3 Guardians who need to step up for Cleveland to even up ALDS against White Sox 

Later today the Cleveland Guardians will take the field at Progressive Field in Game 2 of the American League Division Series in an attempt to save their season after losing the series opener to the White Sox. 

With just one (lethargic) game down in their postseason run, the Guardians lineup is going to be filled with plenty of zeroes in all the statistical categories that matter. 

Such is the small sample size theater that is the postseason.

But even if we haven’t played enough postseason baseball to draw any meaningful conclusions, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. 

With that in mind, here are three(ish) Guardians players who are going to need to step up later today. 

The Guardians need more from their lineup in Game 2 of ALDS

OF Jo Adell

Adell made his long-awaited postseason debut on Saturday… and went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in the White Sox’s win. 

The Guardians acquired Adell at the trade deadline in the hopes that he’d be a big bat in the middle of their lineup. While he was that in the regular season, his postseason debut left a lot of room to be desired (so much so that he said he was “put in a blender” after Game 1). 

The good news for Adell is that he’s going to have a golden opportunity to turn things around later today against White Sox southpaw Anthony Kay. Adell has feasted against left-handed pitching throughout his career, and his time with the Guardians backed that up. 

He recorded an eye-popping 1.103 OPS in 52 at-bats against left-handed pitching in his time with the Guardians compared to a .588 OPS in 127 at-bats against right-handed pitching. 

That said, Adell had a .538 in 12 regular season games against the White Sox while going 1-for-7 against Kay. 

But all that gets thrown out the window during the postseason. Now the time for Adell to shine. 

Tanner Bibee/Foster Griffin

Although Griffin or Bibee didn’t pitch in Game 1, they could be thrust into action later today if Gavin Williams runs into any early trouble. 

Williams may be coming off a dominant regular season where he set a new career-high with 184 1/3 innings, but October is the time when postseason leashes tighten. 

Guardians manager Stepehn Vogt had to turn to Daniel Espino in the fifth inning after Parker Messick ran into trouble, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he did the same today at the first sign of trouble. 

And going to Griffin or Bibee would give Vogt a pitcher who is able to eat some innings without needing to turn to any of the team’s shutdown relievers. 

The Guardians would be able to start Wiliams and Messick on normal rest in two of the final three games of the series, so there isn’t enough room for both Bibee or Griffin in the rotation. 

The Guardians haven’t announced their pitching plans for Game 3, which is why we group Bibee and Griffin together since we don’t know if either of them is going to be on the mound. 

They’re going to need to answer the call whenever either one of their names is called. 

3B José Ramírez

Although Ramírez’s middling production this season flew under the radar a bit thanks to some strong showings from other hitters in the Guardians’ lineup, it got brought to the forefront in Game 1 with a lethargic 0-1 showing with a strikeout and walk. 

It’s clear that he’s still not 100% due to the hamate injury he suffered earlier this year, but he was still able to provide the Guardians with some production thanks to his legs and contact skills. 

He wasn’t able to do either of those things in Game 1, though he did provide the Guardians with some solid defense. 

The Guardians hit Ramírez in the No. 2 spot in their lineup in Game 1 ahead of Chase DeLauter, but his struggles meant that DeLauter didn’t get a ton of opportunities to hit with runners on base. 

Ramírez is going to need to step up if the Guardians want to play deep into October.

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