CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS LATE RALLY FUELS WIN
After dropping the first two tilts of the road trip, the Guardians salvaged Thursday afternoon’s series finale on the Southside with a 3-1 victory over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
LOGAN ALLEN held the ChiSox to a single tally (5.2IP, 7H, 1R-ER, BB, 5SO, 102 pitches), which came in the 4th inning after Andrew Benintendi doubled and later scored on a 2-out RBI-single by Seby Zavala…GABRIEL ARIAS put Cleveland on the board in the 5th with a 2-out solo homer (2) off Dylan Cease (6.1IP, 5H, 3R-ER, BB, 3SO, HR, 91 pitches)…Arias also helped facilitate the Guardians decisive 2-run rally in the 7th, following a WILL BRENNAN single to put a pair of runners in scoring position; Cleveland’s go-ahead run then scored on a subsequent fielding error, while CAM GALLAGHER added an RBI-single to snap a personal 0-for-32 drought…NICK SANDLIN recorded the final out of the 6th and retired all 4 batters he faced to earn his second relief win…TREVOR STEPHAN followed with a perfect 8th… EMMANUEL CLASE worked around a 2-out single in the 9th to record his MLB-leading 15th save.
Coming off a 5-4 homestand, the Guardians are 1-2 half-way into this 6-game trip thru Chicago-AL & New York-NL…Guardians have won 6 of last 11, though club has still dropped 17 of last 28 overall since starting year 9-6…Guardians (20-23) are T2nd place in AL Central standings alongside Detroit (19-22), 3.5 games behind 1stplace Minnesota (24-20)…last season, club went 9-12 in April & 12-12 in May.
BACK IN QUEENS
The Guardians are traveling to Citi Field for their only matchup against the New York Mets this season…the clubs have not faced each other since 2019 when the Mets swept the Guards in 3 games from August 20-22 at Citi Field…the Clevelanders are 5-13 all-time against New York-NL and have lost four straight and six of their last seven…this is the club’s third time playing the Mets on the road, playing three games at Shea Stadium from June 15-17, 2004, and second time at Citi Field…the Guardians have never won at Citi Field (0-3)…Cleveland is 1-5 in series against New York-NL and has not won a series since taking two of three at Progressive Field from September 6-8, 2013.
During the Terry Francona era (since 2013), the Guardians are 109-100 all-time in Interleague play and 4-5 this season with a 1-2 series record…their most recent Interleague series was against the Colorado Rockies from April 24-26 at Progressive Field…the Rockies won the first 2 games of the series, 6-0 and 5-1 before TANNER BIBEE powered Cleveland to a win with 8 strikeouts over 5.2 innings in his Major League debut.
FAMILIAR FACES, NEW PLACES
The Mets and Guardians meet for the first time since a blockbuster deal on January 7, 2021, that sent Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to the Mets for ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ, AMED ROSARIO, and minor leaguers JOSH WOLF and ISAIAH GREENE. » Since joining Cleveland in 2021 Rosario owns a .278 batting average, a 6.0 bWAR and a .712 OPS while hitting 23 home runs… his 19 triples lead MLB over that period…Giménez has hit for a .269 average with a 9.5 bWAR and a .762 OPS…in 2022, he finished 6th in AL MVP voting, made the All Star team for the first time in his career and earned a Gold Glove…since Lindor has been in New York, he is hitting .249 with a 9.8 bWAR and a .759 OPS while connecting for 52 home runs, finishing 9th in NL MVP voting in 2022.
Carrasco, who is scheduled to start on the mound tonight, spent parts of 11 seasons with Cleveland (2009-20). He’s fourth on Cleveland’s all-time strikeout list at 1,305 behind only Bob Feller, Sam McDowell and Corey Kluber.
OUR BRAND OF BASEBALL
Cleveland’s 44 steals currently rank 3rd in MLB behind Pittsburgh (50) and Tampa Bay (47)…the last time a Cleveland team had 44-or-more steals through the team’s first 43 games was 1996 (49)…that team went on to win the AL Central…the Guardians 13 multi-steal games this season is 2nd in MLB behind Pittsburgh (15)…the Guards hold an 11-2 (.846) record in such games, holding the highest win percentage among teams with 9-or-more multi-steal games…since 2022, Cleveland leads MLB with 163 stolen bases, ahead of Texas (157) and Miami (160).
