The Cleveland Guardians, the Forgotten team left in the MLB playoffs
The Cleveland Guardians, the Forgotten team left in the MLB playoffs
By Lachlan Wellington October 18, 2024 22:30
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If you were picking a powerhouse final four for the MLB playoff final four, the bracket would look very similar to this one in 2024, with three of the biggest franchises remaining: the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees. Who all have a top five salary payroll in 2024.
However, the fourth team features the small market Cleveland Guardians. You have to go all the way down to 23rd to find Cleveland on the MLB payroll. Impressive, considering they have not just got to the playoffs, no, they started as one of the hottest teams in baseball in 2024 and finished the regular season winning the American League Central division with the second best record in the AL behind only the Yankees.
Cleveland is not a city that takes their sports lightly either. Perhaps they don’t have the intense fans of Los Angeles or New York, however, the city has not lifted a major sports trophy since the Lebron James Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2016.
The Guardians have a solid batting lineup, although the team ranks 21st in batting average with .238, 14th for runs scored with 708 and 12th for home runs with 185. The Guardians did, however, send five players to the 2024 All-Star game- the most since 2018 with four position players making the American league squad- two of whom started.
José Ramírez was a major reason the Guardians were so good in 2024 as he led the team with 39 home runs (tied-5th in MLB), RBI with 118 (3rd in MLB) and was second to only Steven Kwan in batting average with .279. Kwan was also a heavy contributor to the Guardians offense in 2024 in the leadoff spot with his .292 batting average and 14 homers.
The other position player All-Stars for Cleveland who did not start includes Josh Naylor who had a career year with a .243 average, 108 RBI’s and 31 home runs plus David Fry who finishes the regular season with 14 homers and 51 RBI’s.
Despite the Guardians solid offensive year, a lot of their success in 2024 can be attributed to their pitching, especially their bullpen.
Cleveland’s pitcher ERA is 3.61 in the 2024 season, good enough for third in the league. The Guardians WHIP (walk and hits per innings pitched) ranks 3rd overall in the league at 1.20 and their batting average of .230 is enough for second in the league.
The Guardians starting pitchers were very good, led by Tanner Bibee with his 12 wins, 3.47 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, .230 batting average against (BAA) and 187 strikeouts. Ben Lively also maintained a great year with a 3.81 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and .241 BAA. The other regular Cleveland starters struggled somewhat, however, their bullpen was the real shining light.
The bullpen for Cleveland in 2024 boasted the lowest bullpen ERA in the league with 2.57- the 4th lowest all-time in the wild card era. Their closer, Emmanuel Clase, showed why he is perhaps the best in the game with his 4-2 record, tiny 0.61 ERA and 47 saves- which leads baseball for the third year in a row.
Behind Clase, Cade Smith held a 1.91 ERA out of the pen through 74 games in the regular season and Hunter Gaddis finished with a 1.57 ERA through 78 games in 2024. Tim Herrin also held a 1.92 ERA through 75 games.
Whatever happens the rest of the way, the Guardians have had a fantastic year and are poised for more of the same in 2025. First-year manager Stephen Vogt, who is the favorite for the American League manager of the year, will play a major role in the teams future and where they go from here too.
However, the fourth team features the small market Cleveland Guardians. You have to go all the way down to 23rd to find Cleveland on the MLB payroll. Impressive, considering they have not just got to the playoffs, no, they started as one of the hottest teams in baseball in 2024 and finished the regular season winning the American League Central division with the second best record in the AL behind only the Yankees.
Cleveland is not a city that takes their sports lightly either. Perhaps they don’t have the intense fans of Los Angeles or New York, however, the city has not lifted a major sports trophy since the Lebron James Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2016.
The Guardians have a solid batting lineup, although the team ranks 21st in batting average with .238, 14th for runs scored with 708 and 12th for home runs with 185. The Guardians did, however, send five players to the 2024 All-Star game- the most since 2018 with four position players making the American league squad- two of whom started.
José Ramírez was a major reason the Guardians were so good in 2024 as he led the team with 39 home runs (tied-5th in MLB), RBI with 118 (3rd in MLB) and was second to only Steven Kwan in batting average with .279. Kwan was also a heavy contributor to the Guardians offense in 2024 in the leadoff spot with his .292 batting average and 14 homers.
The other position player All-Stars for Cleveland who did not start includes Josh Naylor who had a career year with a .243 average, 108 RBI’s and 31 home runs plus David Fry who finishes the regular season with 14 homers and 51 RBI’s.
Despite the Guardians solid offensive year, a lot of their success in 2024 can be attributed to their pitching, especially their bullpen.
Cleveland’s pitcher ERA is 3.61 in the 2024 season, good enough for third in the league. The Guardians WHIP (walk and hits per innings pitched) ranks 3rd overall in the league at 1.20 and their batting average of .230 is enough for second in the league.
The Guardians starting pitchers were very good, led by Tanner Bibee with his 12 wins, 3.47 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, .230 batting average against (BAA) and 187 strikeouts. Ben Lively also maintained a great year with a 3.81 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and .241 BAA. The other regular Cleveland starters struggled somewhat, however, their bullpen was the real shining light.
The bullpen for Cleveland in 2024 boasted the lowest bullpen ERA in the league with 2.57- the 4th lowest all-time in the wild card era. Their closer, Emmanuel Clase, showed why he is perhaps the best in the game with his 4-2 record, tiny 0.61 ERA and 47 saves- which leads baseball for the third year in a row.
Behind Clase, Cade Smith held a 1.91 ERA out of the pen through 74 games in the regular season and Hunter Gaddis finished with a 1.57 ERA through 78 games in 2024. Tim Herrin also held a 1.92 ERA through 75 games.
Whatever happens the rest of the way, the Guardians have had a fantastic year and are poised for more of the same in 2025. First-year manager Stephen Vogt, who is the favorite for the American League manager of the year, will play a major role in the teams future and where they go from here too.
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