Austin Hedges, Josh Naylor and Six Days in 2023

If you follow the Guardians and have been online recently, you may have noticed that catcher Austin Hedges said some really mean-spirited and negative things about former Guardian and current Seattle Mariner Josh Naylor during Sunday’s game between the two teams at Progressive Field. For those that may have missed it, Hedges and Naylor were shouting at each other across the field as an inning that had included Naylor deliberately leaning into a pitch ended. Hedges was heard on the field mics shouting “No one likes you!… Your own teammates don’t like you!” with some other spicy words adding in for flavoring.

Evaluating the Guardians at the 3rd Quarter Pole

Well, the Major League Baseball season just hit about mile 20 over the past week. The Guardians have played 123 games, or about 76% of their season. This feels like a great time to take some inventory and see where the Guardians stand as the stretch run appears on the horizon. With just under 40 games remaining, there is still plenty of time to speculate on both post-season glory or how the season could end in ineptitude and disappointment. In order to cut through the reckless speculation, let’s take a look at where we have been, in order to have the best idea of where things are going.