Since the start of 2019, Cleveland’s 165 sac flies rank 2nd in the AL and 3rd in MLB behind Los Angeles-NL (171) and Houston (178)…JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (25) is T3rd and JOSH BELL (21) is T12th in MLB during that stretch…the Guardians have 15 sacrifice flies this season, ranking T3rd in the AL and T7th in MLB.
The Guardians 42 infield hits rank 2nd in the AL behind Tampa Bay (47) and 5th in MLB…Cleveland is pacing MLB with 358 infield hits since the start of 2021, 13 ahead of Tampa Bay (345)…AMED ROSARIO (59) is 2nd and MYLES STRAW (48) is T7th in MLB over that period…both Rosario and Straw along with ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ lead the club with 6 infield hits this season…the club’s 190 infield hits led MLB in 2022, 40 ahead Tampa Bay (150).
PATIENCE AT THE PLATE
The Guardians are currently 1st in the AL and 4th in MLB with a 23.2 swing and miss percentage, trailing New York-NL (22.9%), Arizona (22.0%) and Washington (21.9%)…Cleveland is the only team in MLB with 3 players ranking in the top-15 for lowest swing and miss percentage with STEVEN KWAN (3rd, 10.7%), MYLES STRAW (6th, 12.3%) and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (15th, 15.2%)…only Tampa Bay has more than one player in the top 15.
Kwan is also second in MLB behind Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman (6.3%) with a 6.7% first pitch swing rate…since debuting last season, Kwan has an 8.4% first pitch swing rate, taking first pitches at a higher rate than any other MLB hitter, as no other player has a mark below 12.0% in that span…as a club, the Guardians swing at the first pitch at a 27.5% rate, the 2nd-lowest rate in the AL and 6th-lowest rate in MLB.
A MASTER-CLASE IN THE NINTH
EMMANUEL CLASE’s 15 saves currently lead MLB, four ahead of BAL’s Félix Bautista, SF’s Camilo Doval and SD’s Josh Hader…since 2021, he ranks 1st among relievers with a 1.53 ERA (28ER/164.2IP) ahead of Evan Phillips (1.64 ERA) and his 81 saves is T2nd with Hader, behind BOS’s Kenley Jansen (88)… the 25-year-old right-hander has a 2.82 ERA (7ER/22.1IP) with 14 strikeouts in 23 appearances this season.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – 47 CAL QUANTRILL RHP
QUANTRILL’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 2-2 3.97 8 8 45.1 46 21 20 15 23
Career 33-18 3.57 121 83 516.1 490 227 205 145 392
QUANTRILL ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-0 3.38 4 4 24.0 24 10 9 6 12
Career 12-13 3.90 55 33 219.0 224 111 95 67 171
TONIGHT’S START
The 28-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his ninth start, fifth on the road, this evening in the opener of a 3-game series with the New York Mets…is starting on extended 5 days rest; is 15- 10 with a 4.05 ERA (87ER/195.2IP) in 35 career starts on 5 days rest…the Guardians are 6-2 in Quantrill starts this season.
LAST TIME OUT
His last start came on May 13 vs. Los Angeles-AL in an 8-6 Guards win…Quantrill did not factor into the decision after throwing 6.0 innings, allowing 3 runs (earned) on 6 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts…he let up a leadoff home run to Mickey Moniak to begin his outing, before retiring the side in order…after an unblemished 2nd inning, Quantrill ran into some trouble in the 3rd…after a walk and hit by pitch, Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI-double and Anthony Rendon hit a sacrifice fly to put Los Angeles-AL ahead 3-0…he allowed a hit in each of the 4th, 5th and 6th innings, but avoided any further damage…Quantrill is the second Guardians pitcher this season to throw 3 consecutive quality starts, joining SHANE BIEBER (4, 3/30-4/16/2023)…this is the 5th time in his career he has tossed 3+ consecutive quality starts.
IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE’VE MET
This will be his 2nd career start against New York-NL…his lone previous contest against the Mets came on May 7, 2019 when he was on the San Diego Padres…Quantrill finished the outing with 2 earned runs in 4.1 innings (4.15 ERA), allowing 7 hits and 2 walks while recording 5 strikeouts…marked the first outing of Quantrill’s career where he struck out 5-or-more hitters in an outing of 4.1-orfewer innings…he has done this three more times since.
