Giménez shows he's returning to All-Star form

CLEVELAND -- Last year around this time, Andrés Giménez was the center of attention in the Guardians’ clubhouse, as his teammates erupted when manager Terry Francona announced that Giménez was a first-time All-Star.

This season has been a different story, but maybe the second baseman is beginning a brand new chapter.

Giménez appears to have gotten in a groove over the past week or two, capping it with an impressive night in Cleveland’s 6-1 victory over Kansas City on Thursday. He picked up three stolen bases and two hits, which included a game-tying solo shot in the second inning at Progressive Field.

“He played a really, really good game tonight,” Francona said.

The evening began on a strong note following a one-hour, 21-minute rain delay. After the Guardians fell into an early one-run hole in the first, Giménez responded in his first at-bat in the second with a solo homer that he sent into the right-field seats for his seventh long ball of the season.

After a strikeout and a walk, Giménez singled in the eighth. He’s now picked up a hit in each of his past six games and 11 of his past 13 contests. In that span, he’s hit .306 with two homers and six RBIs.

“I think it’s a representation of all the work that we’ve been putting in in the cages,” Giménez said through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. “I feel like all the credit goes to the coaches for keeping me accountable, keeping those routines on a day to day.

“That obviously has allowed me to have the success that I’ve had so far.”

But that was only one side of the Giménez story. After his sixth-inning walk, he stole second. Moments later, he stole third. It was the first time since June 7 of last season (Myles Straw) that a Guardians player stole two bases in one inning.

Giménez swiped his third bag in the eighth after his single, tying a career high with three stolen bases in a single game. The last Cleveland player to do so was Giménez on Aug. 1, 2022, against Arizona.

“Very dynamic,” Francona said of Giménez’s night. “Stealing second, stealing third. Even on the play where he scored, he’s not going on contact. But he stayed with his head up and when the ball scooted past [Nicky] Lopez, he scores. He’s his own coach.”

With the style of baseball that the Guardians play, they need everything to go right. The club learned this last season.

The Guardians were hopeful that they could lean on the power of Josh Bell more this season, allowing the club to stress less about all the little things needing to fall in its favor. But with Bell’s rollercoaster start, the strategy has become the same as 2022.

And with Giménez not producing the same as he did last season, it’s certainly been harder on Cleveland’s lineup to be as successful.

Giménez put together a complete 2022 season. He hit .297 with an .837 OPS (141 OPS+), 26 doubles, 17 homers and 69 RBIs that led to a sixth-place finish in the AL MVP voting. His bat was a much-needed boost in the second half of the lineup, while guys like José Ramírez carried the offense toward the top of the order.

The production hasn’t been the same this season. Giménez took longer out of the gate to heat up, but now he’s hoping that this will be the start of a new chapter for 2023 -- one that reads similarly to his impressive ‘22 campaign.

Over the past two weeks, he’s resembled the player who competed with Ramírez for the spotlight and the person who stole the show at the 2022 All-Star Game in Los Angeles with a behind-the-back toss to second base to turn a double play.

The Guardians have a chance of finishing the first half with an identical record to last season if they sweep the Royals this weekend. If Cleveland can get to .500, it would be the first time since entering play on April 29 that it didn't have a losing record.

And if Giménez plays a key part in powering his team back into a positive record, it can only be beneficial for his confidence to start the second half.

“Obviously that would be the goal to go to the break with a positive record,” Giménez said, “and that would be a good reflection of what we’re trying to do here and start the second half with a better momentum.”