3 X-factors who need to step up if the Guardians want to sweep the Tigers 

The last time the Cleveland Guardians faced off against the Detroit Tigers, they had Detroit down to its final strike before the Tigers stormed back and recorded a 7-2 win that gave the Guardians their 10th straight loss.

But a lot has changed since then. 

While the Guardians are still trailing the Tigers in the American League Central (and are fighting to jump ahead in the Wild Card race), they’ve cut Detroit’s lead in the division to just 6 1/2 games, which gives them a small chance to win the division since they have six games remaining against the Tigers over the last two weeks of the season. 

They’ll get their first chance to crack into that league this week with a three-game series against the Tigers at Comerica Park.

The Guardians are going to need a lot from Steven Kwan, Joey Cantillo and Nolan Jones if they want to sweep the Tigers this week

Steven Kwan 

Why not start right at the top of the lineup? 

Kwan’s in the midst of a rough season (by his standards), though his .298 batting average this month is the best mark he’s had in a month since May. 

He’ll also be going against a pitching rotation he hasn’t had a ton of success against in his career, as he’s hit .260 against the Tigers in his career and has hit just .214 in 24 games at Comerica Park. He did hit .524 against the Tigers in last year’s ALDS, for what it’s worth. 

The Guardians lineup is at its best when Kwan’s causing trouble at the top of the lineup by getting on base and wreaking havoc on the basepaths, but we just haven’t seen enough of that in the second half.

Joey Cantillo 

While we don’t know the Guardians’ full pitching plans for the week, we do know that Cantillo will toe the rubber today against Casey Mize. 

Cantillo’s shuttled between Triple-A Columbus and Cleveland so far this year, but he’s allowed just one run across 14 innings in his two starts since his most recent recall, which has helped push the Guardians into the middle of the postseason hunt. 

Cantillo may only be in the second percentile in chase rate, but he’s in the 79th percentile in whiff rate and the 81st percentile in strikeout rate — two stats that are a tangible example of how good he can be when he attacks the strike zone. 

Cantillo’s tossed a scoreless inning against the Tigers earlier this year in his lone career appearance against the club. 

Nolan Jones

Two weeks ago, Jones helped keep the Guardians season afloat when he hit clutch home runs in back-to-back wins over the Rays and Mariners. While those homers were a great sign, he’s hit just .163 (7-for-43) since. 

The Guardians are going to need more from him if they want to try to sweep the Tigers. 

Jones leads the Guardians in exit velocity and hard-hit rate, but he’s still hitting just .212 in 132 games this year. That said, he’s not going anywhere any time soon thanks to the lack of other options in right field, so we should see plenty of him over the next two days since the Tigers will be starting right-handed pitchers.