News and Notes: Guardians Head to the Naylors’ Homeland

The Guardians looked like a bad team playing a good team in dropping a double-header to the Dodgers by a combined score of 15-4. Gavin Williams looked like a rookie facing a team of all-stars, Bo Naylor made a rookie mistake at catcher (he did have a good game at the plate at least!) and the evening unfolded as expected from there. Gabriel Arias is looking better with consistent playing time, though, as he stole home and hit another home run, going 3-4 in the second game.

Brayan Rocchio was looking extremely lost at the plate, so he’s in Columbus now sorting that out. Cam Gallagher is back and the Guardians again have three catchers. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. It’ll be interesting to see how the Clippers balance time between Rocchio, Jose Tena, Angel Martinez and Daniel Schneemann. Doesn’t seem very Guardians-like to banish Schneemann to the bench, so I wonder if Tena or Martinez (most likely) end up back in Akron.

The Guardians are now in Toronto to play the Blue Jays over the weekend.

Kole Calhoun is Will Brennan’s new adopted dad whether he likes it or not.

Jose Ramirez is adorably proud of the youth field named after him in Cleveland.

Minor-League Wrap-Up:

Kyle Manzardo debuted for the Clippers and walked and scored, going 0 for 3. The Clippers lost 8-4, but George Valera got another couple hits and a walk, Johnathan Rodriguez got a hit and two walks, Jose Tena and Brayan Lavastida each got a hit, and Angel Martinez and Jhonkensy Noel each got two hits a piece. The Rubber Ducks lost 2-1, but Will Dion had another 4 and 2/3rd’s scoreless, allowing 5 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts. The Lake County Captains won 9-8 in 13 innings, featuring a 3 for 5 with a walk performance by Kahlil Watson, 2 for 6 with a walk for Jake Fox, and 2 for 4 with a walk for Cooper Ingle. The Lynchburg Hillcats won 4-3 and Angel Genao had a triple and a walk.

Around MLB:

The Yankees may need to go into a rebuilding phase.

Reminding Guardians fans to be patient with their young hitters’ struggles, Spencer Torkelson is starting to look like the hitter the Tigers thought he would be.

Fans are out here making highlight reel catches.

Shohei Ohtani will continue to hit after his UCL tear. Will he move to the outfield, leading to a signing with Cleveland to play with his favorite player, Jose Ramirez??? No, but it’s fun to dream.

MLB is allowing players to use cool bats.