Giancarlo Stanton

Cleveland Guardians are done because they couldn't hit the longball.

But when it comes down to it, you’re the guy chucking up the airball when it comes time to really be that guy again. Hit the ball out of the damn park. They hit one in the first last night thanks to Giancarlo Stanton to basically end the game. Winners go ahead and turn the ball to plasma. The Phillies and Padres hurled their best starters at each other later in the day. They got to hang around because their pitching is that good, and they’re that good at developing pitching. With the pitching as good as it is, you have to hit the ball out of the damn park to get anywhere. And it wasn’t good contact for the Guardians. It’s why they’re banning the shift, in the hope that hitters may try and dial it back and just settle for singles again. They were a team built on a shoestring budget simply because they just happened to make a lot of contact. It’s not underground baseball science to say that home runs are the determining factor this time of year. Generally, it’s someone clinging to the past, “the way baseball used to be” or some other such garbage.