The Cleveland Guardians are heading into the 2026 season with high expectations on the heels of consecutive AL Central crowns. They also have unfinished business after failing to reach the World Series in both years, so hopefully the young guys are ready to step up to push this team over the top.
There have been some interesting subplots developing during Spring Training that have gotten fans excited, namely the depth of the starting rotation and the hot starts at the plate from some young outfielders. Despite the optimism, one analyst isn’t feeling the vibe and believes the arrow is pointed down.
In a recent CBS Sports article, Matt Snyder ranked last year’s playoff teams by how likely they are to miss the 2026 playoffs.
He ranked the Guardians second behind only the Cincinnati Reds.
“Similar sentiment applies here to what I said about the Brewers in that the Guardians routinely play better than projection models think they will. In the case of the Guardians, they were a .500 team nearly all season. They were actually 69-70 before winning 17 of their next 19 games. The division title still counts and they deservedly made the playoffs, but that team was a lot more mediocre than amazing. In looking at the roster now, it still leaves a lot to be desired,” Snyder wrote.
He has a valid point in bringing up the fact that the Guardians simply weren’t a playoff team last year until they got hot down the stretch and turned everything around. If some of the issues repeat themselves, it would be unlikely that the Guardians can salvage things down the stretch and make the playoffs again.
For the Guardians to make the playoffs again, they simply have to be better. They had the worst offense in the league by a lot of metrics, and if they play on three-peating in the division, the Guardians need to put up a lot more production at the plate.
There are some young bats having great camps that can get this offense headed in the right direction.
Hopefully, that production can carry over once the team leaves Goodyear and the regular season begins.
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