The Cleveland Guardians beat the odds this season.
They did what no other team in MLB history had done before, coming back from 15.5 games behind to win their division.
Now, they want to close the deal and win the whole thing.
Of course, that will be easier said than done.
But as Tim Stebbins of MLB.com pointed out, they may have the most important thing a team needs to win the World Series.
“The Guardians have quality and quantity in their starting rotation, and the staff could carry them to their first World Series title since 1948. A six-man rotation of Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Slade Cecconi, Logan Allen, Parker Messick and Joey Cantillo has been firing on all cylinders for the past month, and that group brought Cleveland back from the brink to clinch a historic postseason berth. The Guardians went 20-7 in September while their starters recorded a 2.60 ERA. That included a 1.35 ERA from Sept. 5-24 — a stretch in which the rotation allowed two or fewer runs in 19 straight games as Cleveland went 17-2 to erase the Tigers’ 11-game division lead,” Stebbins wrote.
The Guardians closed out the regular season as the hottest team in baseball.
That might not be sustainable, especially in the playoffs when opposing managers keep their pitchers on a shorter leash.
Cleveland isn’t built to dominate at the plate, and even with top prospect Chase DeLauter joining the lineup, it may not have the firepower to get the job done.
That’s not the case on the mound.
While the Guardians may not have the most prominent names in their rotation, they’ve pitched the lights out over the past month.
They’ve also had one of the best bullpens in the game for years.
Not even losing Emmanuel Clase to an MLB gambling investigation was enough to change that, as Cade Smith stepped up and emerged as another elite closer.
There’s still plenty of baseball left to be played, but if the Guardians continue to dominate on the mound, they will go further than most people think.
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