Guardians' Aggressive Baserunning Leads to Costly Outs at Home Plate

Cleveland loses close game to Cardinals after running into two outs at home

Apr. 15, 2026 at 8:41pm

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A cubist, geometric painting depicting a baseball game, with fragmented shapes and overlapping planes in the team colors of the Guardians and Cardinals, capturing the chaotic energy of the game's key plays at home plate.An aggressive baserunning strategy leads to costly outs at home plate for the Guardians in a close loss to the Cardinals.Cleveland Today

The Cleveland Guardians were thrown out at home plate twice in their 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, with both plays coming on aggressive sends by third base coach Rouglas Odor. The Guardians now lead MLB in times making an out at the plate this season, and the two failed attempts proved costly in the two-run defeat.

Why it matters

The Guardians' struggles with baserunning decisions have become a recurring issue, as they continue to cut down scoring chances by making outs at home rather than allowing the next hitter a chance to drive in runs. In close games, these types of mistakes can be the difference between winning and losing.

The details

In the first incident, Steven Kwan was thrown out at home on an infield grounder, with Masyn Winn's strong relay throw beating him easily. The second out came when Kyle Manzardo was waved home on a double to left field, and Winn's throw again got him by a wide margin. Both plays featured Guardians third base coach Rouglas Odor making aggressive sends, which the team's broadcasters acknowledged as an issue.

  • The Guardians have now run into six outs at home plate this season, the most in MLB.

The players

Rouglas Odor

The Guardians' third base coach who has been criticized for his aggressive sends that have led to multiple outs at home plate this season.

Masyn Winn

The Cardinals' shortstop who has the strongest infield arm in baseball, making him a tough target for the Guardians' baserunners to challenge.

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What they’re saying

“The #Guardians have now ran into two outs at home. Neither close, even a little bit—I'm talking like 30 feet not even close. Grab some pine, Rouglas.”

— Ryan M. Spaeder

The takeaway

The Guardians' aggressive baserunning approach has backfired, leading to multiple outs at home plate that have proven costly in close games. If they want to win tight contests, the team will need to find a better balance between being aggressive and reckless on the bases.