The Cleveland Guardians were led for 11 seasons by future Hall of Fame manager Terry Francona.
Prior to last season, the Indians-turned-Guardians had finished below .500 just once during Francona’s tenure in Cleveland (80-82 in 2021). record). But after 23 seasons as a major league manager, Francona decided to retire following his team’s 76-86 record last season.
He will be replaced as captain by recently retired former All-Star catcher, two-time All-Star and member of the 2021 world champion Atlanta Braves, Stephen Vogt, who will lead the team to the postseason in 2024. We aim to bring it back to . Where were they in 2023?
Cleveland finished third in the 2023 AL Central Division, 11 games behind the division champion Minnesota Twins. The AL Central Division was the worst division in baseball last year, with only the Twins hitting over .500.
Due to poor divisional play, Cleveland spent a limited amount of time in first place midway through the season and entered the All-Star break with a .500 record. They reached the end of the season, finishing with a record of 31 wins and 41 losses.
This is disappointing and not all that surprising since the Guardians were expected to win about 82 games and have about a one in three chance of winning the district championship and a 45% chance of making the playoffs overall. However, they continue their recent trend and win. division.
We haven’t really taken steps to help them compete. Offensively, Cleveland struggled to generate extra-base hits, finishing last in the AL in home runs and second-last in team slugging percentage. Overall, they were below average in nearly every offensive metric, except for batting average, which was middle of the team, and stolen bases, which ranked third in the AL. They finished just outside the top 10 in terms of player position fWAR.
As has been the case with Cleveland for the past 20 years, the club was dominated by pitchers. However, unlike previous seasons, the lineup was average or below average in many pitching categories. The team ERA+ of 105 was better than league average, but the club’s 1,311 strikeouts put it ahead of the last-place Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals. They ranked 15th in MLB in fWAR submissions, but that came with a huge and favorable FIP-FIP spread. The 0.30 FIP gap below xFIP was more than twice as large as the next largest gap.
Defensively, Cleveland was in the top half of the AL, ranking third in total chances and slightly above league average in several above-average categories.
Overall, they were what they were supposed to be, a competitive team in the expanded playoff field, but they just weren’t good enough to continue to challenge for a playoff spot. In fact, they led a division on July 9, but were largely destroyed between August 11 and 16.
From a player perspective, it was at least players and scrubs, if not a roster of stars and scrubs. Jose Ramirez continued to work, posting at least 5 fWAR for three consecutive seasons. Andres Jimenez had a league-average bat and great defense, and Steven Kwan and the Naylor brothers also contributed. Cleveland’s pitching factory continued to produce quality starting pitchers, and Emmanuel Classe had a great season, but the mid-season rise of Lucas Giolito and Noah Syndergaard threw a dent in their faces.
What did they do in the offseason? Cleveland being Cleveland, they didn’t make a huge splash this offseason in terms of trades or free agency. With injuries disrupting the starting rotation (11 pitchers started six or more games in 2023) and no pitcher starting more than 25 games, the team brought back Carlos Carrasco on a minor league contract. They also added Ben Lively and Tyler Beede in free agency, and added Scott Barlow in a trade with the San Diego Padres.
The team brought back Austin Hedges to boost production and acquired outfielder Esteban Florial from the New York Yankees for a potential outfield position. Cleveland will have many players who will be on the field for the organization in 2023 playing the same positions. where do they hope to go?
Guardians features a fairly generic lineup with some perks, but this has been the norm for what seems like forever now. The pitching staff is led by former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, and while it probably doesn’t have a lot of potential, it’s probably made up of some pretty good talent.
Jimenez, Ramirez, and Kwan make up the offensive corps, and while there are questions about who else besides Nailers will provide the offensive power, losing the value of position players doesn’t seem like the lineup will fall apart. , or. With the Chicago White Sox clearly in rebuilding mode and the Kansas City Royals consistently struggling, it’s hard to believe that Cleveland has a chance of winning the AL Central Division. The Detroit Tigers, who finished 2023 just two games ahead of the Guardians, should be competitive, but these two teams will likely continue to chase the 87-win Twins in 2023.
Minnesota is the defending divisional champion, but the division appears to be one of the weakest in baseball, as they secured the title again with 87 wins. FanGraphs projects Cleveland to finish with his 80 wins, giving him a roughly 30% chance of making the playoffs (including his 1 in 5 chance of winning in the division). Unlike last year, the main “problem” for the Guardian this time is that the Twins look better on paper, so the rift between the two clubs will widen further at the start of the year.
Can Cleveland surpass the Twins in winning 87 games with their current roster? That’s certainly a possibility, especially if one of the factory departments takes a big step forward and/or if Ramirez, Kwan and Jimenez are able to produce more than they did in 2023. But it’s just as likely that Cleveland will do so now…and then the trade deadline approaches in order to get back a cheap asset that the team can use in the future.
Could Bieber, a pending free agent, be traded before the regular season begins? That’s possible, but if not, the trade deadline won’t be allowed to pass without action. Will Craze be relocated too? That’s more likely if your team is far behind in the division race. Never count Cleveland out. Even though Vogt was an unproven bench player, the Guardians were always the perfect team despite budget constraints.
However, it appears the Guardians will need all of their stars to win the AL Central division, but the team has delayed the start of its home opener due to a solar eclipse that hasn’t occurred since the 1800s. If you think about it, there will be no victory. Don’t become one. This trend would repeat until his 2400s. This season may even exceed expectations. Endure in the face of 2023
Cleveland and Atlanta played in a three-game series that ended on either side of the July 4th holiday last year, with the Braves winning two of the three games in Cleveland.
In Game 1 of the series, the Braves won by dancing 6 2/3 through Bryce Elder’s raindrops, and in this game, despite having a K/BB ratio of 1/2, they somehow managed to score just 2. Only points were allowed.
Raisel Iglesias gave up a run in the 10th inning of a game started by Colby Allard, and the Braves lost in the middle of the series. The game was a back-and-forth affair, with events such as a grounder by Kirby Yates and a game-tying home run by Ozzie Albee in the ninth inning for the Clays. The Braves, boosted by starter Michael Soroka’s 4 2/3 innings of knockouts and Michael Tonkin’s 3 1/3 innings of dominant changeup, hit three home runs and won the series 8-1.
The Braves and Guardians will meet again in early 2024, playing three straight games in Atlanta from April 26-28. The Braves will leave the weekend midway through a nine-game homestand and fly to Seattle to play the Mariners in three straight games.
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