Stephen Vogt was proud of his team for doing this during the Cleveland Guardians' nine-game road trip.
Life without Jose Ramirez, Chase DeLauter, and Angel Martinez continues to be a challenge for the Cleveland Guardians.
To make matters even more difficult, right after this trio got injured, the Guardians departed for one of their most challenging road trips of the season, which took them to Milwaukee, Houston, and Chicago.
Not having Cleveland’s top three hitters proved difficult, as the Guardians went 3-9 on that road trip and averaged just over three runs per game.
At the end of the road trip on Wednesday, Stephen Vogt shared his biggest takeaway from this recent stretch with his team.
His biggest conclusion didn’t necessarily have to do with how the team played on the field, but how they’re handling themselves in the face of so much adversity.
“To look at what we went through this week, or these 9 games; I thought today [Wednesday] was a huge win in a lot of ways,” said Cleveland’s skipper.
“We've got a 3-1 lead, we've got the best closer in the league coming in, he has an uncharacteristic day, gives up two homers, and we fought right back. It just shows that this team is resilient.”
Vogt continued, “This team can fight. Nothing's gonna knock us down. We're gonna have some blurps. We're gonna have some speed bumps, but we're gonna always show up ready to win. And I couldn't be more proud of this group. We going to have an awesome flight back home and a great off day tomorrow.”
Jun 23, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12), right, hugs pitcher Parker Messick (77) in the dugout after he was relieved during the eighth inning agaiunst the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn ImagesResilience is important, especially with so many injuries and the number of close games the Guardians have played this season.
Cleveland has played in 26 one-run games this season, with a 12-14 record in such contests. Plus, six games during the road trip were decided by two runs or less.
That said, at some point, the fortitude and toughness that Vogt speaks of need to start turning into some wins for the Guardians. At the end of the day, the box score only cares about how many runs a team scores, not necessarily who might have played harder.
Even though the Guardians didn’t have the road trip record-wise they would have liked, at least the team returns to Progressive Field for a three-series homestand starting on Friday.
Hopefully, the resilience Cleveland showed in these last nine games will help them put together a couple of wins and get back on track.
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