At first glance, the Cleveland Guardians may not look like a potential playoff team this season. Coming off a recent four-game losing streak, they sit at .500 a little more than one month into the campaign.
However, that 16-16 record is good enough to tie the Detroit Tigers for first place in the AL Central. It is also tied for the fourth-best record in the American League.
So, with three wild card berths to go along with three division winners, there is plenty of room in the postseason for at least one mediocre ballclub, and maybe more. Even without a substantial turnaround, the Guardians should remain in the mix for most of the year.
In fact, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, history shows an encouraging trend for the Guardians’ playoff hopes, with May 1 an important date as far as the standings are concerned.
“Since 1996 — the first full season with at least one Wild Card in each league after the ’95 campaign was limited to 144 games — 88 of 174 eventual division champions held at least a share of their division lead entering May 1. That’s 51 percent of division winners. Take note, Yankees, Tigers, Guardians, A’s, Braves, Reds and Dodgers fans — those teams are our current division leaders heading into May,” Langs wrote.
Cleveland has been almost the perfect embodiment of a .500 team this season. Before their recent slide, the Guardians had not lost more than two games in a row, and they still have not won more than two straight.
They have not been more than three games over .500 at any point, but they had not fallen below that mark until dropping to 15-16. They got back to even with a victory against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 29, prior to an off day.
There may be even more confidence about the playoff outlook going forward, based on what the Guardians were able to accomplish last season. After posting a 17-13 record entering May 1 that trailed Detroit by 1.5 games, Cleveland fell five games below .500 before the All-Star break.
The Guardians were still one game under on Sept. 4. Then, after trailing by as many as 15.5 games in the standings at one point, and by 11 games in September, Cleveland was able to mount a historic rally to overtake Detroit and win the division for a second straight year.
Hopefully, they won’t face the same daunting task in their attempt at a third straight division title, but it is good to know they do have that experience to draw from.
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