Injuries have the potential to derail an entire season. The Cleveland Guardians, of course, know about this.
On June 13, team star Jose Ramirez went down with a broken left hamate bone, and he still hasn’t returned. He is getting close and is already performing baseball activities, but the Guardians have had to play without him for roughly five weeks.
It hasn’t always been pretty, sure, but they have managed to stay afloat. Many fans, journalists, and analysts doubted their ability to do that, and it was fair to do so, but they have mostly stayed competitive.
After winning two straight and seven of their last 10, the Guardians are tied with the Chicago White Sox for first in the AL Central. They boast a 54-48 record, and Ramirez is on his way back from the injured list. There are reasons to be very optimistic about the rest of the year for Cleveland fans.
Analyst Ken Carman praised the Guardians for not surrendering in the middle of adversity, and says that the team doesn’t allow fans to give up on them.
“I don’t know if you can ask them to do any more than what they’re doing. If I had said I’m done with the Guardians for the year on Sunday, Sunday was stupid, then I would’ve looked like a Major League idiot. That’s the way they are, and the way their organization is. You can’t give up on them. They don’t allow you to give up on them because they play well enough and able to get it together. When they’re .500 without Jose Ramirez on this team, I can’t ask for much more,” Carman said.
"I don't know if you can ask them to do anymore than what they're doing… You can't give up on them. They don't allow you to give up on them."
âšľ@KenCarman & @SportsBoyTony on the Guardians being .500 since the Jose Ramirez injury pic.twitter.com/ALoBN7kDwO
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) July 22, 2026
Sunday, as Carman suggests, was one of the lowest points of the Guardians’ season. They made five outs on the basepaths and plenty of mental mistakes in an ugly loss. What did they do after that? They won Monday and Tuesday’s games against a division rival, the Minnesota Twins, in dominant fashion.
You just can’t give up on a team over .500 that’s currently without its best player. When Ramirez and Angel Martinez return, and if they bring in upgrades before the trade deadline, the Guardians’ offense has a lot of potential.
They already have postseason-caliber pitching. If the offense can match it, we could be talking about a historic year.
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