CLEVELAND — Before every game, the Guardians flash a graphic of a Merriam-Webster dictionary page on the scoreboard at Progressive Field. “Guards Ball” is the spotlighted phrase, with phonetic spelling, part of speech (it’s a noun) and a two-part definition.

“Guards Ball” is intended to reflect “gritty, high-effort baseball,” “characterized by relentless hustle, aggressive baserunning and a commitment to high-IQ fundamentals.” “Guards Ball” doesn’t translate year to year, though.

After many of the team’s recent sloppy, listless losses, manager Stephen Vogt has voiced that the Guardians didn’t play like themselves. But he’s clinging to versions of the team that simply don’t exist this year. Eventually, you are the team you claim you are not.

That magical joyride of 2024 is in the rearview. The admirable, pesky style Cleveland showcased in 2022 is a relic.

The 2025 club, just past the midpoint of the season, still has no identity, other than a team that struggles to muster much of a threat at the plate. The most head-scratching aspect of the operation is the organization’s lack of urgency to change that.

Following a weekend sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Guardians sit at 40-42, below the .500 mark for the first time since early April. Vogt and team president Chris Antonetti have stressed the team needs to stay the course, that better days lie ahead for the lineup. Of course, that’s press conference speak, which shouldn’t carry much weight. This wasn’t an imposing lineup even when the team was winning.

“I believe in this team,” Vogt said Sunday. “I believe we have the right players. I believe our guys are talented, phenomenal baseball players. My confidence never shakes with this group.”

The players called a clubhouse meeting following a one-hit shutout Friday night. They’re clearly cognizant of the lackluster performance — they went 9-16 in June, after all — but an airing of grievances won’t suddenly spark a bunch of lifeless bats.

“We didn’t sign up to play 80 games,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “We play 162. When September’s over, that’s when we’ll judge our season.”

The Guardians’ brand of baseball this season has been largely dull and mistake-filled, not an ideal recipe for a team with no margin for error, given its payroll and mode of operation.

So, what’s the solution?

There’s no rewinding to the winter and making more of an effort to bolster a lineup that wasn’t particularly lethal last year, either. They gambled on Carlos Santana, Bo Naylor, Nolan Jones, Brayan Rocchio, Gabriel Arias, Angel Martínez and Jhonkensy Noel. Nothing has worked. The root of the organization’s shortcomings is its continued inability to consistently develop hitters. Cleveland has more or less mastered the pitching side of the equation, but it’s still searching for the elusive formula on the hitting side. Outfield deficiencies have plagued this team for more than a decade.

The Guardians don’t spend lavishly in free agency, which makes it imperative they churn out capable young players, or trade the right prospects for the right big-league talent at the right time. Instead, they stockpiled middle infield prospects, none of whom have panned out. So, we’re all waiting on the next wave of prospects the organization is hoping and praying will flip the narrative.

And that leads us to Chase DeLauter.

We’re certainly closing in on a promotion of the 2022 first-round pick. But why has it taken this long? DeLauter and Juan Brito almost surely would have debuted by now if they hadn’t suffered injuries in March and April, respectively.

They’ve been especially careful with DeLauter, who has yet to play in more than three consecutive games in the minors this season.

There have been times, Antonetti said, when they’ve needed to ease up on him because his body hasn’t recovered as quickly as hoped as they increased his workload. That’s a more viable excuse for keeping him at Triple A than another one the front office has leaned on: Who loses at-bats when DeLauter earns a promotion? Spin a wheel. It’s immaterial.

If 39-year-old Santana loses a game or two a week against a right-hander, that’s surely better for the long-term health of the franchise — and it might be better in the present tense, too, considering Santana has floundered and DeLauter carries lofty expectations at the plate. Lane Thomas, unlike DeLauter, hits right-handed. Jones has had three months to prove himself.

There are ways to get DeLauter sufficient playing time. This isn’t exactly trying to shoehorn a fifth Beatle into the group.

DeLauter plays right field. Cleveland’s right fielders rank 29th out of 30 teams in offensive production. Their center fielders rank 30th. Their shortstops rank 30th. Their catchers rank 28th. Even mediocre production out of one of those spots would offer a jolt.

And this is all while having the platoon advantage far more than any other team in baseball. The average MLB team has the platoon advantage (meaning a hitter facing the opposite-handed pitcher) 54.1 percent of the time. The Guardians, meanwhile, have the platoon advantage 76.8 percent of the time.

It hasn’t helped.

The Guardians have scored in one of their last 36 innings.

When Kyle Manzardo blasted a homer to center Saturday, a press box staffer accidentally uttered on the PA system that it snapped a 21-game scoreless streak before quickly correcting it to a 21-inning drought. It only felt like 21 games.

The fourth inning on Saturday: six runs, six hits, zero errors

The other 35 innings the last four days: zero runs, nine hits, eight errors

This is a lineup worth shaking up. That 9-16 June record — which, as of this writing, is guaranteed to be better than only one other team, the Nationals — comes despite the fact they entered Sunday’s action with the seventh-best ERA in the league this month.

Cleveland’s front office regularly solicits opinions from a variety of evaluators in the organization on prospects who could be ready for a promotion to another level. It collected its latest intel on DeLauter over the weekend, and Antonetti admitted that, for the first time, he is officially in consideration for a major-league opportunity. Will he struggle upon his first bout with big-league pitching? Maybe. It’d be unfair to expect any prospect to rescue an entire lineup. But if he struggles, he’ll be no different than every other outfielder on the club not named Steven Kwan.

DeLauter should join the club soon. Brito shouldn’t be too far behind. C.J. Kayfus has made a convincing case with his bat, but the way things are heading, he seems like a first baseman destined to replace Santana following a trade deadline dump.

Somehow, a team that stood three wins from the World Series eight months ago is trending toward a summer of retooling. There have been no signs of the old “Guards Ball,” despite the displays on the scoreboard.

“As soon as we start changing things, that means we don’t believe,” Vogt said. “We haven’t changed a thing. We believe in this group. We’re going to turn it around.”

(Photo of José Ramírez: David Richard / Imagn Images)