Guardians Series Preview: The two youngest lineups in baseball

The Guardians have been in the playoffs in five of the last seven seasons, including the 2016 World Series, but they’ll almost certainly be at home this October. They have a young team with an MVP candidate in their lineup and an organization that can just churn out pitching, but frugality by ownership has given them little depth. The team hung around .500 for most of the year, and was only a game out of first in a weak division at the trade deadline, but a poor month of August has buried their chances of post-season contention.

The Guardians have played better lately, and are fresh off a home sweep of the slumping Texas Rangers. They have handled the Royals pretty well, winning seven of ten contests, including two out of three in Kansas City in late June.

Cleveland Guardians (72-78) vs. Kansas City Royals (48-102) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas city, MO

Guardians: 4.09 runs scored/game (27th in MLB), 4.19 runs allowed/game (7th)

Royals: 4.11 runs scored/game (26th in MLB), 5.35 runs allowed/game (28th)

The Guardians have a pretty weak offense, although they put up 23 runs in their three games against Texas. José Ramírez is sixth among all American League position players in fWAR with 4.8, and he’s hitting .346/.404/.615 with three home runs in his last 13 games. Ramón Laureano has performed well since the Guardians picked him up off waivers from the A’s, hitting .264/.358/.434 with three home runs in 31 games. The club traded away Amed Rosario to make room for Gabriel Arias, but the rookie has yet to hit much.

The Guardians put the ball in play - they have the lowest strikeout rate and the sixth-lowest walk rate. No team has hit fewer home runs than the Guardians, and they have the lowest ISO in baseball. They have the sixth-most steals, but only two teams have been thrown out on the bases more than the Guardians. Steven Kwan has played like a Gold Glover in left, and Myles Straw has terrific range when he plays in center.

Cleveland has been terrific at developing pitching lately, but this year their pitchers have had trouble missing bats, with the sixth-lowest strikeout rate. Cal Quantrill has the second-lowest strikeout rate among pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched and has missed time with shoulder inflammation. Since coming off the Injured List in September, he has given up just three runs in 18 innings over three starts.

Logan Allen will face the Royals for the third time this year, having given up four earned runs in 10 ¹⁄₃ innings against them in his rookie campaign. The lefty throws a 90 mph fastball with a sweeper and changeup, mixing in a cutter occasionally. Lefties are hitting just .178/.286/.274 against him this year.

Lucas Giolito is on his third team this year, having gone from the White Sox to the Angels to being claimed off waivers by the Guardians this month. He is 20th among starters in strikeout rate, but has given up the third-most home runs in baseball this year. Opponents are have a .522 slugging percentage against his 93 mph fastball, but his change has been very effective with a 36.8 percent whiff rate.

Monday will feature a rare day game to begin a series, as the Royals tried to accommodate the Beyoncé concert at Arrowhead Stadium originally scheduled for that day, but later moved to October 1.

Guardians relievers have a 3.73 ERA, the tenth-best unit in baseball. Emmanuel Clase leads baseball in saves with 41, but has blown a league-high 11 saves, including two in his last six appearances. Xzavion Curry has the fourth-lowest strikeout rate of any reliever with at least 50 innings pitched. Nick Sandlin has the eighth-highest home run rate.

The Guardians have played the Royals well over the years - Kansas City hasn’t won the season series since 2015. Although there is little left to play for, the Guardians do have a young team - they have the second-youngest lineup behind the Royals, and the youngest pitching staff in baseball. Those players will be eager to show what they can do, and Royals youngsters will have to rise to the challenge.