Guardians' new additions happy to be part of postseason push
CLEVELAND (AP) — Manager Stephen Vogt lauded the Cleveland Guardians' front office for adding three players during Monday's trade deadline.
Now it's up to Vogt and the new-look Guardians to capitalize on the addition of outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and pitcher Foster Griffin for a postseason push.
“Now it’s our turn to go out and let’s go perform. Let’s go win some games,” Vogt said.
Adell, Lowe and Griffin were in the clubhouse before Tuesday's game against the New York Mets, introducing themselves to their new teammates and getting up to speed before the start of a three-game series.
Adell batted second and played right field while Lowe was available off the bench. Griffin will pitch the final game of the series on Thursday, keeping him on his usual amount of rest.
“I was pretty fired up about it. I think our front office did everything that we could have ever wanted from him — two impact bats and an impact starter. That’s all you can ask for," catcher Austin Hedges said. "I think it sets us up to be right where we want to be at the end of September.”
Cleveland (57-56) is 6-10 since the All-Star break, but has a one-game lead over Minnesota for the American League's final wild-card spot. The Guardians are three games behind the first-place White Sox in the AL Central.
Adell will be part of a postseason chase for the first time in his seven-year career. He was the 10th overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft by the Angels, who haven't finished over .500 since 2015.
With the front office changes in Los Angeles, Adell had a feeling that that he might be part of a sell off of players with one or two years left on their contracts.
“It’s really cool to be wanted and this team’s been playing really good baseball,” Adell said. “I’m excited to kind of be a part of that and be a part of a chase and something that is bigger than ourselves and going out trying to win a ball game every night. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Adell's arrival makes him Cleveland's leader in home runs (16) and RBIs (62) for a team that has been offensively challenged for most of the past two seasons.
José Ramírez is 8 for 41 in the 10 games since he returned from the injured list following left hand surgery. Ramírez was out of the lineup on Tuesday night due to left hand inflammation.
One of the few bright spots has been Steven Kwan, who was batting .212 at the end of June but has raised his batting average 46 points since July 1 to .258. He has also hit safely in 23 of his last 28 games.
Adell and Chase DeLauter will platoon between right field and designated hitter. Lowe will be in the lineup when the Guardians face right-handed pitchers, while Rhys Hoskins will primarily face left-handers.
“The talent’s all here. It’s just about execution for the next two months. We need to get ourselves in the strongest position possible to make a deep run and make something happen. And when the guys start believing that, anything could happen,” Lowe said.
The Guardians will still go with a five-man rotation. Griffin's addition means Slade Cecconi is moving to the bullpen. Tanner Bibee was slated to start Thursday but has been moved up to Wednesday, and will be on four day's rest.
“I feel like you never have enough pitching, especially going into a playoff race. So any part I can be in that department, I’m excited about,” Griffin said.
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