The Cleveland Guardians are once again playoff-bound.
Following a 1- 0 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, the Guardians have officially secured a spot in the 2026 Postseason. It’s the 3rd straight season that will see Cleveland active during October baseball, and their 4th appearance in 5 years.
As is every 162-game season, it was one with its ups and downs. Cleveland’s rookie core has not only come into their own, but has been focal points for the Guardians playoff push in the form of Parker Messick, Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana, and Angel Genao, to name a few. Those three bats have played a part in helping keep Cleveland’s offense stay as steady as they could with an admittedly less-than 100% José Ramírez, who has battled through a lingering left hamate injury that he had surgery on in June.
An uncharacteristically active trade deadline was also a big reason why Cleveland is headed back to the playoffs. The additions of Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe at the plate, plus Foster Griffin on the mound, played a big part in lifting Cleveland out of a slumping late summer into a surging September.
There can be credit handed out in many other directions too: career years out of Angel Martínez and Brayan Rocchio, a 200+ strikeout season from Gavin Williams, and Cade Smith becoming the 7th player in franchise history to reach 40+ saves come to mind. All of them are pieces of Cleveland’s postseason puzzle, which isn't quite done yet.
The race for the playoffs is complete, but the race for the AL Central is still on. Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox will duke it out in their final respective series to decide if the Guardians will hang their 3rd straight division championship banner. The Guardians begin theirs with the Kansas City Royals at 7:40 PM on Friday.
