![Cleveland Guardians v Tampa Bay Rays](https://www.phillysports.today/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2162013855.0.jpg)
A matchup of two good teams in a slump
It’s hard sometimes to see the big picture when a good baseball team is struggling. You know they’re good, but they’re not playing like it, and you can’t quite figure out why. All of a sudden, their strengths are weaknesses, and their weaknesses are amplified. In the back of your mind, you know it won’t last, but that nagging little voice we call doubt that is getting louder.
The fun part is this sentiment could apply to either of these teams right now.
Cleveland Guardians:
Record- 61-41, first place in American League Central (4.5 game lead)
Last time they met
This will be the first meeting between the two first place teams this season. You have to go back almost exactly one calendar year to their last matchup, a three-game series in Cleveland from July 21st-23rd of 2023. The Phillies dropped two games of that series, including a 1-0 loss where they collected two hits.
What’s the deal with the Guardians?
The Guardians have been one of the AL’s best teams this season, but they come to Philadelphia in the midst of a July skid to rival that of the Phillies. Cleveland has won just 2 of its 5 series this month and they too have started slow out of the All-Star break with a record of 3-4.
Much like the Phillies, the Guardians offense has sputtered to a halt, ranking 24th in runs scored since the calendar turned to July. Their collective .645 OPS is the fourth worst in the month and their team average is a paltry .227. Rookie outfielder Angel Martinez has been their best hitter in July, sporting a .792 OPS with 7 extra base hits in 17 games. Steven Kwan isn’t far behind, as he’s hitting .276 in 19 games with four extra base hits. The Cleveland 2B has had a strong season thus far, as he has the best average in all of baseball (.345) at the start of play on Thursday.
The Guardians’ strength all season has been their bullpen which sports a league best 2.52 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. Emmanuel Classe leads the way in the Cleveland ‘pen, as the All-Star closer has a miniscule 0.76 ERA in 48 games this season and is 31-34 in saves.
This one’s for the sickos
There will be two all-time “remember him?” Phillies connections with the Guardians starting pitching this weekend. First, we’ll go with the obvious one.
Carlos Carrasco will take the mound on Sunday for Cleveland against Ranger Suárez for the Phillies. You will of course remember him as one of the prospects the Phillies traded to Cleveland for Cliff Lee way back in 2009. He’s back in Cleveland after a three-year stint with the Mets but the reunion hasn’t gone too well, as Carrasco has a 5.32 ERA in 18 starts.
The other Phillies connection is a real deep cut.
Remember Marlon Byrd?
Yes, that Marlon Byrd, but not that tenure with the Phillies.
After playing for the Phillies in the first three seasons of his career before being traded in 2005, Byrd made his triumphant return to Philadelphia in 2014 on a two year, $16M contract. He played in 154 games with the Phillies that season, slashing a respectable .264/.312/.445 with 25 home runs and 185 strikeouts on a team that finished 73-89 in Ryne Sandberg’s first year as manager.
Byrd wouldn’t play both years of his deal in Philadelphia however, as he was traded by the Phillies once again, this time on New Year’s Eve 2014 to the Cincinatti Reds for pitcher Ben Lively who will start Friday night against the Phillies.
Lively pitched in 20 career games with the Phillies from 2017 to 2018 and went 4-9 with a 4.81 ERA. But more importantly, he hit two home runs as a member of the Phillies, including this one off of Jacob deGrom in 2017.
And because you clamored for it, here’s his other home run.
Lively was designated for assignment on September 3rd, 2018 and bounced around the minors and majors for the Royals and the Diamondbacks for the rest of 2018 and 2019. He then found himself pitching in Korea for the Samsung Lions from 2019 to 2021 before making his triumphant return to the Cincinnati Reds organization in 2022. He made it back to the majors in 2023 and appeared in 19 games including 12 starts and finished with a 5.38 ERA.
But the now 32-year-old Lively seems to have found a home in Cleveland, as he’s been their second-best starter with an 8-6 record and a 3.57 ERA in 17 starts.
Trivia
Marlon Byrd was traded from the Phillies to the Nationals for one player in 2005. Who was that player?
Closing thought
It’s no secret that the Phillies are struggling right now. Their offense has disappeared, and their bullpen has looked leaky. But’s it’s important to keep in mind that even good teams eventually hit rough patches. You need no further evidence than to look across the field at the Guardians who are in a rough patch of their own.