Three Positives From the Week of May 11th

It was a down week for the Cleveland Guardians, but that doesn’t mean us fans have to stay down.

They may have ended the week on a sour note, but the Cleveland Guardians still gave us fans a few good moments to look back on.

Ortiz Making Big Contributions

While the news of the three-team trade that sent Nick Sandlin to the Toronto Blue Jays, Spencer Horowitz to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and brought Luis Ortiz to Cleveland didn’t make any big waves back in December, it’s clear to see that the Guardians made a good choice with it. Ortiz hasn’t been a Cy Young pitcher by any means, but he’s keeping Cleveland in games and getting the job done. In his last two games, he’s pitched 11 innings and given up just three runs with 10 hits. While his offense couldn’t back him up and he’s gone 0-2 in these games, he’s providing five to six innings of reliable pitching almost every time. His 16 strikeouts across those 11 innings are also a great sign, proving that he’s accurate. In a year where Cleveland needed their starters to come up big, he’s answering the call.

Ramírez on Fire

José Ramírez is currently on a 12-game hitting streak as well as a 16-game on-base streak. During those 12 games, he’s hitting .378/.462/.733 with four home runs and eight RBI. He’s walked six times and has only struck out four times. While it’s obvious that Ramírez is a reliable hitter almost every year, he’s coming up big when it matters most for these Guardians. They have slipped back to third in the division, 5.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers and now 0.5 games behind the surging Minnesota Twins, who just snapped a 13-game winning streak. If the rest of the team can pick up the slack behind Ramírez in the lineup, Cleveland could get some of those games back and remain a playoff threat.

Pitching Legend Returns

Over Spring Training, many people noticed that Corey Kluber was hanging around Goodyear Park a lot. While we knew that he wasn’t looking to play for the team as he announced his retirement on February 9, 2024, hopes were high that he would be returning to Cleveland in a coaching or management role. Those hopes were confirmed on Wednesday as the team announced that Kluber was, in fact, returning to Cleveland as a special assistant in the pitching department. While the role is not clearly defined, the team has stated that it will develop as time goes on. After 13 seasons in Major League Baseball - nine of those with Cleveland - the two-time Cy Young winner and three-time All-Star will clearly be able to provide some important insight to the young pitchers in the entire Cleveland organization.