How the Guardians can climb back into contention in the American League
So you're saying there's a ch— it's not going to be easy. Only the Chicago White Sox and Athletics are really, truly out of the wild-card race. The Orioles have been mired in the AL East basement for a while and, rightfully, seem like soon-to-be sellers, but even they're only a few games behind the Guardians.
Advertisement
There's time to make a move, though. So, let's ignore those playoff odds for a moment and chart a path back to legitimate contention for the 46-49 Guardians.
Oh, well, that seems easy enough.
The Guardians own the 28th-best OPS in the league, ahead of only the White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. Beyond All-Stars José Ramírez and Steven Kwan, their next most dependable hitter is … Kyle Manzardo? After that, um, Nolan Jones, maybe? Carlos Santana? This shouldn't be so difficult to answer. The lineup has been begging for some fresh blood for weeks. For this exercise, that can't remain the case. The Guardians have been playing at a self-designed disadvantage.
Even if Chase DeLauter and/or C.J. Kayfus endure a rocky transition to the majors, they'd still offer more of a threat at the plate than, say, Will Wilson or Johnathan Rodriguez have (assuming DeLauter checks out OK this week once he's evaluated for wrist soreness). The upside, on the other hand, is that the Guardians have better answers to the prompt above. If they have to move on from Santana to create space for a big league-ready prospect, that might be beneficial both in the present and future tenses. Santana has a .688 OPS and 40 birthday candles to blow out next spring.
Steven has the second half in his crosshairs.#GuardsBall | #GuardiWWins pic.twitter.com/zITYF2XSEG
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) July 13, 2025
So, find a role for DeLauter or Kayfus, and start plotting how Juan Brito can help in September. Give daily opportunities to Manzardo and Jones, and anyone else finding a rhythm. Pray that Lane Thomas can get healthy and find his old ways. And, hey, don't be afraid to get a head start on the offseason to-do list and survey the market for a controllable hitter this month. After all, it's not like they're magically going to arrive at spring training in 2026 with nine everyday starters ready to form an offensive juggernaut.
Advertisement
This is a front office that, no matter the team's position in the standings, likes to entertain such a trade. In 2021, for instance, as they shipped out César Hernández, Jordan Luplow and Eddie Rosario, they tried to convince the Pirates to hand over Bryan Reynolds. Instead, they acquired Myles Straw. Whoops.
It's looking like a mid-August return for Bieber, who is scheduled to start in the Arizona Complex League on Tuesday. If he avoids further setbacks (and assuming he opts out of his 2026 option), the Guardians will pay him $14 million for, oh, about eight starts. If they can tack on some postseason assignments to his workload, they'll deem it a sufficient investment.
The rotation has carried this team for weeks, and that must continue. Since June 1, Cleveland's rotation ranks fifth in the majors in ERA. Slade Cecconi has flourished. Gavin Williams has taken steps forward. Tanner Bibee, the de facto ace entering the season, has the highest ERA in Cleveland's rotation, though he has expressed confidence in recent weeks that his output will improve the rest of the way.
If Bieber can deliver anything close to what Matthew Boyd provided last year upon his return from Tommy John surgery — and if Luis Ortiz doesn't set foot in Progressive Field again in 2025 — a quintet of Bieber, Bibee, Williams, Cecconi and Logan Allen should be solid enough.
In this scenario, there's no Emmanuel Clase trade, because the Guardians need to lean on their bullpen the way they did last season. Contenders have been inquiring about his availability, and the Guardians could mull whether it's worth flipping him for some future lineup help. But in this exercise, the club can claw back into the race in part by delaying a potential Clase trade until winter, when he'll still have three years of team control remaining.
Advertisement
No, instead, the Guardians would keep Clase for the summer and fall and trust that he, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith can repeat their dominance from a year ago in the second half. Of course, those are unfairly lofty expectations; the 2024 bullpen was historically proficient. This is where the loss of Andrew Walters to season-ending surgery, Franco Aleman's Triple-A struggles and Tim Herrin's inconsistency are proving costly. All three were intended to provide mid- or late-inning insurance this year. Instead, there's been a lot of Matt Festa.
Cleveland's lineup isn't talented enough to fuel the team to frequent lopsided wins, so if the Guardians are going to get on a roll, they'll be regularly summoning their top relievers to protect narrow leads. They need more than three consistent relievers for that sort of task.