In 5 career starts against the NL East, Quantrill holds an 0-1 record with a 3.00 ERA (9ER/27.0IP)…when Quantrill was a Padre, they went 0-4 in his starts against the NL East, but the Guardians won in Quantrill’s lone start for Cleveland against the division on April 14, 2023 when they downed the Nationals 4-3 in Washington D.C…Quantrill’s last two outings against NL East teams resulted in quality starts, including
against Washington (6.0IP, 3R/ER, 2BB, 3SO)…has allowed 3-or-fewer runs in 5 straight starts against the NL East.
CLEVELAND’S CONSISTENT CAL
In Quantrill’s last 25 games, he has a 13-2 (.867) record, holding the 2nd-highest win percentage among all MLB pitchers in their last 25 starts, behind Los Angeles-NL’s Tony Gonsolin (16-2, .889)…as a club, Cleveland has won 22 of Quantrill’s last 25 starts.
ROAD WARRIOR
Since starting 2022 with a 1-5 record in his first 7 road tilts, including 5 straight losses, Quantrill has turned things around and won 6 consecutive decisions across his last 10 starts away from home…since July 22, 2022, Quantrill holds an unblemished 6-0 record with a 2.73 ERA (18ER/59.1IP), along with 44 strikeouts and 14 walks in his road starts during that span…only Quantrill and Houston’s Framber Valdez (8-0) are unbeaten in road starts since July 22, 2022…he has received 4-or-more runs of support in 6 of those 10 starts…Quantrill has had a 7.13 RSA on the road since July 22, 2022, leading all MLB pitchers with 10-or-more road starts during that timeframe.
MAY-BE IT’S YOUR MONTH
Quantrill has opened May with three straight quality starts…he is one of 15 MLB pitchers and 9 AL pitchers to begin the month with 3 quality starts…among AL starters this month, he ranks 7th with a .180 BABIP, 9th with a .186 average against, 9th with 5.75 H/9 and T9th with 20.1 innings pitched…he holds a 2.21 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in his last three starts.
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets defeated the Rays, 3-2, yesterday to earn their sixth series victory and the third series victory at home…The victory snapped a streak of seven series without a victory…The Mets continue a six-game homestand (2-1) against Tampa Bay (2-1) and Cleveland (three games)…The Mets are off on Monday before they begin a six-game road trip to Chicago-NL (three games) and Colorado (three games).
AND I WOULD WALK .500: With a victory tonight, the Mets would move back to .500…It would be the first time the club is at .500 since they were 17-17 on May 6.
MAKING MOVES: Prior to tonight’s game, the Mets are expected to make a series of roster moves…RHP Carlos Carrasco is expected to be reinstated from the 15-Day IL…He has been on the IL since April 16 with Right elbow inflammation…He made two rehab appearances with Double-A Binghamton where he posted a 1.29 ERA (1 ER/7.0 IP) with two walks and five strikeouts…Catcher Gary Sánchez will be selected to the major league roster…Sánchez was signed to a minor league contract on May 9…In eight games with the Syracuse Mets, he went 9-26 (.308) with
three runs, two doubles, a home run and five RBI…The two-time All-Star has hit 154 career home runs in 666 career major league games.
HELLO OLD FRIENDS: Carrasco will face his former team in Cleveland for the first time in his career…Cookie went 88-73 with the team and posted a 3.77 ERA and struck out 1,305 batters…However, having pitched for the Guardians for the first 11 years of his career, he has faced AL Central opponents 115 times, including 95 starts and has pitched to a 41-40 record with a 3.89 ERA (249 ER/576.2) in those appearances…He has fanned 587 AL Central batters in his career…Francisco Lindor played six seasons and 777 career games with Cleveland…He was drafted with the eighth overall pick by the team in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft…Today will mark his first game with the club.
EIGHT IS GREAT: The Mets are 20-0 when leading after eight innings this season…The last time the Mets lost a game when they were ahead after
eight innings was on September 6, 2012…The Mets were up 3-2 and lost 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth…Since then the Mets have won their last 115 games when ahead after eight, the longest active streak in MLB…It’s the second-longest streak in franchise history….From October 1, 1990- September 2, 1992, the Mets won 117 straight games when ahead after eight innings.
HOMER HAPPY: After the Mets went five straight games without a home run, the Mets have homered in three straight contests, hitting seven home
runs in that span…The Mets are 18-9 when hitting a home run this season and 7-5 when hitting multiple homers.
