It’s that time of year again — the time when the Guardians embark on another chase of an American League Central Division championship many people believe they are not good enough to win.
Oddsmakers paid well to forecast what the MLB standings will look like at the end of September are saying the Guardians will fail to reach their goal of playing in the postseason. They made the same prediction in 2024 and 2025 and were wrong both times.
FanGraphs, a trusted site for baseball data, projects the Guardians will finish fourth in the Central Division behind the Tigers, Royals and Twins and ahead of only the White Sox. FanGraphs gives the Guardians a 13.3% chance to make the playoffs and a 0.2% chance to win the World Series.
DraftKings is showing the Guardians more respect. DraftKings.com set the over/under for the Tigers at 83.5, the Royals at 81.5 and the Guardians at 80.5.
A year ago, Covers.com set the Guardians over/under on wins in 2025 at 80.5, placing them behind the Tigers (83.5) and the Royals (81.5). The Guardians proved the naysayers wrong by finishing 88-74 to win the division by one game over the Tigers despite results that showed the doubters were right to be skeptical.
The Guardians had the lowest win total of MLB’s six division winners last year. The Tigers outscored them, 758-643. Every other division winner scored at least 765 runs.
But here’s the kicker and a reason the Guardians’ brain trust has reason for optimism without adding hitters in free agency: The Guardians scored 124 runs while going 20-7 in September last year. Their September record was the best in both leagues. They outscored the Tigers by 25 runs in the final month in which Detroit staggered to an 8-17 record.
Manager Stephen Vogt is counting on the young players who helped the Guardians overcome a 15.5-game deficit on July 6 to carry the team again. He has to, because no money was spent on free agents in the offseason to make the team better at the plate.
Here are storylines to follow with the Cactus League opener vs. the Reds on Feb. 21 right around the corner.
• Chase DeLauter will try to win the starting job in center or right field in spring training. DeLauter, 24, was the 16th player chosen in the first round of the 2022 draft. Multiple foot injuries, hamstring injuries and surgery to repair a fractured hamate in his right hand have slowed his path to the Guardians.
DeLauter hit .278 with five home runs and 21 RBI in 34 games with Triple-A Columbus last year. The Guardians added him to the wild-card roster in the 2025 playoffs to give him a taste of what the future might be like. He should add some pop to a weak-hitting outfield if he can stay healthy.
DeLauter bats left-handed. Angel Martinez could player center against left-handed starting pitchers.
Bo Naylor swings July 21 against the Orioles. (Tim Phillis – for The News-Herald)
• Bo Naylor played a key role in the late surge to overtake the Tigers. The 25-year-old catcher batted .290 and drove in 16 runs in September. It was his best month of the season. The Guardians need Naylor to pick up where he left off.
• Nolan Jones will have to make a good impression early in spring training because he is out of options. Jones, a second-round pick in the 2016 draft, was acquired from the Rockies in March of last year for Tyler Freeman. Jones batted a paltry .211 and homered only five times in 355 at-bats across 136 games.
• Travis Bazzana, selected by the Guardians with the first pick of the 2024 draft, will likely begin the season with Triple-A Columbus. He suffered left and right oblique injuries last year. Consequently, the 23-year-old second baseman from Australia was limited to 26 games with Columbus last year. He batted .225 with four home runs and 14 RBI. Bazzana will be with the Guardians at the start of spring training and then leave temporarily to play with Australia in the World Baseball Classic in March.
FanGraphs rates Bazzana as the Guardians’ fourth-best prospect behind DeLauter, first baseman Ralphy Velazquez and shortstop Angel Genao. Genao and Velazquez played at Double-A Akron last year.
• George Valera and CJ Kayfus could battle for the starting job in right field when an opposing right-hander is on the mound. Both are left-handed batters. Both players batted .220 with the Guardians in 2025. Kayfus homered four times in 44 games, Valera homered twice in 16 games.
Kayfus can also play first base when Vogt wants to use Kyle Manzardo as the designated hitter.
• David Fry has been cleared to play in the field. Fry was limited to being the DH last year because he was coming off 2024 Tommy John surgery.
Fry is valuable because he can catch, play first base, right field and DH. And he bats right-handed. Juan Brito could see time in right field in Cactus League games. Vogt would like to find a way to get Brito’s bat in the lineup. Normally a second baseman, Brito played 17 games in right field with Columbus in 2024. Brito can also play first base.
• Cade Smith had all offseason to gear up to be the Guardians’ closer in 2026. He took over that role out of necessity after Emmanuel Clase was banned in late July because of an alleged betting scandal. Smith finished with 16 saves in 2025.
• The starting rotation is set at the top with Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee. Vogt has to decide which of the two will be his opening-day starter.
Logan Allen, Slade Cecconi and Joey Cantillo round out the rotation. Parker Messick will try to win a starting job in spring training.
Cecconi will be one to watch as the season progresses. He is in his second season learning from pitching coach Carl Willis after being acquired from the Diamondbacks in December 2024 for Josh Naylor. Cecconi was a modest 7-7 last year, but in the Vogt’s words from September, “Slade is a completely different pitcher than when he got here,” because of the tutelage of Willis and the coaching staff.
• Single-game tickets for 2026 games at Progressive Field will go on sale at 10 a.m. Feb. 16. Log onto CLEGuardians.com/tickets to purchase them. All tickets for the 2026 season will be mobile entry, and fans will utilize the MLB Ballpark app to enter Progressive Field.
I didn’t know that
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Alaska is the only state name that can be typed on one row of a keyboard. … A human has 629 muscles. A caterpillar has about 4,000 muscles. … Saturn has 274 moons — by far the most in our solar system. Jupiter is second with 95 moons. … Only male turkeys gobble. … Food cannot be tasted until it is mixed with saliva. … The California Grizzly Bear is the official state animal of California. Footnote: Grizzly Bears have been extinct in California for more than 100 years because they were killed off by hunters.