Nic Enright and Erik Sabrowski deserve more opportunities to gain entry to Stephen Vogt's circle of trust. Paul Sewald, now healthy, will factor into the equation. This team, however, could still use another arm in high-leverage situations, whether a more efficient Herrin or Joey Cantillo, or even an outsider. (Don't look up Trevor Stephan's Triple-A stats if you have a sensitive stomach.) It wouldn't be the worst idea to scour the relief market and see if anyone piques their interest, either a rental who wouldn't cost anything substantial, or a long-term option (think the Royals' acquisition of Lucas Erceg last summer) who could stick around if Clase is dealt over the offseason.
They rebounded from their 10-game skid with a strong road trip through Houston and Chicago to close the half. Now it's time to flex their muscle against what should be inferior competition. They have three against the Athletics, four against the Orioles, three at the Royals and three against the Rockies to close out July. Can they go 9-4? There are winnable series in August, too, against the Twins, White Sox, Marlins, Braves, Diamondbacks and Rangers.
And, sure, those same teams are noticing the Guardians on their schedules and thinking, 'Hmm, here's a chance to win a series against a feeble opponent.' But all the Guardians have to do is follow this foolproof plan, and they'll make those clubs feel foolish for underestimating a team that toyed around in the first half only to turn it on when it matters most. They'll force them to watch as they speed past the Royals and Rangers and Twins and Angels and Rays and Mariners and anyone else standing between them and a ticket to October. What could go wrong?
(Top photo of Steven Kwan (38) and José Ramírez: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Scheffler ticks off British Open in pursuit of perfection
Scottie Scheffler began his week at the British Open pondering "the point" of his pursuit of perfection but still cruised away from the field to lift the Claret Jug for the first time. Now a four-time major winner, the unassuming American's game is making waves in a dominant spell golf has not seen since Tiger Woods' heyday. Scheffler's four-stroke victory at Royal Portrush was already his fourth this year, despite a slow start after a freak hand injury caused by broken glass when he was making pasta. Since the Houston Open in March, the 29-year-old has not finished outside the top 10 in 11 tournaments -- rubber-stamping his status as the world's best. That run has included major wins at both the PGA Championship and British Open to take him within a US Open victory of joining the six men to have won the career Grand Slam. Rory McIlroy was the latest to join that select club when he won the Masters in April. But even the world number two is blown away by Scheffler's consistent excellence as McIlroy was unable to chase down the only man on the planet currently better with a club in his hand on home soil. "Scottie Scheffler is inevitable," said McIlroy. "He's just so solid. He doesn't make mistakes." Scheffler's supremacy over the rest of the field has drawn comparisons to 15-time major champion Woods. Matt Fitzpatrick labelled his playing partner on Saturday "Tiger-like" and there are a raft of stats to back up that claim. He is the first player since Woods to surpass 100 consecutive weeks as world number one. Scheffler's seven PGA Tour wins last year was the most since Woods in 2007 and he has also now become just the second player to win the British Open while ranked number one. Behind that success is a relentless work ethic, even if it sometimes drives even Scheffler to wonder why he pushes himself to the max. "We work so hard for such little moments," he said on the eve of the British Open. "I'm kind of a sicko; I love putting in the work. I love getting to practice. I love getting to live out my dreams. But at the end of the day, sometimes I just don't understand the point." - Arrest shock - For those trying to catch him, the hard work appears well worth it. "At the start of this year, when we checked the stats, Scheffler was further ahead of number two in the world than I was at 15th or 16th to the number two," said world number 14 Robert McIntyre. "He's an exceptional player and a great guy, and works so hard." Scheffler's dominance on the PGA Tour is beginning to show in his major record. His four majors have come in the last 16 events, a record which could have been even better but for a remarkable incident as last year's PGA Championship, which checked his progress. The mild-mannered Scheffler was arrested on the morning of his second round for trying to work his way around a traffic jam outside the course. Despite being bundled into a police station and having his mugshot taken in an orange jumpsuit, he was released in time to make the tee and went on to shoot a five-under par 66. The toll came the following day when his streak of 42 consecutive rounds of par or better came to an end and he finished in a tie for eighth. All charges were subsequently dropped and business was soon back to normal on the course too. He produced a blistering course-record 62 on the final day at Le Golf National to add Olympic gold to his list of honours in August and took home a record $62 million in prize money last year from his haul of victories on the PGA Tour. kca/jc/mw
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kevin Kisner had an interesting take on the Wyndham Clark/Oakmont locker room situation
