The Cleveland Guardians didn’t show their best while getting swept by the Atlanta Braves.
Even so, they’re still alive in the AL playoff race.
They looked to be out of the picture a couple of months ago, but they got back on track before the All-Star break and had won five consecutive series.
With that in mind, Bleacher Report analyst Zachary D. Rymer said the Guardians are a team that can cause “chaos” in the tight playoff race.
“Cause for Chaos: Play Spoiler *or* Stage a Comeback,” Rymer wrote. “The Guardians haven’t had much of a footprint in the AL playoff race throughout 2025, and it was only a couple weeks ago they were staring into the abyss at the trade deadline. Though he wasn’t exactly quiet in the first half of the year, José Ramírez is suddenly doing that thing where nobody can get him out. He has a .940 OPS in the second half so far, with barely more strikeouts (eight) than he does home runs (seven). Further, rumors of their bullpen’s demise after Emmanuel Clase was placed on leave were greatly exaggerated. Cleveland’s pen has a 2.81 ERA without him, with Cade Smith locking things down by allowing just one earned run in 9.1 innings.”
The Guardians are 3.0 games out of the final AL Wild Card spot.
They’re also 8.5 games behind the division-leading Detroit Tigers in the AL Central, but they have six games remaining against them.
It’s still too early to count out the Guardians, especially after watching them turn their season around following a 10-game losing streak.
Granted, they need to bounce back after a disappointing series loss to a sub-.500 team like the Braves.
Cleveland has shown the type of resiliency one often sees in a team that goes the distance despite not boasting the most talent or having the best record.
Not even losing one of its starting pitchers and its superstar closer has been enough to break this team’s spirit.
It won’t be easy, and the margin for error is close to zero, but the Guardians can still make plenty of noise this season.
NEXT: Guardians Make Concerning Move In MLB Power Rankings
