The Cleveland Guardians are in the thick of the playoff race with only a few weeks remaining in the regular season. The second-half surge has put this team in a position to win the American League Central if they continue to play well down the stretch. Entering Friday’s game, the Guardians are currently tied with the Chicago White Sox for first place in the division.
They’ve been keeping themselves in the playoff conversation, and they actually moved up in the recent MLB power rankings.
“While the Guardians’ focus will be on whether they can earn a postseason spot for a third straight season, a lesser pursuit regards their home run leaderboard. At present, Angel Martinez leads the club with 15, with a slew of others crowded behind him. If the season ended today, that would be the fewest homers a Cleveland team leader has hit since Bo Diaz led teh team with just seven in the strike-shortened 1981 season,” Bradford Doolittle wrote.
The Guardians have jumped from the 13th spot up to 12th in the latest power rankings. It’s not a huge jump, but it’s also better to move up than down. The Guardians have played consistent enough baseball to put themselves in a playoff position.
The Guardians begin a weekend series against the Athletics in Cleveland beginning on Friday. After that, the Guardians wrap up the season on the road versus the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals. The Guardians have a fairly favorable schedule against two teams that haven’t even hit the 70-win mark yet.
The pitching has been excellent, and the lineup has gotten better in the second half. As Doolittle mentioned, the biggest problem for the Guardians has been the lack of power in the lineup. The addition of outfielder Jo Adell has helped, but he doesn’t completely fix the problem.
Somehow, this team is tied for first place, with their home run leader being Angel Martinez with 15 long balls. Travis Bazzana and Chase DeLauter trail him by one. Normally, Jose Ramirez would probably be leading the team, but injuries have kept him off the field for a portion of the season.
If they do make the playoffs, the Guardians might struggle to produce runs against better pitching in the postseason. The long ball is a major factor, especially in the playoffs, when scoring runs can be extremely difficult.
We’ll see how this offense does, assuming they can make it to October.
NEXT: Jo Adell Joins Exclusive MLB Power-Hitter Company
