Guardians vs Giants Pick: Verlander Makes His Return for SF (Jun 18)

• Our Guardians vs Giants pick analyzes fading Cleveland sending traveling to San Francisco
• Logan Allen heads to the mound for Cleveland against San Francisco’s future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, making his return from injury
• After a good start, the Guardians have struggled badly, putting their playoff hopes in question
• The Giants signaled they are going for it by trading for Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers

Guardians Try to Stop Their Fade

On May 13, the Guardians were eight games above .500. Now, they are hovering around .500 and nearly double-digits out of first place behind the roaring Tigers. Detroit leads MLB in wins. The Guardians’ season remains salvageable, but they must start winning.

Logan Allen takes the mound for Cleveland. The lefty has a 4.28 ERA in 13 appearances (12 starts). In 61 innings, he’s allowed 64 hits, 29 earned runs, walking 28, and striking out 46. He pitched well in his last start against the Reds, tossing 6 innings, giving up 4 hits, and 2 earned runs.

Allen has limited exposure to the Giants. Devers is 1 for 6 with a single and 2 strikeouts. Heliot Ramos is 1 for 3 with a single. Wilmer Flores is 0 for 3.

The Guardians’ offense has been one of their main problems. Catcher Bo Naylor has an OPS below .700. So does shortstop Gabriel Arias. Center fielder Angel Martinez is just over .600. Kyle Manzardo is at double digits in home runs, but is barely batting .200. As usual, Jose Ramirez is one of baseball’s best all-around players.

Giants Welcome Back Verlander

Future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander makes his first start since May 18. He missed nearly a month with a pectoral injury. The legendary righty had been mediocre before the injury. In 10 starts, he has a 4.33 ERA, allowing 52 hits in 52 innings and 25 earned runs. His strikeouts are down from his heyday, with 41 in those 52 innings. He’s also walked 21, a very high rate for him.

Against Verlander, the Guardians’ Ramirez is 13 for 41 with 3 doubles and 4 home runs. Carlos Santana is 19 for 86 with 5 doubles and nine home runs. Steven Kwan is 2 for 9 with a triple.

No one could have envisioned when the Giants made their series of roster changes, including dumping the incumbent first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr., that a few weeks later, the spot in the batting order would be filled by Red Sox star Rafael Devers. However, President of Baseball Ops Buster Posey struck like lightning to get Devers for a limited player return and by absorbing the entire contract.

The trade changes the complexion of the Giants’ lineup and signals that they’re not playing around this season. Expect the acquisition to spark a Willy Adames turnaround from a horrible start.

Guardians vs Giants Pick: The Inspired Giants Will Win Behind Verlander

Verlander will be on a pitch limit and should only be expected to pitch a maximum of five innings or so. San Francisco’s bullpen has been very good, and the Guardians are offensively challenged, even with Ramirez and Santana hammering Verlander in the past. San Francisco will be boosted by Devers and put up the runs for Verlander.