The Cleveland Guardians overall played well during their recent homestand, but must improve in one key area.
The Cleveland Guardians have largely played well to kick off the 2026 season. Yes, there have been some games they probably should have been on the winning side of, but they also have some really good wins on their resume as well.
Cleveland wrapped up their recent seven-game homestand with a series win over the Baltimore Orioles and a loss to the Houston Astros. Overall, they had a record of 4-3 at Progressive Field over the last week; not bad, but certainly could be better, and that’s how the Guardians’ skipper feels, too.
Manager Stephen Vogt said that his overall takeaway from his team’s homestand was that they played well, but probably still missed some opportunities along the way.
“I thought we played good baseball,” said Vogt. “You know, I think, this series in particular [against the Astros], could have gone either way. [We] could have swept, but ‘could haves’ just don't count.”
It’s a fair assessment when you look at how the Guardians played. Cleveland specifically pitched extremely well against the Orioles, and also had some big offensive performances from Jose Ramirez, Daniel Schneemann, and Brayan Rocchio.
The one blemish on this homestand, which Vogt attributed to, was Cleveland’s lack of production with runners in scoring position, which really was the difference in their series loss to the Astros.
During the seven-game stretch, the Guardians hit just 14-for-59 (.237 AVG) with runners on second and third. In the series finale against Houston, Cleveland was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
There was one big hit in this citation that came on a Chase DeLauter, bases-clearing triple in the middle game against the Astros. But other than that, RISP was a big
Vogt continued, “So we just got to continue to work every day. I thought this was a very good homestand. We're excited for an off day. This 13-game stretch was long. These guys worked really hard, and we're going to enjoy the soft day and get ready to go Friday night.”
Converting during scoring opportunities must be a focus for the Guardians in their next series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Cleveland will be going up against some tough pitchers in Dylan Cease and Kevin Gausman.
Hopefully, the Guardians learn from their miscues during the homestand and find ways to improve during their quick road trip.
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