CLEVELAND -- The Guardians’ early-season schedule has been a bit unrelenting, whether it be due to the flurry of expected playoff contenders they’ve faced or, more recently, a demanding 13-game stretch without a day off.
Cleveland went 6-7 over that stretch, which it wrapped up on Wednesday. The Guardians lost, 2-0, to the Astros at Progressive Field, as Houston claimed the three-game series.
As the Guardians head off to Toronto for a weekend series against the Blue Jays, here is some analysis from their past 13 games.
Bibee on track
Tanner Bibee’s fourth pitch on Wednesday was lined into the left-field corner by Carlos Correa for a double. Yordan Alvarez hit Bibee's ninth pitch a Statcast-projected 422 feet over the right-field wall for a two-run homer.
That was all the damage Bibee surrendered over six innings, in which he scattered five hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Alvarez’s home run came on a 1-2 curveball that Bibee hung over the middle of the plate. It was the first hit off Bibee's curveball this season. He noted that catcher Bo Naylor wanted the pitch in the dirt.
“Definitely just a poorly executed pitch,” Bibee said. “I think it was the right pitch in that spot if I threw it where Bo wanted me to throw it.”
Bibee had what he called an “egregiously bad start” against the Braves on April 12, when he was charged with eight runs on 11 hits over 4 2/3 innings. He has otherwise had a solid open to the season and has thrown consecutive quality starts this homestand. Bibee tossed six scoreless innings on Saturday vs. the Orioles.
We obviously can’t erase the Atlanta start from Bibee’s ledger, but in his other five outings, he has a 2.45 ERA over 25 2/3 innings. That will play.
“We’ve faced a kind of a gauntlet in these first [four] weeks,” Bibee said. “To be in the spot we are right now, and myself, I feel obviously we're not satisfied or anything like that. But it's a really good thing to build off of and to keep going.”
Rocchio’s coming-out party
Brayan Rocchio’s career-long eight-game hitting streak came to an end Wednesday, when he finished 0-for-4. Nonetheless, he has been as impressive as any Guardians player offensively in the early going this season, including over this 13-game stretch.
Rocchio has a .790 OPS in 25 games this season. He started at shortstop in 12 of 13 games over this stretch, and entering Wednesday, he had gone 13-for-37 with two doubles, two home runs, nine RBIs and four walks with only six strikeouts. That amounted to a .351/.415/.568 slash line.
“Brayan’s growing up,” manager Stephen Vogt said Tuesday. “Brayan is figuring out who he is. He’s on a nice little run right now, and we want to keep that going as long as we can. I think for Rocchi, it's just go play. He knows what his role is. His role is to get on base, whether that's taking a walk [or] getting something he can handle to hit. But it's been a very special start for him.”
Rocchio had an up-and-down 2025 season; he got off to a slow start and was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on May 12. He returned to the Majors in July but moved to second base due to Gabriel Arias taking over at shortstop while Rocchio was with Columbus. Arias went on the injured list with a left-hamstring strain on April 7 this season, and Rocchio has stepped up since.
Rocchio kick-started the Guardians’ six-run rally in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 8-5 win over the Astros, when he lined an RBI single to center field. He’s remembering to stay humble and not allowing himself to get comfortable amid his success.
“As a baseball player, you never have to feel comfortable at the plate because this sport can humble you,” Rocchio said. “Some days, you can be at a high level, and some days, you can be at a low level. So I’ve got to be simple and play baseball the right way.”
Close calls
This was an interesting 13-game stretch for the Guardians. In three of their losses, they surrendered 11, 13, and nine runs, while losing by six-plus runs in each contest. In their other four losses, they fell by either one or two runs.
Things could have gone a bit differently in the close calls, but Cleveland knows it can’t hang its hat on that, especially as the Guardians turn their attention to a weekend series against the Blue Jays.
“We're excited for an off-day,” Vogt said. “This 13-game stretch was long, and these guys worked really hard. We’re going to enjoy this off-day and get ready to go Friday night.”