Guardians Manager Praises Starter After Incredible Performance in the preseason playoff but luckily…
The Cleveland Guardians were facing one of their toughest assignments of the season so far on Friday night.
They were visiting LA to play the Dodgers, owners of the best record in baseball and, of course, employers of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and many more stars.
In the end, the Guards ended up prevailing 3-1 thanks to two key players.
One of them was second baseman Andrés Giménez, who socked a two-run homer in the sixth inning that Cleveland never relinquished.
After watching him on the mound, his manager had nothing but good things to say about him.
“He’s always been a really good pitcher…I’m not surprised to see him having this success. He’s been a good pitcher for a long time and he’s going to continue to be.” Stephen Vogt says Matthew Boyd’s strong outings is exactly what they expect to get from him every single time,” Bally Sports Cleveland posted on X, with the skipper’s thoughts about the southpaw.
Boyd kept the incredibly tough Dodgers offense in check all night, tossing six rock-solid innings allowing just three hits and a run, which came on a solo home run by Ohtani in the sixth frame.
During a time in which the Guardians’ rotation is probably the most criticized unit on the team, Boyd continues to shine and his ERA is down to a brilliant 2.20.
The Cleveland Guardians are on their way to the postseason, as the team currently leads the AL Central by four and a half games. The team beat the NL West leading Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday evening and plays the second game in their three-game set Saturday evening. On Friday, manager Stephen Vogt discussed the rehab of various players, including reliever James Karinchak. According to the first-year skipper, the high-leverage reliever might be back by the time the season ends.
Closer Emmanuel Clase is the best reliever in the majors this season, and the Guardians’ bullpen has been a strong suit. Adding a reliever like Karinchak could make them even more dangerous as the regular season draws to a close. Furthermore, October is arguably the most important time of the year to have an elite relief unit. Starting pitchers tend to have shorter leashes as wins become more critical, so having as many weapons as possible in the pen can only help.
Hopefully Karinchak can return to his previous form and make Vogt’s bullpen even more formidable than before. He just needs to get healthy and get back to Progressive Field. The sooner, the better.
While the Guardians currently lead their division, the Kansas City Royals are just 4.5 games back. The third-place team, which is the Minnesota Twins, is another half-game behind the Royals and five games back of the Guardians. Continuing their winning ways against the Dodgers, another World Series contender, would definitely provide a boost to Vogt’s squad. The first-year manager has come in and helped revitalize the club following the retirement of Terry Francona. So far, it seems like the Vogt hire was an excellent one.
