Slumping Suarez And Curry Won't Stop Offenses

Guardians vs. Phillies, 1:35 ET

It was an interesting week on the diamond. I was 1-1 pretty much every day until Thursday when I went 0-2. How did I follow up that 0-2 day? With a 2-0 day on Friday to make me 1-1 once again. There is a Seinfeld episode where everything balances out for Jerry. Kramer calls him "Even Steven", Elaine takes a $20 bill and throws it out the window, only for Jerry to find a $20 bill in a pocket of a coat he hadn't worn in quite some time. That's how this week felt, but the difference is when I go 1-1, we are losing due to juice (typically - sometimes we win or break even with the plus money plays). I'm trying to avoid the losing here and move away from Even Steven to a being a Cash Cow - let's get there as the Guardians take on the Phillies.

Coming into the season, I was under the impression that the AL Central was the worst division in all of baseball. However, this year the division has been surprisingly good with four of the five teams remaining competitive and either above .500 or close enough to the mark. The Royals came out of nowhere and started shocking the league with how well they've played. The Twins have made the playoffs and invested in the club for multiple years so they were no surprise. The Tigers are under .500, but have played exceedingly well for how bad their offense is, and still found a way to be competitive. The Guardians, though, are the team that I find to be the most impressive. They are 20 games over .500 for the season and have a decent lead in the division - not large enough to coast, but comfortable where they don't have to tense up about losing a game. They have a good balance between hitting and pitching, and even though I wouldn't bet on them to go far in the playoffs, you need to give them some respect. I didn't expect them to have the hitting to do well enough this season, but they've certainly proved me wrong in that regard. Their pitching has always been good, and this season that remains true. Today, they put out Xzavion Curry to start against the Phillies. This will be his seventh appearance of the season and fifth time he has started a game. He only has one outing where he has completed five innings of work, so expect the bullpen to be used quite a bit in this game. There isn't much experience against the Phillies to speak of, but Curry has held them to one hit in eight at-bats. 

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 07: Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor (23) celebrates after hitting a pinch-hit 3-run home run during the sixth inning of the Major League Baseball Interleague game between the San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Guardians on July 7, 2024, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Phillies are a team that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. They've played good baseball for at least two years with a World Series run and an NLCS appearance last season. This year they had their best start to a season in franchise history and looked like they were destined to once again make a deep run in the playoffs. Time will tell if that comes to fruition, but they are still in a good spot to make a run even after the club was hampered by injuries to key players. They just made a splash recently in the trade market, adding outfielder Austin Hays to the mix. The Phillies are taking a chance on a guy who struggled to start the year and then was placed on the injured list. He was the starting center fielder for the All-Star Game last year, so there is a ton of potential with him. He hits for average, but does have a bit of pop in his bat typically. Maybe this change of scenery will help him get back to the level he was last year. The Phillies will send out Ranger Suarez to combat the Guardians in today's contest. Suarez started the year unbelievably well, having a 1.83 ERA as of June 25th. Over his last four starts though his ERA has climbed a full run and he has allowed 18 earned runs in his last 21 innings. For comparisons sake, in his first 98.1 innings of the season, he allowed 20 earned runs. Although he hasn't faced the Guardians much in his career, they've hit him well, going 7-for-15 against him. 

This game will likely see some runs on the board. Suarez is pitching rather poorly lately and Curry is likely to allow a few runs before his day is done. Looking at how well the Guardians have hit Suarez, it is hard to back the Phillies here even though I think they will win the game. I think we should take the over for the game in this one as I expect both offenses to have their pick of pitches to hit. Back the over.

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