Locked On Guardians - Daily Podcast On The Cleveland Guardians

  The Guardians got a lead to their bullpen eventually, squeaking out a win over the Twins to inch another game closer to clinching a playoff spot and the division title.   Today's show covers how the Guardians bullpen somehow proved even better than usual by covering 6 1/3 innings in the win over the Twins without usual stalwarts Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, and Hunter Gaddis. We discuss Andrew Walter...

The Guardians gave the bullpen enough offense to split a series with the Rays.     On today's shows, we ask how much offense and from how the Cleveland Guardians need for their bullpen to carry them through the playoffs?     We discuss Cade Smith closing in on a personal goal and how he's allowed Emmanuel Clase, Tim Herrin, and Hunter Gaddis are delivering standout performances, potentially markin...

Andrew Walters MLB Debut Amid Guardians' Challenges   The Cleveland Guardians have called up top pitching prospect Andrew Walters, marking his MLB debut with a promising inning on the mound. How will Walters' addition impact the Guardians' bullpen strategy? In a tough matchup, the Guardians fell to the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2, with Gavin Williams' start and the team's offensive struggles under the spot...

The Guardians finished off a three-city, nine-game, 10-day road trip at 6-3 and their magic number to clinch the AL Central is down to 12.     Today's episode looks at how the Guardians emerged from this stress through some challenges of injuries, slumps, and the lack of off days.   We look at Steven Kwan's performance in the White Sox series, if he is showing signs of a much-needed turnaround and...

The Guardians shutout the White Sox to push their magic number to 14, though they couldn't escape without incident again, as Ben Lively left the game after two innings due to a thigh contusion from a line drive.   Today's episode mostly looks at Lane Thomas' emergence into a reliable offensive contributor finally.     We also discuss Sam Hentges' shoulder surgery and its implications for his futur...

Joey Cantillo took a perfect game into the seventh inning against the White Sox in a game the Guardians normally would have hoped he never had to start.     Today's show dives into what Cantillo, the Guardians, and the rest of their roster can prove by beating up on the lowly White Sox even though they should be expected to win.   We discuss some of the lineup juggling in this game, what didn't ma...

The Guardians got their series with the Dodgers off to a strong start thanks to Matthew Boyd's dominant performance. Things went off the rails after that.   Today's show discusses if our expectations for the series changed after the win in the first game, if Gavin Williams' inconsistency makes us think a postseason bullpen role continues to make sense, why Joey Cantillo is starting Monday, and why...

Despite the Guardians loss in KC in the finale on Wednesday, September 4, the rest of the AL scoreboard went in their favor with the Twins, Astros, Orioles, and Yankees all losing.   Today's show quickly looks at what went wrong in the finale loss but focuses on the Guardians ideal playoff pitching rotation and plan. Which of the Guardians starters would be the ideal bullpen candidate and how woul...

A week ago, the AL Central was tied. A week later, the Royals are now in third place and the Guardians magic number to clinch the division is 20 with 23 games to play.   Today's show talks about the Guardians finally kicking things into gear at the right time after weeks of waiting for them to find the right direction again.   We also get into how Tanner Bibee showed growth and found another gear...

The Guardians got another critical series with the Royals off on the right foot.   Today's show looks at the importance of the players that stepped up to win this game are the one that matter a lot going forward - Gavin Williams, Lane Thomas, and Josh Naylor.   We also take a look at one player who is still struggling that the Guardians really need to get going.   And we discuss the players that w...

The Guardians 'reinforcements' came up big on Sunday to help win 2/3 from the Pirates.   On today's Locked On Guardians, we discuss the timing and fit of Kyle Manzardo on this roster and the difference the Guardians hope he makes. We also discuss Alex Cobb's flirtation with history coming off the injured list, Emmanuel Clase's quick ascent into club history record books.   We also debate if the Gu...

With September coming up this weekend, we look at who is on the table for the Guardians to callup to add as rosters expand to 28, including one hot bat this week for Columbus.   And the rest of his episode is all of your mailbag questions. We address if the Guardians roster full of middle infield investments has been a success or failure, why certain prospects haven't been recalled amid all the of...

