Guardians notes: Team president Chris Antonetti discusses trade deadline

CLEVELAND — With the trade deadline less than a week away, team president Chris Antonetti met with the media prior to Thursday's series finale against Detroit to discuss the Guardians' plans. "I would say we're actively engaging and exploring opportunities to try and improve the team," he said. "It's hard to predict what will come of that. I think it is important to remember, no matter what happens, that the group of guys in that clubhouse are the ones that have played and put us in the position to win the amount of games that we have. "Our success in the second half is going to continue to be determined by that group of guys. If we can find opportunities to complement it, great, but I think it's important to remember that the success of our season will be dependent upon the way that group of players continues to play and perform and the way we support them to help them do that." Unlike the draft, when teams enter with a preconceived approach, the deadline is more reactionary and tougher to plan for, according to Antonetti. "You have to be obviously attentive to what's in the market, what's available to you, and then blend that with the needs that we think we might have or the opportunities we might have to improve," he said. "And, so, we have an idea of what we'd like to accomplish going in, but how we're able to execute, that's hard to predict." Like the majority of contending teams, Cleveland is expected to be on the look for starting pitching, and possibly a bat, which makes it even more difficult to land an impact arm for the rotation. "The supply and demand, there's definitely an imbalance there," Antonetti said of the starting pitching market. "I think, historically, teams are usually looking for pitching at the deadline and as you think about injury rates increasing, meaning there are fewer quality pitchers available, that makes the demand that much greater, and in a year like we're in right now, I think there are 18 or 19 teams that are actively looking to add to their teams and improve them. "The vast majority of those are looking for pitching and specifically starting pitching, so it creates a unique market. But we'll continue to explore." Doctor's office Left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd is slated to make his second rehab start for Double-A Akron on Friday. "The encouraging news is Matt has met every benchmark along the way to continue on the path forward," Antonetti said of the veteran pitcher, who is trying to make it back from Tommy John surgery last June. "He'll build up his pitch volume again and then hopefully he recovers well and is able to do that again in his next start. "Once he's starting to get to a typical starter workload, at that point we can kind of assess where he is in his readiness to join the rotation. Some point in early to mid-August would be the best estimate." ** The prognosis is not good for right-handed pitcher James Karinchak (right shoulder inflammation), who has been sidelined since spring training and is not close to returning, according to Antonetti. "He's starting to run out of calendar, so I'm not sure we can plan for that," he said. "I guess we're hopeful that that's the case, but I don't think that's something we can plan for. I know it's been a challenging year for James and a frustrating one for him as he just hasn't been able to turn the corner as quickly as he'd hoped. "He continues to work at it and he's put in a ton of work with our staff out there, but as he's throwing bullpens, he just hasn't been able to generate the same pitches, same pitch quality as he has in the past, and he's just not yet ready to get to a point of competing." The Man-zardo Antonetti weighed in on top prospect Kyle Manzardo, who made an unproductive MLB debut for the Guardians from May 6-June 16, slashing .207/.241/.329 without a homer and seven RBIs over 30 games. He entered Thursday slashing .279/.387/.568 with 13 homers, 34 RBIs and an OPS of .955 over 53 games at Triple-A Columbus. "He's had a really successful season overall," Antonetti said. "I know the time in the major leagues, maybe the performance wasn't what he had hoped, but it's been a really good developmental year. He's made progress on both sides of the ball offensively and defensively and he's put up really good numbers in Triple-A. "I think what we have to figure out is, is there an opportunity for him to come up here and contribute on the major league level based upon the composition of players we have and who that might displace. But Kyle continues to do his part to prepare for that opportunity." Next up The Guardians hit the road for the next five days, beginning a three-game interleague series against the NL East-leading Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Friday at 6:40 p.m. Right-hander Ben Lively (8-6, 3.57 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland, opposing left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (7-5, 2.97), while right-hander Carlos Carrasco (3-8, 5.32) goes for the Guardians on Saturday (6:05 p.m.) against right-hander Tyler Phillips (2-0, 2.81). Right-hander Xzavion Curry (0-2, 4.98) pitches the series finale Sunday at 1:35 p.m., while the Phillies counter with left-hander Ranger Suarez (10-5, 2.87). Packing the park Attendance has been way up thus far for the Guardians, who had drawn 25,598 fans per game (ranked 20th in the majors) through Wednesday after averaging 21,771 last year. Cleveland has already played in front of 11 sellout crowds. "The environment in our ballpark's been extraordinary. I mean, it's palpable," Anonetti said. "You can feel it when you're in the ballpark. It creates a great environment for our players and staff to go out and perform and compete every day and think it's helped us win games and it's been a really fun environment to be here. Hopefully, in the balance of the season, there will continue to be that enthusiasm and we'll get the same type of support." Roundin' third The Guardians entered Thursday as one of only three teams in the majors with an undefeated record (54-0) when leading after eight innings. The Cardinals (46-0) and Twins (44-0) are the others. Jose Ramirez had 20 RBIs in the eighth inning or later through Wednesday, the second-most in the American League behind Baltimore's Anthony Santander (21). Friday, 6:40 p.m., BSGL; WEOL 930-AM and 100.3-FM, WTAM 1100-AM, WMMS 100.7-FM. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.