RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesCLEVELAND — Manager Stephen Vogt lauded the Cleveland Guardians’ front office for adding three players during the trade deadline.
Now it’s up to Vogt and the new-look Guardians to capitalize on the addition of outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and pitcher Foster Griffin for a postseason push.
“Now it’s our turn to go out and let’s go perform. Let’s go win some games,” Vogt said before a 5-2 loss to the New York Mets.
Adell, who batted second and played right field, reached base three times in his Guardians’ debut with two hits and a walk. Lowe came in during the seventh inning and went 0 for 2.
Griffin will pitch the final game of the series, keeping him on his usual amount of rest.
“It was awesome to come in and find a way to execute. I was excited to get out there and get started,” Adell said.
Adell, Lowe and Griffin were in the clubhouse before the game, introducing themselves to their new teammates and getting up to speed before the start of a three-game series.
“I was pretty fired up about it. I think our front office did everything that we could have ever wanted from him — two impact bats and an impact starter. That’s all you can ask for,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “I think it sets us up to be right where we want to be at the end of September.”
Cleveland (57-57) is 6-11 since the All-Star break, but has a one-game lead over Minnesota for the American League’s final wild-card spot. The Guardians are three games behind the first-place White Sox in the AL Central.
Adell will be part of a postseason chase for the first time in his seven-year career. He was the 10th overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft by the Angels, who haven’t finished over .500 since 2015.
With the front office changes in Los Angeles, Adell had a feeling that that he might be part of a sell off of players with one or two years left on their contracts.
“It’s really cool to be wanted and this team’s been playing really good baseball,” Adell said. “I’m excited to kind of be a part of that and be a part of a chase and something that is bigger than ourselves and going out trying to win a ball game every night. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Adell’s arrival makes him Cleveland’s leader in home runs (16) and RBIs (62) for a team that offensively has been challenged for most of the past two seasons.
José Ramírez is 8 for 41 in the 10 games since he returned from the injured list following left hand surgery. Ramírez was out of the lineup due to left hand inflammation.
One of the few bright spots has been Steven Kwan, who was batting .212 at the end of June but has raised his batting average 46 points since July 1 to .258. He has also hit safely in 23 of his last 28 games.
Adell and Chase DeLauter will platoon between right field and designated hitter. Lowe will be in the lineup when the Guardians face right-handed pitchers, while Rhys Hoskins primarily will face left-handers.
“The talent’s all here. It’s just about execution for the next two months. We need to get ourselves in the strongest position possible to make a deep run and make something happen. And when the guys start believing that, anything could happen,” Lowe said.
The Guardians will still go with a five-man rotation. Griffin’s addition means Slade Cecconi is moving to the bullpen. Tanner Bibee has been moved up to start on four day’s rest.
“I feel like you never have enough pitching, especially going into a playoff race. So any part I can be in that department, I’m excited about,” Griffin said.
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