The Guardians salvaged the series with the Royals with a win in the finale, holding on to first place.   Today's episode discusses if the Guardians can turn that into positive momentum back towards their first half success. We get into what made them good through the first 60% of the season vs. what has ailed them in the months since.   Jeff brings up how many position player draft picks have been...

The Guardians AL Central division lead is gone with the Royals taking three of the first four in this series and now holding the season tiebreaker.   Today's show looks at how the Guardians got here and what it's going to take to right the ship.   We also discuss if the perception changes when the team doesn't play well early in the season and turns it on late vs. playing well early and struggling...

The Guardians double-header issues continued on August 26, getting swept by the Royals.   Today's show discusses how the Guardians found a way to lose despite being set up for success heading into the twin bill, and even being in a position to win each game, and how tough that can be. We also discuss how a sweep was always for the least you hoped for in this series, and is still attainable, but mu...

The Guardians rebounded against the Rangers after a tough break and took care of business over the weekend.   Today's show talks about how the Guardians put themselves into a position this week to be able at least settle for a split with the Royals.   We also discuss the Guardians have gotten huge contributions this month from two players who weren't on the radar in March, in Matthew Boyd and Jhon...

Another game got away from the Guardians against the Yankees as they lost the series in New York after a big first-game win.   This episode breaks down some odd outcomes and decisions in the finale vs. the Yankees between pitch sequencing, bullpen choices, and more.   We also discussed other players traded at the deadline, some of whom were surprise performers and some of whom were duds.   The epi...

The Guardians failed to find any momentum against the Yankees on Wednesday after a big win on Tuesday. This episode talks about how we know momentum really doesn't seem to a tangible thing or matter when you can't execute when you're set up in an advantageous position. We talk about the Guardians inability to beat a struggling lefty and getting beat by two players in a lineup of nine. We also cove...

The Guardians outlasted the Yankees in the series opening in New York to turn frustration into a win. Today's show talks about how this might have been the biggest win of the year for the Guardians given their current situation coming into the season and how many times they could have won the game but didn't before it turned into extra innings, white knuckle, playoff baseball. Also discussed is ho...

Alex Cobb goes back to the injured list as quickly as he came off it, as the Guardians had major transaction news on an off-day.     Today's episode talks about whether or not there is regret not doing more for pitching at the deadline and what the rotation decisions are in the short and long term with Cobb out for the time being.   Chase DeLauter was also promoted to Triple-A on the off day and w...

The Guardians have lost three in a row again, with the offense struggling to do enough to back solid pitching against the Brewers. Today's Locked On Guardians talks about how things looked in Milwaukee as Jeff was at the ballpark covering the series in person this weekend.     We get into if and how the Guardians can find enough offense the rest of the season to run down the division crown and mak...

Back in February, Geoff Pontes of Baseball America told us that Travis Bazzana should be the Guardians pick at 1.1 in 2024. In July, that came true. On today's extra time episode of Locked On Guardians, Geoff joins us again to talk about how it went down with the 1.1 pick and why Guardians fans shouldn't worry about Bazzana's slow start in his pro debut.   Geoff also reviews the Guardians 2024 dra...

Back in February, Geoff Pontes of Baseball America told us that Travis Bazzana should be the Guardians pick at 1.1 in 2024. In July, that came true. On today's extra time episode of Locked On Guardians, Geoff joins us again to talk about how it went down with the 1.1 pick and why Guardians fans shouldn't worry about Bazzana's slow start in his pro debut.   Geoff also reviews the Guardians 2024 dra...

The Guardians swept the Cubs on the back of Alex Cobb and Andres Gimenez. Today's episode talks about the importance of the impressive performance by Alex Cobb, a trade that has looked like it might have been a savvy one, and how the Guardians were able to win without using their big three in the bullpen with an off-day today.   We also touch on how every time this team shows any sort of flaw or c...

With four straight wins, the Guardians have the best record in baseball again after a 2-1 win led by strong pitching from Matthew Boyd, as everyone expected back in spring training.   Today's show discusses the unbelievable brilliance of Boyd and why it's important to remember this team's penchant for pitching even in the face of an injury-filled/inconsistent year.   We also get into Jhonkensy Noe...