The Cleveland Guardians are somehow tied atop the AL Central division with the White Sox, even after being without future Hall of Famer José Ramírez and slugger Angel Martínez for over a month. Ramírez, a cornerstone, and Martínez, who led the team in slugging and home runs before his injury, have been sidelined for tough stretches of the schedule. Everyone thought this team would ride their pitching and defense, just scrapping enough offense to win. So, how’s that working out now that we’re past the All-Star break? Let’s dive in.
The Rotation Is DEALING and Eating Innings
Look, the starting rotation has absolutely blown past what we expected. Yeah, Slade Cecconi had a rough start, and Tanner Bibee tossed a couple of duds. But get this: Parker Messick isn’t just a Rookie of the Year contender, both he and Gavin Williams are straight up in the Cy Young conversation right now! Joey Cantillo has been quietly solid too. Overall, these guys have the 7th best ERA in MLB, and they’ve thrown the 3rd most innings across the league, barely behind the Dodgers. We knew they’d be good after their 2025 finish, but the way they’re getting deep into games AND keeping a top 10 ERA? That’s exceeding expectations, big time.
Bullpen Battles and a Surprise at the Plate
Now, the bullpen is a different story. These guys were first in fWAR and ERA in 2024, and third in both in 2025. This season? They’re sitting at 8th in ERA and 12th in fWAR. There have been some uncharacteristic late-inning collapses, with way too many walks blowing leads. Injuries to Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski certainly didn’t help. Even with Daniel Espino and Franco Aleman having promising starts to their careers, and our guy Cade Smith being an AL All-Star and a dominant closer, an 8th best bullpen ERA of 3.74, while good, still feels below expectations because those previous two seasons set the bar sky-high.
Then we get to hitting, and this section is complicated. The 2025 Guardians offense was a trainwreck, bottom three in almost every meaningful offensive category, with a wRC+ of 87 and an OPS of .670. They ranked 28th and 29th, respectively. We all knew coming into this season there was going to be a lot of promis
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