Three Positives From the Week of August 25th

As the season winds down, let’s take a look back on the best moments of the week for Cleveland.

As we begin the final month of the season, let’s take a moment to look back on some positives takeaways from the past week.

Manzardo Back With the Club

With the expansion of rosters on September 1st, the Guardians made the decision to call up one of their top prospects, Kyle Manzardo, and activate pitcher Alex Cobb from the Injured List. In his first stint with the club from May 6th to June 16th, Manzardo was hitting .207/.241/.329 with seven RBI. It was clear that the transition from Triple-A to the Majors was not easy for him, so the team sent him back to Columbus on June 18th.

In his time with Columbus, he was hitting .267/.398/.548 with 20 home runs. This led to the majority of the fanbase calling for him to be called up over the past month. Their calls were answered on Sunday when Manzardo and Cobb were recalled and reinstated. Both players had an extremely successful day with Manzardo hitting two home runs (including his first in the Majors) and Cobb going six innings, giving up just one run on two hits and earning the win. If the two can continue to provide support to this team, winning the division should be a no-brainer.

Clase Makes Club History

Emmanuel Clase made history on Saturday night as the Guardians took home a 10-8 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. With his 40th save on the season and his 150th with Cleveland, Clase eclipsed the legendary Cody Allen with the most saves in club history. Clase was acquired in a trade with the Texas Rangers alongside Delino DeShields back in 2019 that sent pitcher Corey Kluber to the Lone Star State. He would only pitch one inning with the team.

So far this year, Clase is second in saves behind only Ryan Helsley, and leads the league in Win Probability Added. He also leads the league in ERA for qualified relievers with a 0.71. It’s a near guarantee that if he’s in the game in the ninth inning, the Guards are going to win. In only his age 26 season, Clase still has a long career ahead of him. Here’s hoping it’s all with Cleveland.

Ramírez on the Cusp of History

Like his teammate Clase, José Ramírez is on the path to making Cleveland history. With his 105th RBI of the season on Sunday, Ramírez moved into seventh all-time in club history. While he still has a way to go to eclipse Earl Averill’s 1,084, Ramírez’s 851 truly is not far off. If he continues with his 100+ per year rate, he’ll get there within the next two or three seasons.

Ramírez is having another fantastic year for Cleveland, hitting .275/.332/.531. Just below his career numbers, he’s been vital to this team’s success in an otherwise up-and-down year. If he can continue this success the rest of the season and the rest of the team begins to back him up, the rest of the playoff field will need to watch out.