Guardians’ defense approaching breaking point after dismal showing against Twins 

Normally the Cleveland Guardians play a clean brand of baseball that features plenty of fantastic defense plays. In fact, that brand of baseball tends to be a necessity for the Guardians since they have a roster based around pitching and timely hitting. 

We found out just how much of a necessity it was on Tuesday when the Guardians suffered a 3-1 loss to the Twins that featured a disastrous second inning where Minnesota scratched two runs on the back of three straight defensive misplays from the Guardians. 

The Guardians’ defense was tough to watch on Tuesday 

The first misplay came early in the inning when Travis Bazzana booted a Kody Clemens grounder that was hit right to him. While Clemens’ hit came with some wicked spin, Bazzana was directly in front of it and had a chance to get it. It’s the kind of play that a big league second baseman should make. 

Bazzana has largely impressed in his rookie season (he is an All-Star, after all), but Tuesday’s misplay was his fifth error of the season. His defensive limitations are beginning to become tough to overlook. 

Brayan Rocchio followed that up by spiking a throw to second on a Ryan Kreidler grounder (expected batting average of .050) before Kyle Manzardo wasn’t able to get an out on a grounder to first (.070 xBA), which gave the Twins a bases loaded situation with no one out. 

Although Cantillo was able to limit the damage by only giving up two runs, that was more than enough offense against Clevleand’s struggling offense. 

“He had to get six outs that second inning,” Manager Stephen Vogt said, per Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga. “To turn in five innings with that performance ... we gave them six outs there in the second, but he pitched around some trouble and did a really nice job. I thought Joey was throwing the ball excellent tonight.”

And Vogt’s right, Cantillo looked the part again on Tuesday (even if he took the tough luck loss). He danced around trouble (six hits and three walks allowed) but also had seven strikeouts and was able to make it through five innings despite having that laborious second inning. 

As mentioned above, the Guardians can’t afford a ton of defensive misplays due to their lineup’s lack of power. That would be true even in the best of times, but it’s even more apt right now due to José Ramírez’s injury. 

The Guardians have been cobbling their lineup together without Ramírez, and Tuesday’s loss was yet another example of how much they miss him. 

Twins starter Taj Bradley was a tough customer, but it’s hard to win when your only offense is a Rhys Hoskins solo home run. 

But those offensive struggles may not matter if the Guardians aren’t able to tighten things up defensively.

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