Guardians of the AL Central Galaxy

For the Cleveland Guardians, the 2023 season did not go well. 2022 saw them finish first in the American League Central, and they would fall one win short of playing for the pennant. 2022 was also the team's first year playing as the Guardians, and while it looked like they would dominate the Central every year, 2023 saw them take a bit of a nose dive. A third place finish and 76 wins, finishing 11 games behind the Twins in the division.

This year saw the Guardians return to the same form they had two years prior, and as a result, they returned to the postseason party on September 19. Two days later, the Guardians entered the day's action needing only a win or a Kansas City Royals loss to claim the Central. The Royals played before the Guardians, though KC would be blasted at home by the San Francisco Giants, giving the Central to the Guardians, who took the field later on, but were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Nevertheless, the Guardians are champions of the AL Central for the 12th time in franchise history, and the second time in three seasons. They are definitely closing in on one of the two first-round byes in the American League, and are in a tight race with the New York Yankees for the best record in the junior circuit. Of course, we all know what the main goal is: to end the suffering. The Guardians have not won a World Series since all the way back in 1948. That is the longest current drought in baseball.

Without question, Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan have been the two leaders of this team in 2024. Ramirez has given his usual star slugging performance, leading the team in home runs (37) and RBIs (112). Kwan, at some point, was up for the batting title, though the average has gone down a bit. He still leads with a .291 average, and elsewhere, Josh Naylor has also cracked the 100 RBI mark. Regarding pitching, the team has managed to do this with their star ace, Shane Bieber, out for the season, but the rotation stayed strong nonetheless. They also have a hell of a closer, as Emmanuel Clase is having another stellar season, with 46 saves this season.

The Guardians' last pennant came in 2016, which was the year that saw them defeated by the Chicago Cubs--who hadn't won a championship in over a century. The last time they played for the pennant was 2018, and again 2022 saw them nearly reach the ALCS. The Guardians are three wins away from avoiding the Wild Card Series, but when it comes to the race for the #1 spot in the American League, that's where things are tough for the team. Cleveland trails the Yankees by 1.5 games, and they lost the season series to the Bronx Bombers.

The Guardians have an interesting final week coming up. After they finish their set with the Cardinals, the Guardians will host a two-game interleague rivalry set with the Cincinnati Reds, and their regular season will end with a home set against the Houston Astros. Cleveland can lock up a bye before their series against Houston, but regarding the AL's top spot, they'll need to pretty much win out and get some help from either the Orioles or Pirates (the Yankees' last two opponents of the regular season). The Guardians do have a good chance at a pretty decent postseason run, but will that turn into their first championship in just over three-quarters of a century?

Check out my story below about that 1948 championship: