CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Guardians sat five games behind the Twins in the AL Central coming into the series finale against the Tigers but there was still a glimmer of hope.
“There are days where it feels like that, and there are days where we recognize that we have a long way to continue to build to where we want to be as a championship team,” Cleveland’s President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti said when asked if it feels like the team’s in a division race. “We certainly haven’t done our part yet to put ourselves in a position to make it feel that way, but I’m not sure if the Twins have either.”
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Minnesota leads the AL Central by five games in part due to their play since the All-Star break. The Twins are 19-14 since then and the Guardians are 14-20. Minnesota also has an easier strength of schedule than Cleveland does with 38 games left to play this season.
When it comes to head-to-head matchups, the Guardians are 4-3 against the Twins in 2023. Cleveland takes a trip to Minnesota next week for a three-game series. Then, they’ll host the Twins the following week for a three-game set to complete the season series.
Good news – Guardians starters Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie are both out to 120 feet in their long toss programs. The next step to getting them ready to return will be bullpen sessions.
“We still have to make sure that they check all the boxes at each phase,” Antonetti said. “Thankfully, they’re both progressing well. We do expect based on the trajectory that they’re on that they’ll return sometime in September. Exactly when is difficult to forecast.”
Bieber was transferred to the 60-day injured list on July 24th with right elbow inflammation. His last start for Cleveland was on July 9th, and he won’t be eligible to return to the starting rotation until mid-September. McKenzie is recovering from a right elbow sprain and is also on the 60-day injured list.
Other injury updates – Chris Antonetti also provided injury updates to several position players.
Josh Naylor is now taking swings in the cage and is fielding ground balls in preparation for a return. Naylor was placed on the 10-day injured list on August 4th with a right oblique sprain. The next step in his recovery process would be to participate in team batting practice.
Antonetti said that David Fry is progressing well from a strained left hamstring injury that landed him on the 10-day injured list on August 8th. Fry’s participating in high-speed running, and he’ll progress to a baserunning program and full-team workout early this week.
Catcher Cam Gallagher was removed from Wednesday’s game against the Reds after suffering a concussion and was placed on the 7-day injured list. Antonetti said that he was doing well and is ramping up baseball activities.
Shortstop for the future – A topic of conversation surrounding the Guardians since trading Amed Rosario before the trade deadline has been the shortstop position, specifically who will play shortstop next season.
“We have six more weeks where guys will continue to get at-bats, and hopefully continue to learn and grow,” Antonetti said about the future of the position. “Then we’ll get to the offseason and figure out what that looks like. I don’t think we need to make any definitive declarations or statements in the offseason. As things stand, all of those guys are in the organization. They’re going to continue to be here, so we’ll have other opportunities for them to play and go out there to show what they can do.”
Brayan Rocchio (.271), Tyler Freeman (.261), Gabriel Arias (.200), and Jose Tena (.250) have all played shortstop this season for the Guardians.
Farewell Miggy – The Guardians host the Tigers for the final time on Sunday in 2023, meaning Miguel Cabrera will play his final game at Progressive Field.
“I’ve lost a lot of sleep due to Miguel Cabrera,” Antonetti said. “It’s always uncomfortable just knowing that he’s lurking there in the lineup. When he was at his best, there was no hitter more dangerous in baseball than he was. I appreciate all that Miguel has done and I’m glad he’s had a successful career, but I’m okay that he’s transitioning on and we don’t have to face him anymore.”
Miguel Cabrera is on pace to become the 23rd hitter in MLB history to finish with a .300-or-better career average (.308) against Cleveland with 1,000-or-more plate appearances, last done by Ted Williams (.323, 1939-60).
Among visiting MLB players in games played in Cleveland in the modern era, Cabrera ranks first in hits (145), first in home runs (26), and second in RBI (21). Cleveland honored Cabrera’s career and gifted him a guitar in an on-field presentation before first pitch.