The good, the bad, and the ugly of the Guardians west coast road trip

The Good

First place Cleveland Guardians

Cleveland is 5-2 and currently atop the American League Central. After dropping the first game in Seattle and winning three extra-innings games, this is a fantastic start for the Guardians. Last season the first team to three wins in extras took 22 games (Tampa), while Cleveland only needed seven.

Ideally a team wins half of their games on the road and two-thirds at home in order to get 95 wins at the end of the year. Starting off with a three game cushion in this department gives the team a buffer zone to work with later this season. Having that extra wiggle room from the jump will come in handy when the Guards inevitably have a down series on the road.

Myles Straw's hot start

There was hope that Myles Straw was going to continue being an impact player for Cleveland last year and that simply did not happen. The fact that Straw has eight hits in 30 plate appearances with six walks in addition to scoring six runs and stealing five bases is a great sign. Cleveland will need Straw to be a productive bat in the bottom of the order to put Steven Kwan, Amed Rosario, and Jose Ramirez in position to drive in runs. Continuing to get on base at a high clip while taking advantage of the news rules incentivizing stolen bases should continue to pay dividends for Cleveland.