Steven Kwan (Creative Commons/Erik Drost)
The Cleveland Guardians currently have a record of 46-26. And despite that, they still have a relatively low profile. The Guardians manage to be competitive year after year despite having relatively meager resources. It’s enough to make to make Cubs and White Sox fans green with envy. Amazingly, the Guardians are doing it this season with a starting rotation that hasn’t been particularly good.
Shane Bieber would have been nice
Bieber signed a one year $13.5 million deal with the Guardians in the offseason but has been sidelined after Tommy John surgery. Logan Allen is sporting a record of 8-3 despite having an ERA of 5.23. Tanner Bibee and Ben Lively have done solid work, but it has been sketchy after that. While the starters haven’t been exactly lights out, the Guardian relievers have been.
Emmanuel Clause has been a beast as the Guardians closer, converting 22 of 25. He has struck out 36 hitters in 35.1 innings while walking only three.
And I’ve been watching Hector Neris try to close for the Cubs.
But Clase is not alone. Hunter Gaddis, Scott Barlow, and Tim Herrin have all been strong in supportive roles. Beyond the bullpen, the foundation of the Guardians is doing its thing.
Steven Kwan is leading the way
Kwan is currently hitting .396. And I don’t know how many people outside of Cleveland are aware of it. He has a WAR of 2.9. Second baseman Andres Gimenez is probably one of the most underrated players in MLB. For the last two seasons, he has a combined WAR of 12.7. Gimenez provides gold glove defense coupled with a solid bat with some power sprinkled in. This season Andres bat is down a bit, but he’s still a valuable player
First baseman Josh Naylor is the big power guy on the team with 19 home runs. His career high is 20, so he’s having a career year.
But, at least for me, the foundation cornerstone of this team is third baseman Jose Ramirez. For the last three seasons, he’s put up a WAR of 5.0 or better. And he’s on that pace again. He already has 18 home runs. I’ve heard talk of the ball been a little deader this season. But I’ve been watching Cubs’ fly balls die on the warning track and listening to their announcing team. Apparently, the ball is pretty lively in Cleveland.
And an added boost
Utility man, David Fry, has put up an OPS of .960 in 184 plate appearances. He also has a WAR of 1.8. Whether that is sustainable or not remains to be seen, but his play has been a huge shot in the arm for the team.
Tyler Freeman has been patrolling center field as opposed to Myles Straw who was the 2023 Guardians center fielder. Straw was great defensively but added nothing with the bat. Freeman has been a bit of an upgrade offensively.
With the White Sox already out of the race, I’d like to see the Guardians break their long championship drought. But they might need some more starting pitching.
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