The Cleveland Guardians are immersed in arguably the toughest stretch of their 2026 season to date. Not only are they without three of their best players due to injury, but they are also facing a difficult part of their schedule on a nine-game road trip.
Somehow, the Guardians have been able to remain in first place in the AL Central entering a crucial three-game series against the second-place Chicago White Sox. That is a credit to the remarkable resiliency they have shown under manager Stephen Vogt in his three seasons.
The team finds a way to get production from whoever may be in the lineup. Now, they are being led by rookie second baseman Travis Bazzana, who did not make his MLB debut until late April.
With Bazzana’s impressive recent performances in mind, MLB.com has moved the Guardians up in its latest power rankings, from No. 12 to No. 11.
“Travis Bazzana isn’t just having a breakthrough rookie season: He’s carrying the extremely banged-up Guardians right now. His wild night Saturday — 4-for-4, two homers, five RBIs — was the culmination of what is starting to look like an All-Star year,” Will Leitch wrote.
The Guardians lost Jose Ramirez, Chase DeLauter, and Angel Martinez to injury in the same game the Saturday before last. Along with surprising shortstop Brayan Rocchio, the three had been the Guardians’ best hitters this season.
However, Bazzana may be on his way to surpassing them all. He is riding a five-game hitting streak, during which he is 9-for-18 (.500) with three home runs and seven RBIs, thanks to that huge game against the Houston Astros.
Unfortunately, after losing to the Astros on Sunday, the Guardians have won just two of the first six games on this road trip, leading into their first meeting of the season with the White Sox. Fortunately, their pitching staff is lined up, so their two best starters this season, Gavin Williams and Parker Messick, will start the first two games of the series.
After back-to-back 100-loss seasons, not much was expected from the White Sox this year. Chicago has lost five of its past six games, but it is at No. 8 in these power rankings after reaching a high of No. 6 last week.
With Ramirez, DeLauter and Martinez still sidelined, Bazzana will have to continue to come through if the Guardians hope to overtake the White Sox in next week’s rankings.
NEXT: Details Emerge About Guardians' Plans With Cooper Ingle
