Guards on the Table

 

The Guardians, in recent years, will pick this time of year to either run out of steam or get going. A few years ago, they threw in the towel around this time of year, the Twins won it. Last year, it was the Tigers' division to lose when suddenly the Guardians caught absolute fire with a month and a half left to go and won it in a squeaker. 

And so here we are, 2026. The Guardians have essentially claimed the AL Central all year without being over the top wonderful. Since the all-star break, they've been atrocious. The Rays, White Sox and Twins clobbered them, that's somewhat understandable, but the Mets?? The Mets, who are just now remembering they could have been good this whole time?? Unbelievable. They brought on so many great pieces at the deadline, and next to none of them are helping. Craig Yoho is struggling mightily, Foster Griffin blew his first start, Jo Adell hasn't really taken off yet and Blake Perkins isn't even up yet. At the very least Nathaniel Lowe has been alright but the reinforcements haven't reinforced a thing. And all the while, now Slade Cecconi is hurt, now Travis Bazzana's slowing down, and the Tigers, who have already jumped them in the standings, are up next.

This Guardians team is already fundamentally very good, and has the pieces necessary to make a run. They just need to solidify. And that starts with Jose Ramirez, who was having a decent season before the injury but now needs to lead the team forward. This is a slightly lesser J-Ram year all around, with only those 29 steals seeming that regular for him. He's hit 10 homers and 36 RBIs, his OPS is .736, it's a fine enough year but we've all seen him do better, even as recently as last year. And look, we all know J-Ram's destined for Cooperstown, he's got a 30 WAR the past 5 seasons, even an okay year like this one isn't gonna derail his career. But he's still gotta be Jose Ramirez to this team, and that means bringing them forward to stop the competition. You can see Steven Kwan filling that role a little, he had a huge power moment the other night against the White Sox. You can see Rocchio and DeLauter stepping up. You can even see Austin Hedges and Patrick Bailey both having terrific seasons after being mid for so long. The effort is there all around.

But it doesn't excuse the poor baseball we've seen recently. A lot of close games mishandled, a few too many blown saves, and a lot of guys left on base. The Tigers and White Sox also want it bad, and so do the Twins ultimately. The Guardians need that insane momentum from last August to reappear and get them all the way, because stretches like this one are not how they get there.

Coming Tonight: A typically reliable member of the RBI-friendly Cubs lineup.