The Cleveland Guardians’ offensive struggles continue to be a concern, but the team’s wave of young starting pitchers has given manager Terry Francona reason for optimism.
The Guardians will turn to another one of their promising hurlers on Tuesday when rookie Peyton Battenfield takes the mound against the visiting Colorado Rockies.
Cleveland opened the three-game series with a 6-0 loss on Monday after being held to four hits. The Guardians have dropped six of their last eight while scoring a total of three runs in their last four losses.
Francona has been impressed by Battenfield (0-1, 1.69 ERA), who has allowed only two earned runs in his first two starts across 10 2/3 innings.
The 25-year-old right-hander gave up one run on three hits over six frames in a 1-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers last Tuesday. He allowed just two hits through the first five innings before Riley Greene’s homer in the sixth.
“I thought he was tremendous,” Francona said. “He really pitched well. He used all his pitches: Cutter, curveball, fastball, in a game where one play can maybe make the difference.”
Battenfield joins a group of young starters in the Cleveland pipeline that includes top prospects Daniel Espino, Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee and Logan Allen, who tossed six innings of one-run ball in his major league debut on Sunday.
“(Battenfield) led the way,” Cleveland first baseman Josh Bell said. “(Allen) following, they’re definitely setting the standard for guys getting the phone call in Triple-A. So, hopefully we’ve got more coming.”
The Guardians were expecting to start right-hander Xzavion Curry in Wednesday’s series finale, but the 24-year-old threw 52 pitches over 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief on Monday. The team could call on Bibee, who has a 1.76 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Columbus.
Colorado won for just the second time in 13 games on Monday behind a strong outing from Austin Gomber, who tossed five scoreless innings.
Jurickson Profar homered and drove in three runs for Colorado, while Mike Moustakas had three hits and Ezequiel Tovar had two RBIs.
The Rockies will send right-hander Ryan Feltner (1-2, 6.16) to the mound Tuesday. He allowed three hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies last Thursday.
“He’s learned a lot even this year in a small sample size; I think he’s really starting to understand what he needs to do to be successful,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “(Thursday) was an indication of what he can do against a good lineup on the road.”
Feltner, 26, has gone 3-7 with a 5.82 ERA in 15 career road starts. He is making his first career appearance against the Guardians.
Monday’s game featured the major league debut of Colorado outfielder Brenton Doyle, who was batting .306 with five home runs in 12 games for Triple-A Albuquerque.
“The exciting part (for) Brenton is the speed and power combination and the well-above-average defense,” Black said. “He can really go get the ball in center field.”
Doyle went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run on Monday. He could receive his second straight start in place of Yonathan Daza, who is listed as day-to-day with a bruised left hand.
–Field Level Media
