3 overreactions from Guardians’ season-opening series against Mariners 

The first series has come and gone for the Guardians, and they gave us plenty of things to talk about.

While some of the results from Cleveland’s four-game series against the Mariners were expected, there were also plenty of surprises across the 36 innings of baseball that played out at T-Mobile Park. 

Here are three overreactions from that series. 

The Cleveland Guardians opened the season with an up-and-down series against the Mariners 

Chase DeLauter is the greatest hitter in the history of baseball 

There’s hot, and then there’s whatever DeLauter is right now. 

While DeLauter always impressed during his three-year stint in Cleveland’s minor league system, he was never able to stay on the field long enough to truly make a case for him to get a big league call-up. 

The Guardians ended up pushing that forward last September with a postseason call-up that cleared the hurdle of adding him to the roster. And, if his four-game showing in Seattle is any indication, he may never leave that roster again. 

DeLauter finished that series 6-for-17 (.353) with a league-leading four home runs, all of which came in the first three games of the series. While DeLauter’s homer streak ended on Sunday, his seventh inning single accounted for 50% of the Guardians’ hits in their loss. 

Not only did DeLauter’s look like the perfect No. 2 hitter to wedge between Steven Kwan and José Ramírez, but it also looks like he's going to be lineup mainstay for years to come. 

The bad news is that he didn’t get much help. DeLauter hitting four home runs was great, but it stands out as the Guardians’ only longballs of the series. 

The rest of Cleveland’s lineup still showed a solid amount of pop (their seven doubles are tied for the second-most in baseball), but someone else is going to have put a ball over the fence at some point. 

The revamped bullpen is still a work-in-progress 

While the Guardians’ bullpen finished last season on a tear after Emmanuel Clase was placed on paid leave, Cleveland’s front office was still aggressive in adding to the bullpen in the offseason. 

The first results from that revamped bullpen were a bit inconsistent. 

They were thrust into action a little earlier than expected on Opening Day after Tanner Bibee suffered an injury warming up for the sixth inning, but Connor Brogdon, Shawn Armstrong, Erik Sabrowski and Cade Smith combined to allow just one run over four innings. 

Rule 5 pick Peyton Pallette highlighted their loss on Friday with two scoreless innings on Friday, but things got rough on Saturday when Smith surrendered the lead in the ninth inning before DeLauter played hero in extras with a two-run home run that padded Cleveland’s lead. 

Palette allowed one run in 1 2/3 innings in their flat loss on Sunday while Holderman gave up an unearned run in the eighth inning. 

In total the Guardians’ bullpen covered 17 innings across that series against Seattle (the second-most innings in baseball) and posted a 3.18 ERA. 

Even if there isn’t a true “weak link” in the Guardians’ bullpen (Pallette’s debut was incredibly encouraging for a guy who was a Rule 5 pick), the reverberations from Clase’s suspension are clearly still lingering. 

The middle infield picture is going to look a lot different in a month 

The Guardians’ decision to open the season with Gabriel Arias in the infield over Juan Brito or Travis Bazzana made sense given the value he can bring with his power and defensive versatility. But it’s getting harder and harder for the Guardians to justify having him out there. 

After finishing last season with a 34.4% strikeout, Arias opened the season with a 1-for-10 showing with five strikeouts. 

That won’t end his time on the roster, but it’s fair to assume that his leash is getting tighter and tighter. 

Brito would likely be the first infielder called up since he’s already on the 40-man roster and can play multiple positions, but Bazzana won’t be fair behind him. 

Brito’s gone 6-for-12 through his first three games at Triple-A, while Bazzana’s posted an on-base percentage of .400. 

Neither of them really have anything to prove in the minors. 

On the other side of the infield, Kyle Manzardo started the season in a slump, as he went 2-for-16 against Seattle and currently leads MLB with 10 strikeouts. 

The Guardians found a way to keep Manzardo in the lineup despite adding another first baseman in Rhys Hoskins, but his early-season results have left a lot to be inspired. 

There’s still a ton of season left, but Manzardo’s struggles have emerged as one of the biggest storylines through the first weekend of the season.