A chance for the Cleveland Guardians to right the ship before it's too late

With their season-opening road trip in the books, the Cleveland Guardians have returned and are ready to play their Home Opener and five home games that follow. In an ideal world, the Guardians would have been at or above .500 on the year, looking to build a comfortable lead in the American League Central division. Unfortunately for the Guardians, their first nine games did not play out that way.

Cleveland did manage to take their first series of the season, winning two of three games against the Royals in Kansas City. What followed, however, was nothing but disappointment. A three-game sweep at the hands of the San Diego Padres followed by a 2-1 series against a Los Angeles Angels team that they should have handled quite easily. Now 3-6 on the year, Cleveland is looking to right the ship before they run out of time to do so, with their upcoming homestand giving them the opportunity to do so.

The Guardians are kicking off their first set of home games at Progressive Field against two division rivals, the Chicago White Sox, and will again be taking on the Kansas City Royals. Chicago should present little if any, challenge to the Guardians, as the White Sox are again expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball. A series win over the White Sox is the bare minimum acceptable requirement while hoping to sweep Chicago should be the real goal here.

As far as the Royals are concerned, the expectation for their second home series should be a win. Cleveland already took care of business on the road in Kansas City, and there is no reason why they would not be able to do it again at home.

For this homestand to be considered a successful one that gets the team on track, the Guardians need to at least win four of their six games. With a 4-2 record against Chicago and Kansas City, Cleveland would be 7-8 on the year, and any sort of panic that has begun to spring up among the fanbase should begin to dissipate.

But if the complete opposite happens or if the Guardians continue to play at an unacceptable level, have that panic button ready to go, as this season would be headed in a direction that very few credible people would have even considered possible before the year began. Before that scenario can be truly considered, the Guardians still have to go out and play against two teams in the division, and hopefully, they will be able to alleviate any and all concerns about this team as currently constructed.