You can forgive the Cleveland Guardians if they are not panicked about what has happened to them in the AL playoff race. If any team knows how to rally from a deficit in the standings, it’s them.
The Guardians were 11 games behind the Detroit Tigers last September yet managed to overtake them with a historic rally to win the AL Central. Entering play on Saturday, things aren’t nearly as dire.
After a 9-1 win against the Colorado Rockies on Friday, Cleveland trails the first-place Chicago White Sox by four games in the division. The Guardians are one game behind the Texas Rangers for the final AL Wild Card berth.
With 33 games remaining, outfielder Steven Kwan revealed why the Guardians still believe in a turnaround, and it has everything to do with the fact that they’ve done it before.
“Having that perspective of last year is huge. Obviously, we were going through a little stretch of not winning some games that we felt like we should, but I mean, felt like last year was a lot bleaker. It was a lot tougher of a spot that we were in, and to know that we made it out of that. I feel like you come out of what we did last year, we can do anything now this year,” Kwan said.
(Via #Guardians audio) Steven Kwan to reporters in Denver on how Cleveland’s historic comeback last season has kept the clubhouse motivated through their rough stretch this year:
“Absolutely, yeah. Having that perspective of last year is huge. Obviously, we went… we were going…
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) August 22, 2026
It looked like things were going to be much easier for the Guardians this season, as they were in or near first place in the AL Central for much of the first three months. But after entering the All-Star break tied with the White Sox atop the division, the Guardians have fallen fast.
Cleveland is 12-20 since the break, and their current back-to-back wins are its first since July 20-21. In a recent crucial road trip, it went 2-4 against Chicago and the Detroit Tigers.
At this time last year, the Guardians were 10.5 games behind the Tigers in the division, and 3.0 games back in the wild-card race. They defeated the Tigers five straight times down the stretch and took the AL Central title for a second straight year.
This season, they have three games remaining against the White Sox. Those will be played Sept. 14-16 at Progressive Field, and it could be the most important series of the season.
Fortunately, according to Fansided, the Guardians have the easiest remaining strength of schedule in the American League, so hopefully they can take advantage and make another successful run into the playoffs.
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