The Cleveland Guardians have seen their playoff hopes slip away with each passing series. In the AL Central, the Kansas City Royals have passed them in the standings, and now the Guardians are four games back of the last Wild Card spot in the American League with just about 25 games left to be played.
However, the team is receiving some promising news on Wednesday that a mainstay in their lineup will be returning.
Infielder Gabriel Arias expected to return to the lineup on Wednesday
According to the MLB.com transactions sheet, shortstop Gabriel Arias is expected to return to the lineup on Wednesday after he missed the previous four games after being hit by a pitch.
The injury was listed as a right-hand contusion after Arias was hit by a 94 MPH sinker on August 29.
Arias should be able to provide the Guardians' offense a little more stability, as he has been pretty much a mainstay the entire year. The 25-year-old Arias has played in 109 games this season. He's hitting .222 with nine home runs, 45 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 77. This is his fourth MLB season, all with the Cleveland Guardians.
The teams ahead of Cleveland in the Wild Card standings are the Tampa Bay Rays, the Royals, and the Texas Rangers. With the team being a game below .500 at this moment, they can't afford to drop that many more games.
Cleveland has a bad and lackluster offense, and will need to turn it around in the last few weeks of the season if they want to have a chance for a miracle in the last week of September.
It will be interesting to see how the Guardians finish and if they can leapfrog any of the other Wild Card contenders.