It has been a tumultuous couple of months for Wyndham Clark. First, he damaged a sign at the PGA Championship and then damaged lockers inside the Oakmont clubhouse, which it resulted in him being banned from the club, it was announced earlier this week. He opened with 76 in the British Open at Royal Portrush on Thursday but put together three great rounds to finish in the top five at the last major championship of the year. During final round coverage on NBC, analyst Kevin Kisner had an interesting take on the Clark and Oakmont debacle, which resulted in numerous golf personalities on social media questioning his comments. "I'm not sure anybody in the situation handled it properly," Kisner said on the broadcast. "Wyndham probably could have nipped that in the bud with an earlier, or justifiable, statement, but locker rooms are supposed to be sacred. Not sure how that picture got out, USGA can help with that. I think if everyone just sat at a table face to face, that situation could go away pretty quickly." His comments make it seem as if he's pointing a finger at the USGA for the photo getting out. No Laying Up's Tron Carter is who initially posted the photo of damage on social media. After Kisner's comments, numerous people flooded social media to post about the situation. Clark finished T-4 at the British Open and spoke with media Sunday after declining to talk Saturday. "Yeah, so obviously I feel terrible with what happened. I'm doing anything I can to try to remedy the situation. We're trying to keep it private between Oakmont, myself and the USGA. I'm just happy we have a pathway moving forward, and like you said, I'm hoping we can get past this and move on and hope there's no ill-will towards me and Oakmont. "Like you said, I'm just trying to get past it. I want the best for Oakmont, the USGA and myself. Like I said, I'm very sorry for what I did and feel terrible, and hopefully in a few months we're past this, and it's something of the past." His T-4 at Royal Portrush is on the heels of a T-11 at the Genesis Scottish Open, so perhaps it's a sign of improving play. Clark was asked about the situation becoming public, and he said, "we were hoping it was going to be private. I'll just leave it at that." This article originally appeared on Golfweek: British Open 2025: Kevin Kisner's take on Wyndham Clark and Oakmont
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Erie Moon Mammoths take the field for special theme night after rebrand by comedian John Oliver
The Moon Mammoths were welcomed to Minor League Baseball on Saturday night with the Erie, Pennsylvania Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers rebranding for four games this season. The Erie Seawolves were chosen by comedian John Oliver and the staff of his HBO program "Last Week Tonight" from among 47 teams who submitted pitches after the late-night talk show host praised the goofy spirit of minor league baseball and wanted to contribute in some manner. Oliver threw out the first pitch for Saturday's game versus the Chesapeake Baysox. He was also a celebrity bat boy and PA announcer, sang "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and sat in with the broadcast team. Additionally, Oliver presented a race between mascots Fuzz E. Mammoth and Louie, the green Baysox mascot, and also worked as a Moon Pie vendor during the game. The Moon Mammoths lost to the Baysox, 6-5, in front of a record crowd of 7,070 at UPMC Park. (By the way, the Baysox have their own alternate brand identity as the Oyster Catchers.) Erie was chosen after an email listing 11 reasons why the team should be chosen, including "The SeaWolves play baseball nowhere near the sea" and "We have the least creatively named mascot in MiLB. His name is C. Wolf. Seriously." Per Oliver's conditions, the Seawolves had to unconditionally accept the rebranding proposal, with no input in the name, mascot or theme night to be created. "Minor league baseball is clearly both incredibly special and inescapably stupid in the very best way," Oliver said on the May 4, 2025 episode of his show. "I love all of this," he added. "The way the world is now, I'd argue that we all badly, badly need this." Why the "Moon Mammoths"? Oliver and his staff wanted to create a brand identity that somehow told some of Erie's history to set it apart from other minor league baseball cities. 'Erie did stand out to us as being, you know, uniquely eccentric. And I say that as both a compliment and an insult, which is the biggest compliment there is," Oliver said, via the Associated Press. The Seawolves have previously held humorous theme nights including "Alternative Facts Night" in 2017, during which the team celebrated the 2016 championship that it never actually won. The Moon Mammoths were inspired by George Moon, who found a bone measuring three feet long while scuba diving in Erie County's Lake Pleasant in 1991. The bone was discovered to be the shoulder blade of a prehistoric mammoth. Subsequent dives after Moon's find recovered 80 percent of the creature's skeleton, including both of its tusks. Moon caught the ceremonial first pitch from Oliver on Saturday. "If you had bet me 34 years ago on something like this, I would have not taken the money, I would have lost," Moon told Pittsburgh's KDKA. "This is great. I love it for Erie. It is great for the community, for the ballpark, for everybody around." The Seawolves will play three more games as the Moon Mammoths on Aug. 19, Sept. 12 and Sept. 13. After that, it's up to the team to decide whether or not to keep the mascot that Oliver referred to as "our furry child."
