Guardians are working through it

For better and worse, Josh Naylor getting caught up in the moment and “rocking the baby” after he homered off of Gerrit Cole in the ALDS last year is probably going to stick with him forever. Other pitchers have done it to him after they got him out; even the Yankees did it when they ultimately won that playoff series.

Yesterday, Mariners reliever Paul Sewald decided to get in on the fun by “rocking the baby” at Naylor after he was the last out of the game. Now, I say “at” Naylor, but in reality, he very carefully waited until Naylor turned away and couldn’t see him do it, and then he rocked the baby.

For the record, this is great. Naylor dished it out, and now he can take it back — it’s all fair play, and I love a good reason for baseball players to be mad at each other. But it’s equally great, and twice as hilarious, that Sewald felt the need to do it, but was also too scared to do it when Naylor was looking at him. It clearly was directed at Naylor — not his own teammates like when Naylor did it — but he sure as heck didn’t want Josh to see him mock him.

It’s OK Paul, we understand. He’s big and scary. I wouldn’t want him to see me mocking him, either.

Guardians 2, Mariners 3

Box Score | Game Thread | MLB Recap | CTC Recap
A lack of clutch hitting doomed the Guardians on Saturday as they went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners on base. Cal Quantrill had a rough first inning but settled down to throw five frames with three earned runs off of seven hits.

It wasn’t a particularly infuriating game or anything, just kind of a frustrating loss where nothing seemed to go right. Games where a bunch of runners are stranded and not brought home are some of the worst.

Today’s baseball: vs. Mariners, 1:40 p.m. ET (RHP Zach Plesac vs. RHP George Kirby)

Cleveland Guardians news

Game 10 - Guardians Versus George Kirby - 4/9/2023 | Everyone Hates Cleveland
Not much in the way of news today, but if you haven’t already checked out these game preview posts that Gage Will at Everyone Hates Cleveland is doing, you should. They offer a breakdown of each hitter against similar pitches that the opposing pitcher uses that day.

Around the league

• In typical Angels fashion, their Double-A team didn’t allow a hit and still lost.
• Josh Donaldson is headed to the injured list.
• Travis d’Arnaud suffered a concussion.