Before taking the field on Tuesday, the Cleveland Guardians are 60-65, fourth in the AL Central and 5.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the division lead. As things stand today, the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, and the Baltimore Orioles, three AL East squads, are in Wild Card spots.
The Texas Rangers and the Detroit Tigers are tied with the O’s with the same record in that last Wild Card spot at 61-64. Then, you have the Minnesota Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays at 61-65. After that, we see the Guardians.
Technically, the Guardians are just one game behind the last of the three Wild Card positions. The reality, however, is much less encouraging: the Guardians have lost 17 of their last 23 games and have too many teams between them and that last spot for October. If they are going to make a comeback in the standings and fight for a place in the postseason, they will need to overcome many obstacles, including themselves.
Their bullpen has been leaky in recent weeks, the offense has been bad virtually all season, and they are prone to mistakes and errors. The Guardians, however, still have a chance to play October baseball.
If they do get there, do they have enough to make a significant run? Can they reach the last series of the season? Team insider Paul Hoynes doesn’t offer an overly optimistic picture for fans.
“I’m sure they’d love to get to the postseason, but what would they do when they get there? Are they going to just kind of roll over and get shut out again? This does not look like an October-bound team right now,” Hoynes said. “We can sit here and talk about what they can and can’t do, but they’ve got to go out and play. They just haven’t looked like a championship team for much of this season.”
Spot on. Yes, the postseason is, in many ways, impossible to predict. We have seen many ‘mediocre’ or middling teams make some incredible runs. The Guardians, however, need to show something on the field to have a chance at turning things around.
It’s hard to see this team mounting a four-run comeback, for instance, in the AL Championship Series, with Jose Ramirez seemingly playing hurt and such an inconsistent offense and bullpen.
The rotation is talented enough to give Cleveland a solid floor, but other units on the roster will need to show up.
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