Three Positives From the Week of April 28th

It may have been a tougher week than normal for the Cleveland Guardians, but there’s still many positives to look back on. And hey, a 2.5 game lead on the Central Division isn’t a bad way to start the week.

Manzardo Gets the Call

This is more of a bittersweet story, but the result has the potential to be an overwhelming positive for the team. Sunday afternoon, it was announced that outfielder Steven Kwan would be heading to the Injured List. Third in MLB in average, fourth in hits, and sixth in runs, Kwan was a vital piece to this surging team. Losing him will certainly be difficult, but the result of his move to the IL has fans hopeful.

The Guardians also announced on Sunday that they would be calling up number two prospect Kyle Manzardo. Currently hitting .303/.375/.642 for Triple-A Columbus, Mazardo has been the talk of the town since he was acquired by the team in July of last year in exchange for Aaron Civale. While he most likely won’t be able to replace Kwan in the outfield, it’s his bat that will (hopefully) be making all of the noise.

Sabathia Honored by Cleveland

It was announced on Thursday that the Guardians will be inducting former pitcher CC Sabathia into their Hall of Fame on August 3rd. He is invited to Progressive Field for a pregame induction ceremony that day, and the team will be giving away Sabathia bobbleheads to celebrate. He is the 48th player to be inducted into the Guardians Hall of Fame and will be on the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for 2025.

Sabathia was drafted by Cleveland in 1998 and made his Major League debut in 2001. In his time with the team, he boasted a 3.83 ERA, 1,265 strikeouts, and was a three-time All-Star. He also earned the Cy Young award with the team in 2007.

Another Cleveland Record

In just over a month, this Guardians team has set and broken a lot of franchise records. They matched another one on Wednesday by playing their fourth consecutive extra-innings game. This was the longest streak of extra-innings games in franchise history, tying only the 1910 Cleveland Naps who played the same amount from May 1-5. Here’s hoping this doesn’t happen much more as it was starting to wear on the players over the past week.