Are the Guardians just bad?

In case you have not noticed, things are not going well for the Cleveland Guardians at the moment. They have lost their third straight series, nine of their last 11, and are a very frustrating team to watch. Blown saves? Check. Offensive no-shows? Check. Frustrating defense? Check. It is not exactly a surprise to see this team lose at their current rate.

Over the last 15 games, the Guardians have been outscored 68-47 and is 5-10 during that stretch. This includes two shutouts and 10 games where they have been held to three runs or less, winning just two of them. Cleveland's opponents are averaging nearly a run and a half more per game (4.53-3.13), and that 1.5 runs seems like a mountain for a team that is this bad offensively.

It would be one thing if this was just an isolated stretch, but their bad play has been a pretty consistent presence for the majority of the season. The only time it really did not appear was the first two serires of the season. Besides that it has been a rough go for the Guardians.

When things go on for as long as this has, it is more than fair to question if this team is actually this bad. Any time this team has a game which gets prematurely pointed to as the "offensive breakout" game", things go back to normal almost instantly as they put on a disappearing act that rivals the best illusionists on the planet. This trend is the calling card of bad teams, and right now that is what the Guardians are, a bad team.

The only saving grace this team has is that they play in the worst division in all of baseball. There is still a chance a moderate turnaround sees this team jump up the standings and leapfrog other teams that are their own brand of nothing speical. Until then, everyone has to sit and wait to see if the 2023 Guardians can finally get their act together.