Super Smash Bros LEVEL ONE
The 1-8 White Sux come to The Land for a Divisional Matchup. The Guardians truly experience the absence of Shane Bieber and the starting rotation gets shakey. BUT, that being said, the bats stay hot, they don’t skip the small stuff, and the boys find some pop to bring the necessary amount of runs across. I think there are a few take aways from the first COMPLETE divisional series of the year but I was able to narrow it down to three; A Bieber-less rotation, Kwan establishing residency on-base, and the arrival of the Super Smash Bros.
1. Things get a bit DICEY in the rotation category.
I know, I know. Bieber only would have pitched in the first game, which we won in a shutout. But give me a break, I’m still sad and I would like to write about missing him. Triston looked much better in his start and although he had virtually no swing-and-miss (only 2 Ks), he was able to get through 5.1 innings and give up 3 hits and no runs.
However, after that, it got real shitty. Logan Allen gave up 5 runs in the first inning in Game 2 and Bibee couldn’t command his fast ball or his slider, resulting in 2 runs before the Guardians came to bat in Game 3. Granted, this team has zero quit in attendance and it doesn’t really matter to them how big a hole they are digging out of, we can’t do that all year. I am curious to see how things get shaken up when Gavin gets healthy. Triston has no choice but to take the role of Ace, even if his arm is currently attached at the joint with masking tape. In a normal world where the front office knew we were allowed to take players from other teams, we may be able to supplement this rotation and get some help for Manzardo. But I think in all honesty, we just see Curry and Lively split starts as a partner car. I don’t know, we will see.
2. Steven Kwan cannot miss.
Steven Kwan is an absolute menace to pitchers around the league. The dude went 7-14 this weekend with another BING BONG. The man is going to have to swap out the batting gloves for oven mitts because bats honestly do not get much hotter than his. He is just a treat to watch at the plate. At the conclusion of this series, where he hit Chicago pitchers all over the yard, he leads the league in hits, followed by 4, yes 4, Los Angeles Dodgers.
King Kwan is as confident as you can be at the plate and although his strikeout numbers are up a bit compared to what’s typical, I’m ok with the aggressive approach because, well, it’s fuckin working. If Kwan can keep even a fraction of these numbers trending in an upward direction, he is going to be a MASSIVE difference maker in this question mark of a season. Hopefully, when we draft Bazzana, the OSU Beaver energy will be absolutely electric for years to come.
3. The Smash Bros are C-Sticking and I love it.
Happy National Sibling Day to those who celebrate, in particular, the Naylor Brothers who party. Hard. I knew this would happen eventually. I didn’t think it would be this soon and I didn’t know it would be story-book enough to land on National Sibling Day, but we knew it would happen. In Game 3, Josh Naylor figured out Mike Saroka and smashed a BING BONG to right center. Sure, that’s badass on it’s own, but whats even more badass? His kid brother, Bo, gets in the box and smashes a liner over the dead center wall to make them just the fourth pair of brothers ever to homer in the same inning.
AND IM NOT DONE YET. The game eventually goes into the 10th, Guardos down 5-6. Josh has ice in his veins and shoots a double into Center Field bringing across the tying run. The can’t quit kids are in full effect. Bo comes to bat with the opportunity to walk it off. Bo grabs that opportunity by the throat and choke slams a gapper into right center and proceeds to pop the chain, touch first, and the boys celebrate an extra-inning win, a series win, and they send the White Socks packing for the first time in the 2024 campaign.
Life is good still. The Guards are still playing great ball, Kwan is an absolute hit machine, and the pen is holding it together. However, the Bronx Bombers are on their way to northeast Ohio and I can’t help but bite my nails. A positive thinker would salivate at the thought that both teams are yet to lose a series and if we steal two games, we could outlast the Bankees on that front after all. We will have to wait and see…