HOMERS ARE SICK: Pete Alonso has homered in three or more consecutive games for the second time this season (Also: April 5 – April 8) and the sixth time in his career…Is one of five Mets to homer in three or more consecutive games six or more times joining Howard Johnson (six), David Wright (eight), Mike Piazza (nine) and Darryl Strabwerry (nine)… Alonso homered in four straight games from August 5-9, 2019.
SWEET 16: Alonso has hit 16 home runs this season, which leads the majors leagues…His 16 home runs are the most by a Met in franchise history through the team’s first 45 games of the season…His 37 RBI are fourth in The Show and lead the National League…Alonso ranks 12th in franchise history with 417 career RBI…Next up is Kevin McReynolds (456) and Keith Hernandez (468).
CITI BOMBS: Alonso has 70 homers at Citi Field, the second-most in the ballpark’s history…Lucas Duda is first with 71.
INTERLEAGUE PETE: Pete Alonso has hit 34 home runs in Interleague Play since the 2019 season…His 34 home runs against the American League is a franchise record, and the most among any player since 2019…Mike Piazza was the previous record holder with 28 Interleague home runs.
THEY’RE OUT OF MY LEAGUE: The Mets are in a stretch of six straight games against the American League…The new schedule format has New York playing a total of 43 Interleague games in 2023, more than double their previous high for a single season (20)…The Mets are 5-4 against the
American League this year…Overall, New York owns a 240-231 record in Interleague play…The team’s .510 winning percentage is the second-best among National League clubs.
EL JEFF-E: Jeff McNeil is on a five-game hitting streak, batting .400 (8-20) in that span with four runs and RBI…He recorded his 14th multi-hit game of the year, which is tied for the eighth-most in the National League…He has 177 multi-hit games in his career, which is 19th all-time in Mets history… Wally Backman is next with 179 multi-hit contests…He is batting .333 (19- 57) with nine runs, three doubles, a triple, a home run, seven RBI and 11 walks in 18 games at home this year.
FEELING A LITTLE DRAFTY: The Mets have a homegrown player on their roster from the 2019 (Brett Baty), 2018 (Tylor Megill), 2017 (Mark Vientos,
Josh Walker), 2016 (Pete Alonso), 2013 (Jeff McNeil), 2012 (Tomás Nido) and 2011 (Brandon Nimmo) drafts.
IN THE CITI: The Mets are 9-9 at Citi Field this year…The team’s 18 home games are tied for the fewest in the major leagues…The team won 54 games at home last year…That was their highest total at Citi Field in franchise history…The last time the team won more than 50 games in New York was in 2000 when they went 55-26…Overall, the Mets went 54-27 at Citi Field…The team’s .667 winning percentage was the fourth-highest in team history…Only the 1988 (56-24, .700), 2000 and 1986 teams (both 55- 26, .679) had a better home winning percentage.
D-FENCE: The Mets have committed 15 errors in 25 games this year…That gives the team a .990 fielding percentage….Their .990 fielding percentage ranks fourth in the majors and third in the NL…Their 15 errors are the second-fewest committed…Only the Padres (11) have committed fewer.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – CARLOS CARRASCO RHP #59
2023 STATS: 0-2, 8.56 ER A
CARRASCO’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 31% 35% 28% 91.3 mph
Changeup 25% 36% 18% 86.6 mph
Slider 20% 3% 32% 83.6 mph
Sinker 17% 14% 18% 90.7 mph
Curveball 7% 12% 4% 78.9 mph
REHAB ASSIGNMENT RECAP: Made two appearances with Binghamton (AA) as part of his rehab assignment after being placed on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation, both against the Hartford Yard Goats…Threw 33 pitches in his first rehab start on May 9, allowing one earned run on three hits and a walk…On May 14, threw 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk while fanning four batters.
FACING A FAMILIAR FOE: Carrasco will face his former team in Cleveland for the first time in his career…However, having pitched for the Guardians for the first 11 years of his career, he has faced AL Central opponents 115 times, including 95 starts and has pitched to a 41-40 record with a 3.89 ERA (249 ER/576.2) in those appearances…He has fanned 587 AL Central batters in his career.
HE’S GOT THE MONTH OF MAY: In 38 appearances and 31 starts in the month of May, Carrasco has pitched to an 18-8 record with a 4.20 ERA (97 ER/208.0 IP)…His .692 winning percentage in May is the best split of any month during the season…In those appearances, Carrasco has thrown three complete games, including one shutout, and has tallied 198 strikeouts compared to 46 walks.
