The Cleveland Guardians haven’t been able to consistently recapture the magic they had last season when they made a run all the way to the ALCS after winning the AL Central, as they now find themselves at 34-30 and seven games behind the Detroit Tigers in the division.
Cleveland has lost four out of its last six games to the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, and one former Guardian recently revealed what he believes needs to change with the team.
On a recent episode of The Carlos Baerga Show, Baerga pointed out how the team is struggling to do the little things and needs to get back to playing their typical brand of baseball.
“We need to play GuardsBall, we need to do the little things,” Baerga said.
The Guards have dropped 4 of 5 this week, but their intense style of baseball keeps them competitive every day.
"We need to play #GuardsBall, we need to do the little things."
Presented by @infinitiofBW https://t.co/uAHwkWRTgm pic.twitter.com/SwZjLgBDg0
— Carlos Baerga Show (@BaergaShow) June 8, 2025
The metrics have not been kind to this team so far this year, as the offense is 24th in runs scored while the starting rotation is 27th in the league with just 15 quality starts.
The bullpen was the best in baseball last season, but it ultimately fell apart in the postseason as the bullpen became overworked due to not having a starting rotation that could consistently get through four or five innings.
Cleveland has also made 40 errors, which is the fifth-most in the league and already nearly halfway to the 87 errors the team made last year.
These are the little things the Guardians aren’t doing well, and for a team built this way that can’t rely on a high-octane power-hitting offense or a rotation full of horses who can consistently put up seven innings with double-digit strikeouts, it’s important to do the little things like play defense, work counts, and run the bases well.
Cleveland was also fifth in the league in steals last year and currently ranks 17th in 2025, so there are plenty of areas for the Guardians to improve to ensure this season doesn’t continue down this path.
NEXT: Guardians Announce 2 Roster Moves On Sunday
