The Cleveland Guardians have always taken pride in their pitching. They thrive at finding and developing their arms, and they’ve also helped some struggling talents get it together after other teams give up on them.
They have one of the best pitching coaching staffs in all of baseball. And with all the talent in the minors, they should be in a position to succeed for years to come.
Nevertheless, they might be in for a tough year next season. At least, that’s what we can tell from Streamer’s latest WAR projection for next season.
As shown by Thomas Nestico on X, the Guardians are projected to rank No. 22 in Major League Baseball with a 9.7 WAR. They’re expected to do better than the San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, and Colorado Rockies.
2026 Projected Rotation WAR – Steamer pic.twitter.com/wMb4sROOOR
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) November 29, 2025
That being said, projections are just that: Projections. We’ve seen pundits, analysts, fans, and models count this team out way too many times in the past, just to end up eating their words at the end of the season. If anything, the Guardians’ rotation might get a big bump with players like Joey Cantillo and Parker Messick getting more playing time right out of the gate.
The Guardians should still try to find more help for their heavily taxed bullpen. But when it comes to the starters, Stephen Vogt’s team shouldn’t find much trouble taking care of business again as they did for most of last season.
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