CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It looks like Josh Naylor will be back in the Guardians linup as early as Thursday.
“My my guess is he plays [Thursday] for sure,” manager terry Francona said. “You might see him tonight, but we will see. We really do want to see how he cools down and we don't want to give a guy two days or what should be two days, rush it back for that at-bat and set him back.”
Naylor, who injured his right wrist in the sixth inning of Monday night’s 4-2 loss to the Braves and was wearing a protective sleeve on it in the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, was scheduled to hit inside prior to Wednesday’s series finale with Atlanta.
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Naylor, who is hitting .295 with 10 home runs and a team-leading 60 RBI this season, had been on a tear of late by hitting .368 with 14 doubles, seven home runs and 41 RBI over his last 42 games.
Utility guys – David Fry and Tyler Freeman continue to contribute, even with their limited playing time.
“I look at Fry and Freeman, you look up and they’re ready. They’re ready to come in a game,” Francona said.
In Tuesday night’s 6-5-win, Freeman beat out an infield hit in the third inning, collected another single in the seventh and scored a pair of runs. Fry moved from right field to catcher and ended up tagging out the go-ahead run at the plate to end the top of the 10th on a throw from center fielder Myles Straw before delivering the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the inning.
“They both move around, and it requires a lot of extra work,” Francona said. “I mean, what Fry did last night, going from right to catch, that’s a big ask. Tyler’s played second, third, and short. So he’s always out there taking extra balls because you, it’s one thing to play it, it’s another thing to be reliable when you play it. There’s a difference.”
Hot hitter – Shortstop Amed Rosario is as hot as they come at the plate for Cleveland entering play Wednesday night. He is eight for his last 20 with 10 RBI over the last four games.
Rosario, who leads baseball since June 6 with 38 hits, collected more three hits, including his second home run of the season, and he drove in four runs in Tuesday night’s win.
“It’s huge. I mean we always talk about it, his hits, they come in bunches,” Fry said. “You see him go one for one, you’re like, he’s probably getting four today, and he kind of sets that table hitting right in front of Jose [Ramirez] and you always know good things are going to happen when he gets on.”
Robbed – Left fielder Steven Kwan is convinced he came up with a diving catch of a sinking liner off the bat of Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. in the top of the fifth Tuesday night.
“I thought I did,” Kwan said. “I get why they thought it. It looks kind of funky on the replay. I think the only time that it could be weird is if, because it rattled in my glove a little bit, so maybe my palm was over and then maybe hit the grass, but they said it wasn't definitive, so that makes sense to me.”
Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies followed Acuna by crushing the first of two home runs – his 21st of the season to right that tied the game at 2 and touched off a 4-run inning – for Atlanta.
“Obviously they’re human,” Kwan said. “They’re not trying to mess the call up. It is what it is.”
Rubber match – The Braves entered Wednesday night a perfect 6-0 in rubber matches this season while the Guardians are 8-6, including 5-4 at home.