The Cleveland Guardians have one major advantage over the Chicago White Sox in their race for the AL Central title. Many of the Guardians have been through this before, while the White Sox have not.
For Cleveland, that includes two-time AL Manager of the Year Stephen Vogt, whose team rallied from an 11-game deficit last September to overtake the Detroit Tigers for the division crown. The task was not as daunting this time around, but the Guardians are in a perfect position to chase down the White Sox.
The Guardians trail the White Sox by one-half game heading into a crucial three-game series between the teams that begins Monday at Progressive Field. Cleveland was as far as six games back and in fourth place less than a month ago.
After a 9-2 win against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, outfielder Steven Kwan sent a clear message about the Guardians’ mindset, saying they try to keep everything as normal as possible despite the pressure that they’ve been facing.
“It’s kind of out of necessity. If we try to win two games in one day, it’s just not going to be possible. You’re going to play worse. You’re going to feel the pressure. It’s just out of necessity. We take every day as normal. One at-bat at a time. It’s not a very cool thing to say, but we have to because once you start trying to play hero, bad things happen. One day at a time. We just keep pushing,” Kwan said.
Steven Kwan chatted with @DreKnott after his 3-hit game pushed the Guardians to a 9-2 win over the Twins.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/60JRjOBow6
— GuardsTV (@GuardsTV) September 13, 2026
The ability to thrive in this type of circumstance is a clear reflection of Vogt’s leadership. Cleveland also has veterans like Kwan and Ramirez who have played in many big games for the franchise and know how to make the most of them.
It should be noted that the Guardians do have their fair share of players who haven’t been through this before, yet they seem to be handling it quite well. Rookie second baseman Travis Bazzana is a shining example of this, as he has a .370 batting average and 1.167 OPS this month, with two home runs and nine RBIs.
On the other hand, the pennant race may finally be getting to the White Sox, who lost more than 100 games in each of the prior two seasons. Chicago has lost five of its past six games heading into this divisional showdown, and it may be very difficult to pull out of that slump on the road.
There is a lot on the line over the final two weeks, but you can count on the Guardians not to waver in their approach.
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