Guardians offense finds a new rock bottom

If you’ve been holding out on calling the Guardians “in a funk” you can probably stop now. Just call it what it is — they’re bad right now. One game, one big inning, could turn that around in an instant. But until it does, they are a rough team to watch at the plate every night.

This 3-0 loss to the Orioles is their fifth in their last seven games, and it’s the third time they have been shut out in their last four contests. Tonight was especially grim because they managed just two hits off of rookie starter Kyle Bradish and ... nothing else. That was it. A few walks were sprinkled about, but the Guardians offense was mowed down in 1-2-3 fashion four times and did not look competitive at any point.

The hardest hit ball from the Guardians came from Amed Rosario — a 100.4 mph groundout. Maybe there are a few games that I’ve intentionally blanked out of my memory, but I can’t remember the last time the 2022 Guardians felt so defeated for the entire game.

Andre Knott mentioned towards the end of the game that Sandy Alomar had talked to José Ramírez and Amed Rosario about “picking it up,” even when they don’t get a hit. Just be a presence and bring some energy to the game. The conversation was framed as a rosey pick-me-up kind of pep talk, but I wonder how much of that was Sandy trying to tell two of his veteran leaders to wake the hell up.

They didn’t, and neither did the rest of the offense.

It’s a shame, too, because Shane Bieber pitched a gem outside of a few hard-hit balls. He tied his season-high with 11 strikeouts (the other 11 K game came against these Orioles on June 3), but he allowed three solo home runs and was ousted after seven innings. He gave up a lot of loud contact but managed to limit the ones that stayed in the park to harmless base hits and outs.

The Guards will get a chance to brush this series off and rebound against the Mariners this weekend.