The Cleveland Guardians will be without one of their key members on Saturday when they play Game 3 of their MLB playoffs series against the New York Yankees.
According to Mandy Bell of MLB.com, hitting coach Chris Valaika will miss the weekend contest of the ALDS because he is going to get married that day in Oregon.
For what it's worth, Valaika and his fiancée had already set the date of the wedding even before he became a coach in the MLB. He started his coaching career with the Chicago Cubs before the Guardians signed him to be part of their 2022 staff as the hitting coach.
Valaika, however, won't be out for long. He is expected to quickly return on Sunday for Game 4 if the Guardians are able to extend the series.
Article Continues BelowThe Guardians dropped to 0-1 to the Yankees after a rather uncharacteristic offensive outing in Game 1. They scored just one run as New York got first blood with a 0-1 win.
Cleveland plays the Yankees again on Thursday in a bid to take one on the road before the ALDS shifts at home in Progressive field.
Hopefully Chris Valaika can help the Guardians take one win before his scheduled absence. After all, he certainly wouldn't want to come back from the festivities of his wedding to see his team out of MLB playoffs contention.