'Best baseball still in front of us': Chris Antonetti sees Guardians putting it together

CLEVELAND — Uncharacteristically, the Guardians’ hitting has been carrying their pitching.

With a 17-19 record, they stand third in the American League Central behind the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox.

Yet President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti was feeling bullish on the  Guardians' 2022 season on Saturday.

“Although it’s early, we’ve seen this group come out and play competitive baseball, and we actually think our best baseball is still in front of us,” Antonetti said after their scheduled game against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field was postponed by rain. “Hopefully, it plays out that way.”

Part of the reason for Antonetti’s optimism was an almost mind-boggling statistic.

“I think when I looked the other day, the average age of our roster was younger than the average Triple-A roster. That provides some context,” he said.

Although those numbers change daily with roster moves, Antonetti’s facts still held up.

Per baseball-reference.com, on Saturday the International League average was 26.5 years old for batters and 27.2 for pitchers. The Guardians’ averages were 26.2 for batting and 26.6 for pitching.

“We said at the start we’re a really young team and we wanted to see two things: One, that this group continues to grow and develop together, but also find a way to have that development transition into winning games,” Antonetti said.

The Guardians’ .247 batting average led the American League going into Saturday’s action, while its 4.01 team ERA was 12th. That’s a dramatic departure from the last few years. From 2018-2020, the Guardians' ERA ranked among the top four in the AL. In 2020, its 3.29 was first in the AL and second in the league.

Back from COVID-IL: 'Ultimate competitor': Guardians' Josh Naylor ready to return to his clutch-hitting ways

Finding the zone: Aaron Civale leaning on curveball to get him back on track; Jose Ramirez fouls ball off leg

Getting comfortable: Guardians pitcher Zach Plesac trying to allow his athleticism to take over his delivery

On the rise: Andres Gimenez, with consistent approach, becoming a regular contributor in Guardians lineup

Even in that break from the past, Antonetti found positives.

“That’s one of the things that we’re so excited about as we look forward. This group of young position players is really starting to mature and develop and carry a significant load,” he said. “Now if we can align that with our pitching performing the way it has in the past, we think we have a chance to be really good for the balance of the season.

“We’ve seen signs of that over the last few weeks with individuals within our rotation taking steps forward and pitching a little bit better and maybe the way we’re accustomed to, so hopefully that continues.”

In the worst slump of his career with all but his curveball deserting him, right-hander Aaron Civale turned in his best start of the season in Friday’s 6-1 victory over the Tigers, giving up three hits and one unearned run over 6⅓ innings.

There have been concerns about right-hander Shane Bieber’s velocity this season, but in his last start at Minnesota on May 14, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner saw it rise with his fastball averaging 91.2 mph, up from his season average of 90.6.

Right-hander Zach Plesac’s 1-3 record and 4.42 ERA in seven starts have been offset by the improvement of right-hander Triston McKenzie (2-3), whose ERA is a career-best 2.97 in seven games (six starts).

“On the pitching staff, that group probably has a little bit more of a track record than some of our position players,” Antonetti said. “If that group continues to trend in the direction they’re headed and back to some of their past levels of performance ... and we’re able to get continued development from that young group of position players and marry those two together, it’s exciting to think about how we could play in the second half and how many games we could win.”

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hitting carrying pitching a break from Cleveland Guardians' past