We have seen the Guardians for four games – what can we say about them?
First, let’s be clear – you can’t say much of any certainty about any baseball team until Memorial Day. And, I was convinced that the Guardians were a bad baseball team last season at the end of August because their offense was so inept… and they won 88 games and their division. So, I am not offering any full assessments on this team. It’s four, cold games across the country. There aren’t a lot of conclusions to be drawn, yet.
With that said, something that really stands out is that the Mariners were not afraid to throw the Guardians four-seam fastballs and that strategy really paid off. The Guardians saw the third most four-seam fastballs of any team in MLB this weekend and they were 23rd in wOBA at .259 and 29th in xwOBA at .234 against those fastballs. Believe me that teams will be happy to challenge Guardians’ hitters (except, perhaps, for Jose Ramirez and Chase DeLauter) with fastballs until they can show they can do significant damage on those pitches. So, time to drink some caffeine and head to the plate looking for heaters you can do some damage on, boys. It’s warm in LA; make it happen.
Meanwhile, Guardians’ pitching is currently 27th in MLB with a 5.40 batters per 9 walk rate. Thankfully, they also came out of the series 5th in MLB with a strikeout rate per 9 of 11.31 batters. Cleveland was giving up a lot of hard contact as seen by them being 20th in xFIP, so it is absolutely imperative that they decrease their walk rate, especially if they cannot find a way to more consistently miss the barrel of the bat. It certainly seemed like the Guardians’ pitchers were not comfortable on the mound and could not consistently execute their pitches. This may be an “it’s early” phenomenon, but I do think the pitching staff’s walk rate will be one of the most important metrics to follow in 2026.
Finally, it’s obvious the team had some issues defensively (mostly in the outfield) and some issues making wise ABS challenges. I hope the team offers some additional restrictions on which batters can challenge and when and where they want those challenges to take place. I think the team will continue to have some hiccups in outfield defense as players like CJ Kayfus and David Fry get used to playing out there. However, it’s important that Stephen Vogt use his bench to get ideal defensive alignments in place later in games if the team manages to get a lead.
Also… go get Travis Bazzana to play second, move Brayan Rocchio to short, and DFA Gabriel Arias already, for gosh sakes!
I am sure a variety of the issues I describe here will improve with a larger sample size to draw from, but, at the least, we have a few areas of concern to monitor in the games ahead. What are your chosen areas of greatest concern for the Guardians as of right now? Tell us in the comments below.