After months of ups and downs, the Cleveland Guardians are in the final week of the season with a chance to complete the biggest comeback in the history of divisional play in Major League Baseball. They’re playing three games this week against Detroit, with a chance to claim first place in the division they once trailed by 15 ½ games.
Ideastream Public Media's sports commentator Terry Pluto gives credit to second-year manager Stephen Vogt, who he says has guided the team through adversity.
“Vogt tried to look calm when he had losing streaks, (one was) 10 in a row, and another one of losing 9 out of 10 in Cleveland," Pluto said. "And then suddenly in September, they're the best team in baseball.
Since snapping that 10-game losing streak on July 7, the Guards are an American League-best 44-23, mostly with elite pitching and an offense that has found a spark in September.
“You could pump up Stephen Vogt with all the true serum in the world and ask him exactly why did this change? He probably doesn't have a good answer," Pluto said. "Now he will tell you that he believes in being positive, (that) positive works better than negative, especially in modern baseball. And especially if you have a team where you look around, you don't have a bunch of knuckleheads messing up or guys not hustling. So, his thing was just (to) kind of stay the course.”
Pluto says Vogt reminds him a lot of former longtime Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who retired after the 2023 season. He’s now the manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
“(The Guardians) watched (Francona’s) steadiness, the way he approaches things, where generally he had few team meetings," Pluto said. "Now he would rip into guys in private. That was kind of his style, and I think they wanted that same thing again."
Still, Pluto said hiring Vogt was a gamble. The 39-year-old catcher ended his playing career after the 2022 season. He spent the 2023 season as the bullpen and quality control coach with the Seattle Mariners before the Guardians brought him in as a rookie manager.
Pluto said throughout this rocky season, Vogt kept pointing back to an identity he called “Guards ball.”
“Sometimes he says, 'just watch (All-Star third baseman) José Ramírez play,'" Pluto said. "You know, he's stolen 40 bases in the last two years. I believe he's the first player in major league history to have back-to-back seasons of 30 home runs and 40 stolen bases. And if you watch José in the dugout, I mean, he's sometimes fiery with the guys and he's always there, he's looking sometimes at the iPad on what's going on. He's talking to younger players. (Vogt will) tell you that’s Guards ball. That's who we are.”
Pluto believes Vogt has fit in well in Cleveland.
“I remember talking to him after he was hired," Pluto said. "And I said, Stephen, you know, they don't spend a lot of money here on players. And he says, ‘Well, I just finished playing in Oakland. I came up with Tampa Bay.’ He says, ‘I played in those teams that operate the same way as Cleveland. You can win there. Cleveland has proven they could win there; I understand what it is’. And I think that was a big factor. You have to be the right guy for this environment."
After their three-game series with the Detroit Tigers, Cleveland wraps up the regular season with a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field this weekend. The Guardians are also in position to earn a wild-card playoff spot.
