Guardians notes: Manager Stephen Vogt likes direction of his team despite average start

CLEVELAND — Though the Guardians entered Wednesday under .500 for the first time this season, manager Stephen Vogt likes where they're headed. "I love the direction and the trajectory of our team," Vogt said. "I think we're getting better. I think we're learning. I think we're seeing a lot of growth in a lot of our guys. We have a lot of details we need to clean up, and we're addressing those every day in practice and in meetings, but we see guys really going out and putting those things into practice in our games. "You sit here with a .500 record (as of Monday), and 'Yay,' right? But it could look a lot different. I feel like we've had quality at-bats. I feel like we've driven the ball. I feel like we've pitched really well. I feel like our defense has been great overall. Yeah, there's been hiccups in there, but this is a long season." Vogt has found a silver lining in some of the losses. "Just because you lose the game doesn't mean that we didn't win a lot of little battles along the way," he said. "That's the hardest part with baseball. We play so many games that not every loss is a terrible night. There's some really good that comes out of some losses because it creates talking points. It creates learning opportunities. "No one learns through success. And we've had a lot of success in the early going, and yeah, we've dropped some games that we shouldn't have, but that's what every team does throughout the year. It's 'How do we bounce back and take it one day at a time?' I love where we're at 30 games in. We just have to continue to work and battle every single day to get better." Offense has been an issue, especially as of late, with the Guardians scoring three runs or fewer in five losses over the last six games and getting shut out twice through Tuesday. Nearly everyone in the lineup is off to slow starts, including seven-time All-Star Jose Ramirez (.221 average and .777 OPS in 31 games through Tuesday) and leadoff man Steven Kwan (.220 average, .306 on-base percentage and .591 OPS in 29 games). There's not many changes Vogt can make. "We've jumbled the lineup quite a bit, depending on who we're facing, but it's early," he said. "Guys are just now getting to 100 plate appearances. There are some people that have earned a longer rope. And for us, we have our guys, and we're going to stick with it. "We're always talking about how we can maximize our offense, maximize our defense, maximize our pitching. And we're having every conversation, but we've got some guys that are off to some slow starts and they're working, and I feel like we're trending in the right direction." Next in line? Vogt said he wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of his players filling his role when they retire. "I think we have two managers on our team right now in Austin Hedges and David Fry. The day they're done playing, they could step right into this job," said Vogt. "It's the field general, it's the preparation, it's the loving your teammates, it's the being willing to have the hard conversations with teammates, it's pushing everybody to be at their best every day, it's guiding a pitcher through a game when they maybe don't have their best stuff, it's thinking on the fly, you name it. But the No. 1 thing is those are two of the best teammates I've ever been around in my life." If Hedges and Fry to go that route, they will join a long list of former catchers to fill the position, including current managers Vogt, Detroit's A.J. Hinch, Seattle's Dan Wilson, the Angels' Kurt Suzuki, Toronto's John Schneider and Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash. But Vogt will likely advise Hedges and Fry on the pitfalls of managing in the majors, which include the lack of job security — exemplified by the recent firings of Alex Cora in Boston and Rob Thomson in Philadelphia. "It's a volatile job for sure," he said. "You get hired to get fired. It's just kind of how it works, but I can't control anything outside of doing my job the best of my abilities every day. And that's why I show up and try and do that every day. You never want to see anyone lose their job and it's unfortunate." Rookie resurgence Teams aren't playing the service time game as much with young players, wanting to get them to the majors as fast as possible. The Pirates fast-tracked Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, and Cleveland has three rookies who have followed that path in left-hander Parker Messick, outfielder Chase DeLauter and second baseman Travis Bazzana. "Players are more talented now than they ever have been. And that'll continue to be the case every year on," Vogt said. "And we're rushing them to the big leagues because of the system. The new minor league system forces guys to get here earlier, so the game is being forced to be younger. So, let's embrace it and let's help these guys learn and adapt and get up to speed as quickly as possible." Next up The Guardians are off Thursday, beginning a three-game series in Sacramento, Calif., against the A's on Friday night at 9:40. LHP Joey Cantillo (1-1, 2.97 ERA) opens the set for Cleveland while RHP Slade Cecconi (0-4, 6.23) goes Saturday (4:05 p.m.). Messick (3-0, 1.73) will start the series finale Sunday (4:05 p.m.). Roundin' third Of the Guardians' eight losses since April 14 through Tuesday, seven were by two runs or fewer, and 10 of their last 13 games were decided by two runs or fewer (3-7). Cleveland had played in an MLB-leading 18 games decided by two runs or fewer, going 8-10. … The Guardians entered Wednesday leading the American League and ranked third in the majors with a .388 batting average (33-for-85) on the first pitch. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter @CAwesomeheimer.