Eddie Guardado hasn’t set anybody’s shoes on fire, and so far he hasn’t whipped up a shaving-cream pie for his new teammates.
Guardado may not be up to his usual hijinx with the Cincinnati Reds, but he’s having fun again.
It has been six weeks since the Seattle Mariners traded Guardado to the Reds, turning a season of lost identity by the veteran left-hander into one in which he feels himself again.
He entered a weekend series against the Pirates with eight saves and a 1.32 earned run average in 14 appearances, and allowed just one run in his first 11 appearances.
The trade brought a change of scenery, the usual reason players give for such a turnaround, although Guardado says there’s much more to his success than being in a new uniform and a new league.
“I can adapt anywhere I go,” he said by phone last week in St. Louis, where the Reds continued to breathe down the Cardinals’ necks in a tight NL Central race. “It was just a matter of getting back to that ninth inning. I love it. You saw me in the sixth, seventh and eighth in Seattle, and that was just not me.”
A spate of ineffectiveness early this season, combined with the impressive emergence of J.J. Putz as the Mariners’ new closer, turned Guardado into a setup man. It also eliminated the adrenaline that became the needed fuel for a guy who didn’t have the velocity to blow the ball past hitters.
“It’s not that I didn’t want to do well in that seventh and eighth, but it just wasn’t the same. My confidence wasn’t all there,” he said. “I just couldn’t find it. But they gave me the ball here in the ninth and it just clicked.”
The trade to the Reds reunited Guardado with a few of his former Minnesota Twins teammates – Joe Mays, Eric Milton and Javier Valentin – and early this month the Reds got former Mariner Ryan Franklin in a trade with the Phillies.
It hasn’t been an unblemished existence, however.
Guardado converted his first seven save opportunities and barely had an ERA until the past 10 days, when he blew a couple of saves. He has experienced forearm soreness lately and manager Jerry Narron decided to rest him a few days.
“Eddie is probably as mentally strong as anybody I’ve been around,” Franklin said. “He’ll compete with whatever stuff he has. Even though he’s hurting, he’ll still go out there.”
The Reds are in a division race, after all, and they’ll need Guardado healthy in September.
“It’s a lot of fun when you’re winning,” he said. “You’re playing for something at this point in the season and you can’t wait to get to the park. I really did miss that feeling.
“I hated to leave Seattle, I really did. I get along with all the guys back there, the trainers, the media, everybody, and I have a lot of good friendships because of it. But I guess it was time for me to leave. I’ve got a big-league uniform and we’re in a pennant race and playing good baseball. I can’t complain.”
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Franklin also is experiencing a rebirth with the Reds after a difficult four months pitching out of the Phillies’ bullpen. He signed with the Phillies in the offseason with every thought that he’d be a starter, then became a reliever.
Anyone who followed Franklin’s time with the Mariners may remember his disgust with any notion at being sent to the bullpen. It became more than a notion with the Phillies.
“The last two days of spring training they told me I was going to be in the bullpen, and that threw me for a loop,” he said. “I had a hard time making the adjustment, I hadn’t done it in so long.”
The Phillies fell out of the NL East race and Franklin remained less than enthralled with his role in the bullpen, especially when the Phils called up a few minor league starting pitchers who struggled.
“I’m a guy who threw over 600 innings the last three years, and they were needing guys to go deep into games,” he said. “They kept bringing up the young kids who weren’t getting the job done and I was sitting in the bullpen. I did my best to stay mentally strong and not let it get to me.”
Franklin remains a reliever with the Reds, but he’s fine with that. Pitching a meaningful role for a contending team, even out of the bullpen, has been a rush.
“I don’t want to say I’ve got it figured out, but I’ve got a good idea how to come out of the bullpen now,” he said. “It’s been a different year for me, but I’m happier here.”
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Among those who watched video of last week’s Angels-Rangers brawl was one former Everett athlete who knows how to handle himself in such a scrum.
“From the perspective of a hockey player and a huge baseball fan, that was kind of interesting to see,” said Mitch Love, the former Everett Silvertips defenseman who instituted his share of left-right justice on the ice. “There aren’t too many sports where you’re allowed to duke it out like hockey.”
So Mitch, what kind of fighters are baseball players?
“Judging by some of the punches I saw thrown, not too good,” he said. “But that’s not really part of their sport.”
Love played baseball in Canada until he was 16, then turned his whole focus on hockey. He had his moments with opposing pitchers but never came to blows.
“In Little League and Babe Ruth, you’d get hit a few times and get frustrated with a guy, especially if it’s someone you have somewhat of a rivalry with,” Love said. “But at that age, we weren’t able to go out and beat them up.”
Love has spent much of the summer in Everett finishing his rehab from hip surgery and will leave in a few weeks to attend the Colorado Avalanche rookie training camp in Denver.
“It’s kind of a big year for me and I’m excited about getting back on the ice,” said Love, who has played in a few local men’s hockey leagues getting himself back into shape. “I haven’t played a competitive game since December and I’m chomping to get back.”
Kirby Arnold covers major league baseball for The Herald
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