The Cleveland Guardians are 4-3 to open the 2026 campaign. They split their first series of the year in Seattle, but on Wednesday, they took a three-game set against the reigning World Series champs, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
They did it with a phenomenal outing by Gavin Williams, who didn’t allow a single run over seven innings and struck out 10. Beating the Dodgers on a day in which Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts at home is almost impossible, but the Guardians did it.
Williams had some help, though. Cleveland hit two home runs in the game, and both of them came from players who were struggling to this point: Gabriel Arias and Jose Ramirez.
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt discussed what that means for his offense.
“I mean, [Gabriel Arias’] got some of the best power in the league, and it’s good to see him get one. You know, he’s been having a hard time barreling the ball up so far this year. And then Jose Ramirez is still pretty good at baseball. It’s just amazing how he comes through when we need him,” Vogt said, per Mason Horodyski.
#Guardians manager Stephen Vogt on tonight’s homers from Gabriel Arias and José Ramírez:
“I mean, Gabby's got some of the best power in the league, and it's good to see him get one. You know, he's been having a hard time barreling the ball up so far this year. And then Jose…— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) April 2, 2026
It’s fair to say that while both Arias and Ramirez have been scuffling at the plate to this point, they are living very different realities. Nobody is questioning J-Ram’s future on the team and his ability to bounce back and play like an All-Star. Arias, however, is likely playing for his job in the upcoming weeks and could use every home run, every well-struck ball, and every good defensive play at this point.
Maybe Vogt is exaggerating when he says Arias has some of the best power in the league, but he is definitely not a zero in that area of the game. He hit 11 homers last year and had 10 in 2023. It was good to see him bouncing back a bit after a really rough opening week.
Arias is now hitting .105 with a 19 wRC+, so he still has a long way to go if he wants to have a chance at retaining his spot on the roster when the Guardians call up Travis Bazzana.
For Ramirez, it was his first round-tripper of the year, and it helped take his wRC+ to 51. You can be sure that the number will be on the rise in the next few weeks.
NEXT: Stephen Vogt Sends Clear Message After Road Trip
