Best record in baseball as of 4-21-24:

[Auggie]

Cleveland Guardians, 16-6.

They also have the greatest run differential at +52.

Helps to start the season against struggling teams.

[Marcuse]

1. Magic Number?

[Auggie]

2. LOL

[Marcuse]

3. !

[ProfessorGAC]

5. 160?

Just a wild guess! But, it would do!

[Brother Buzz]

4. Burn On, Baby! And boy howdy, my National League (West) is totally playing like sandlot boys.

There's a red moon rising
On the Cuyahoga River
Rolling into Cleveland to the lake
There's a red moon rising…

[True Dough]

6. Ahem,

17-6.

On a strong performance from Ben Lively!

S'up with Rob Refsnyder?

[Auggie]

7. Refsnyder? Must be eating his Wheaties.

[True Dough]

8. At least Cleveland took one of four from the White Sox

Better than being swept by an inferior team. The Rangers are up next. The Guardians shouldn't take them lightly!

[Auggie]

9. 16 games in a row, 10 on the road ...

after 14 games played they're 7-7. That's pretty good, considering the Kwan injury.

Two separate trips to Tex-ass in those 16 games. (which is ridiculous).

[True Dough]

10. Looking good so far tonight

Naylor brothers getting it done!

[True Dough]

11. Don't know where I'd find such a stat

but I'd guess that Cleveland uses the most pitchers per game. If not, they've gotta be top 3 in the league. Either way, it's generally working for them.

[Auggie]

12. It's up there, and it's a concern

You could do the math yourself at https://www.baseball-reference.com, but I know from listening to Guardians radio that the bullpen has pitched a lot of innings.

In the last 7 to 10 days starters have been going a little deeper into games, and that's been good. But then Carrasco was put on the I.L. with neck spasms yesterday and Curry was called up from Columbus to take his place. He lasted just 4.1 innings against the Mets.

The concern is: can the bullpen stay healthy? The good news is two reliable relievers are close to rejoining the team from the I.L., Eli Morgan and James Karinchack. Plus one of last year's top young starters, Gavin Williams, is expected back in June or so.

Might need to deal for a rental if they're still in the thick of it by trading deadline.

[True Dough]

13. "Only" five pitchers today

and Hunter Gaddis picks up his third win.

[Auggie]

14. And a save situation that was not given to Emmanuel Clase (who leads the A.L.)

No way he'd pitched after four straight appearances.

The rookie, Cade Smith, got it instead. And he pitched magnificently.

[True Dough]

15. I hadn't taken notice of Cade Smith

This morning I was reviewing my fantasy baseball team and I have a reliever who has been underperforming. So I took a gander at the waiver wire and Cade Smith definitely caught my eye there. His strikeout ratio is very impressive. The league I'm playing in counts saves and holds (plus strikeouts, ERA and WHIP), so he'll be useful to me even if Clase gets all or most of the saves for the rest of the season.