The Guardians’ offensive power outage has reached a frustrating low 

Last Monday, Rhys Hoskins smashed a 377 foot home run to left field in the second inning of the Guardians’ eventual 10-2 loss to the Washington Nationals. While the Guardians were down 6-0 at the time of the home run, Hoskins punctuated the homer with a bit of a skip. 

It seemed like the kind of homer that could jump-start the Guardians' lineup. Instead, it ended up becoming the only homer run the Guardians hit over their six-game homestand that concluded on Sunday.

Even if the Guardians’ offense has been a bit better this season thanks to the sheer amount of walks they generate, they entered today’s off day having hit just 56 home runs, which is the fifth-worst mark in the American League. 

Hoskins’ homer came against Nationals opener PJ Poulain, who set the tone for Zack Littell. The Guardians ended up facing off against 18 pitchers across that homestand after facing off against Poulain, but were unable to hit a ball out of the park. 

That’s the kind of thing you’d expect to see from the Rockies or Royals — not the American League leading Guardians. 

The Guardians need to start hitting home runs again

Funnily enough, the Red Sox entered their weekend series against the Guardians with the lowest number of homers in the American League (42), and their only longballs came in the form of two Jarren Duran homers. 

But they managed to take the series from Cleveland thanks to some big innings and the Guardians’ lack of challenges. 

While the Guardians’ offense was never built around the longball, part of the reason they were able to jump out to such a big lead in the American League Central earlier this season was because they finally turned their longball luck around. 

One of the biggest reasons for the Guardians’ lack of homers over the week could be the lack of Angel Martínez, who left midway through Saturday’s game and didn’t play at all on Sunday. 

It’s hard to believe, but Martínez leads the Guardians with nine home runs before being followed by José Ramírez (eight homers) and Chase DeLauter (seven). 

DeLauter slugged his way into the spotlight earlier in the season with four homers in the Guardians’ first three games, but he’s also had a bit of a power outage since.

Again, homers are never going to be the Guardians’ game, and it really hasn’t been since the end of the 2010s. But it’s going to be tough for them to three-peat in the American League Central if they go a week (and counting) between home runs. 

The Guardians still got some solid production from Travis Bazzana (six doubles) and David Fry (171 wRC+), but they also had eight hitters finish the week with a wRC+ under 80. 

Things may turn around soon, but they also have two prospects who could be obvious fixes in Cooper Ingle and Ralphy Velazquez. Not only do they both boast light tower power, but they also spent the weekend playing in the outfield, which could help get them to the big leagues quicker. 

But regardless of when those two prospects make their big league debut, the Guardians clearly need more power from the players currently on their roster. 

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