whether the Guardians stand a chance in a playoff game by how much offensive output they muster. In their three wins, they scored seven, five and seven runs, respectively. In their four losses? Zero, zero, two, three. They’ve had opportunities, too (which, Brennan said, makes their 0-2 deficit even more frustrating).
“All year we’ve done this,” Bibee said. “I feel like a lot of people at the beginning of the year, in a lot of people’s eyes, we weren’t supposed to be here, but we’ve always known that we’re supposed to be here, and we still think that. That doesn’t change just because we’re down two games. There’s a reason it’s a seven-game series.”
(Top photo: Elsa / Getty Images)
