Analyst Doesn’t Believe In Guardians’ Long Playoff Run

The Cleveland Guardians have been a wildly inconsistent team this year. They dominated the AL Central over the first couple of months, then started to play badly and surrendered the top of the division to the Chicago White Sox. They were, about a week ago, 61-66.

Now, they are working on a seven-game winning streak and have managed to improve their record to 68-66 after beating up bad teams: the San Francisco Giants, the Colorado Rockies, and the Los Angeles Angels. Can the Guardians make it to the postseason? Do they have a long run, as they did in 2024?

Analyst Justin Cooper is not too confident about their chances of being relevant in October. He thinks they can get in, but doesn’t believe in them reaching the final instances of the season.

“I think they can get in the playoffs just because of how weak this schedule is, but other than that, am I confident they’re gonna do anything after that point? No. I just don’t like this lineup to stay consistent. They’re hot right now against bad teams. You’re gonna have to prove it to me,” Cooper said.

Do you think the Guardians will make the playoffs after this hot streak? pic.twitter.com/xU3676pfai

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) August 27, 2026

Cooper definitely has a point. The Guardians need to show the world that they can consistently beat good squads. Are they better than the Rockies, Giants, and Angels? Of course they are. Can they compete with the Rays and the Yankees? It remains to be seen.

Before Thursday’s games, Cleveland is 2.5 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central, and two games up in the third and final Wild Card spot. The Rangers are closest to them.

There’s still a lot of baseball to play, so the Guardians will need to keep on winning if they want to fend off the Rangers, the Orioles, the Blue Jays, the Mariners, and other teams vying for that final spot. Additionally, if it keeps getting victories and the White Sox slip, Cleveland has a chance to win its third straight division crown.

Right now, there seems to be perfect synergy between the three main units of the Guardians: the rotation, the bullpen, and the offense. If that’s still the case when better teams show up and challenge them, they could do something special, but it’s a big ‘if’.