News and Notes: “Tomorrow is a new day without mistakes…yet.” – Anne of Green Gables

I don't know about you, but I'd like to forget about yesterday's doubleheader against the Yankees.

There were some bright spots – Josh Naylor has drawn THREE walks and has a 192 wRC+, David Fry still looks like a hitter with a 182 wRC+, Steven Kwan is at a 174 wRC+, Andres Gimenez is at a 167 wRC+ and that often Berated Ramon Laureano is at 134 wRC+, with Bo Naylor adding a few walks and staying at 114 wRC+. Each of these gentlemen did enough to help their team potentially win a game. Estevan Florial should have had two walks in the opener (he was given a huge one-out, one-on strike three in the bottom of the ninth) and had a walk in the finale and his first home run as a Guardian.

Unfortunately, Brayan Rocchio is ranked 3rd in his last 22, Jose Ramirez is 0 in his last 13, Tyler Freeman is ranked 3rd in his last 24, and Will Brennan is ranked 2nd in his last 19. A person named Cody Poteet held the Guardians in Chess and Triston McKenzie is still desperately searching for some consistency. Manager Stephen Vogt spoke after the game about how the team sees McKenzie's good curveball, sharp slider and at times strong 92-93 mph fastball, but he is learning how to throw again after his injury last season throws constantly. Of course, the jury is still out on whether he will be successful, but I know we are all rooting for him and ready to endure non-competitive outings like yesterday.

It was also disappointing to see Tyler Beede get a little out of the box for the first time this season, but I tell myself it was bound to happen, so it might as well have happened when the Guardians were down five runs.

Juan Soto kind of shoved Josh Naylor, who maybe stuck his foot out where it wasn't necessary.

Essentially, the referees just let the whole thing stand, a “let them play” philosophy that I approve of. However, there were some strong boos for Juan Soto in the nightcap…until he hit a three-run home run to bring the strength out of the crowd. Personally, I wouldn't hurt Josh Naylor, but it didn't hurt the Yankees at all, who looked confident and in control from the first pitch at 7:10 p.m. EST. I still like Juan Soto as a player (not a Yankee), but, buddy, stop pushing our first baseman, please and thank you.

If it hadn't been for a 93 mph fastball that Nick Sandlin tried to pump just over the zone to Oswaldo Cabrera, resulting in a patented Sandlin Gopherball, I think we would have thought very differently yesterday and even today hoping for a series win. (There are some thunderstorms in the area, but I think they'll make it). As it stands, here's hoping that the Guardians somehow manage to solve Nestor Cortes, who has often confused them, and that Jose Ramirez manages to escape his fear at the start of the season.

The main problem is figuring out the starting pitching somehow, because no team is going to survive the kind of starting pitching problems that the Guardians have been dealing with for a very long time recently.

In other positive news, reports of Kyle Manzardo's death may have been greatly exaggerated, as he went 3-for-4 in Columbus, hitting balls at 98 mph, 104.6 mph and 108.6 mph. After a very slow start in week one, he posted a 122 wRC+ last week. Hopefully he continues the recent turnaround and forces the Guardians to draft him, because as much as I'm interested in seeing Estevan Florial succeed in right field, I'm not interested in seeing Florial, Laureano, or Gabriel Arias start at DH, if a Manzardo who sees the ball well could take those reps and hit his big league lumps early this season.

Also, I don't know how long Jhonkensy Noel will keep a spot on the roster, but while he's here, let's enjoy a Noel Nuke to make ourselves feel a little better.

Charlie Condon hit another home run for Georgia:

People on my Twitter timeline always say it's 100% Travis Bazzana or 100% Charlie Condon. I just don't understand why we need to be sure we can play baseball for another six weeks. Let’s just cheer both guys on to great results. Even though I didn't include it in my top four, I will include it in next week's update because Florida Gators pitcher-outfielder Jac Caglianone also hit his 19th home run yesterday:

And don't forget Braden Montgomery:

Let's salvage this series finale, Guardians, and leave all the Yankees fans who haunted Progressive Field with a bad taste in their mouths before they head back to the Cleveland suburbs to cheer on the Lakers in the playoffs and watch mock drafts for the Reading Cowboys.