Need for acquiring offensive help amplified vs. Sox

CHICAGO -- Leading up to Tuesday's Trade Deadline, Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti discussed how the team’s priorities would be looking for starting pitching depth and a complementary bat to this lineup. The Guardians started working on the former. Nights like Friday may serve as a subtle reminder that the latter is something to focus on over the next four days.

The Guardians were held to just six hits -- three of which came from Josh Naylor -- in a 3-0 loss to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. The club was looking to sit two games above .500 for the first time since entering play on April 18, but the bats couldn’t heat up to support the bullpen that did its best to cover eight innings.

Naylor has been a bright spot for this offense all season. Without him, it’d be hard to imagine where the Guardians would be. Entering Friday night, he slashed .371/.402/.602 with 27 extra-base hits and 19 RBIs in his last 46 games. He certainly didn’t slow down on Friday, logging two more singles and a double.

“Honestly, it’s been amazing just to really see his approach when he goes up to bat,” Guardians opener Xzavion Curry said. “I’m sure he’s one of those guys that pitchers have the same problems with, just you can’t throw a mistake pitch. … It’s been good watching him go up there and consistently put together good ABs and put us in a good spot to score runs.”

If Naylor is going to go quiet at some point, it probably won’t be on the South Side of Chicago. Before his three-hit performance in Cleveland’s loss, Naylor had batted .452 with a 1.357 OPS, nine extra-base hits and 19 RBIs in 11 games at Guaranteed Rate Field since the beginning of 2022. But he hasn’t had many other teammates find a groove like he has this season to help propel this offense.

Josh Bell is still trying to hit his stride. Andrés Giménez will look to bring some life to the top of the lineup now that he’s seeing more time in the No. 2 spot after Amed Rosario’s departure. The Guardians keep trying to find ways to get David Fry’s hot bat in the lineup while also getting Bo Naylor semi-consistent playing time to allow him to develop. And Gabriel Arias and Tyler Freeman now have to compete for the open shortstop job as they will probably split time there the rest of the year.

It’s not the usual recipe for a contending team, but the Guardians showed last year that sometimes unconventional approaches can result in a playoff-bound team. But if Cleveland is still looking to be in contention this season, it may need to find some external help before Tuesday’s Deadline.

The club tried to take steps in that direction by calling up Oscar Gonzalez from Triple-A Columbus. He was optioned in May to try to rein in his wild approach at the plate. Although his scouting report wasn’t perfect, the Guardians saw improvement in his at-bats, especially against left-handers.

And if that can serve as a platoon option for Will Brennan in right field or if it can give the Guardians some days to move Brennan to center and have Myles Straw as an option off the bench, maybe it can bring some much-needed power to the lineup. Gonzalez showed what his bat could do for the Guardians in some big moments last year and he hit 11 homers in 65 games during his time in Columbus this year.

It’s another option for the Guardians, but it’s probably not the final answer.

The offense ranks last in home runs (79), 25th in slugging percentage (.387) and 23rd in wRC+ (94) of all 30 clubs. The Guardians noted that acquiring a bat would be something they would pursue if the opportunity was there. But whether the club would be willing to part ways with a starter like Aaron Civale (now that Shane Bieber is off the market with an elbow injury) or some of its top prospects to bring in a Major League-ready bat to make an impact for this season and beyond remains to be seen.

In the meantime, the Guardians offense will continue to try to feed off of Naylor’s energy.

“The most important impact is on team wins,” Antonetti said last week. “Hopefully, we get more guys swinging the bat like Josh is. That would be good for all of us.”