CLEVELAND, Ohio – Can they pull this off?
I keep asking myself that about the Guardians.
Can they keep winning? Will that be enough for them to sneak into the playoffs as a Wild Card team?
Wait a minute …
What about Detroit?
Can they ambush the Tigers and win the Central Division?
Am I delusional?
The Guardians blanked Detroit 4-0 on Wednesday night. I looked at the Central Division standings on Thursday and saw the Guardians are … 4½ games behind the Tigers for first place.
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It’s the final two weeks of the season. Heading into Thursday, Detroit (85-67) had 10 games left. The Guardians (80-71) had 11 games left.
I think I can, I think I can …
Earlier in the season, I called the Guardians “The Little Team That Could.” I thought of the old children’s story, “The Little Engine That Could.”
Hardly anyone believes the little engine can climb a hill and take a huge load over the mountain. The original bigger and more powerful engine broke down. Other engines refused to do it for various reasons.
The little engine then gives it a try …
I think I can, I think I can …
They are the little engine
This is not the powerful Tribe of the 1990s, or even the superb 2016 Cleveland team that went to the World Series.
This is a Little Engine with an offense that ranks 30th out of 30 teams in batting average, 29th in OPS and 27th in run scored.
They … just … don’t … hit!
Hardly ever …
Yet here we are, in the middle of September. The Guardians once were 15½ games behind the Tigers in the Central Division. They had a 10-game losing streak this season, and another streak of losing 9 of 10.
That often is enough to leave any team stalled at the bottom of the hill in a playoff race.
Two important pitchers (Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz) have been on “paid leave” since July because of an MLB gambling investigation.
And they don’t hit …
Hardly ever …
Yet the Guardians are 12-4 in September compared to 5-9 for Detroit. Cleveland has won 12 of its last 13 games heading into Thursday afternoon in Detroit.
Jose Ramirez drives the train that is the Cleveland Guardians.Joshua Gunter, cleveland.comHe is the biggest little engine
Stephen Vogt manages this train. It his second season on the job and he’s proved to be the right guy to take over for the legendary Terry Francona in the dugout.
Vogt was the American League Manager of the Year in 2024. He probably is doing an even better job this season.
But the real little engine is … one guess.
José Ramírez.
He is perhaps baseball’s most unlikely-looking baseball superstar, listed at 5-foot-8 and 190 pounds. Years after he retires, many people will see him in person for the first time and never believe he even played in the Majors – much less is likely headed to the Hall of Fame.
The 13-year big league career of Ramírez has been baseball’s version of “I think I can, I think I can.”
His only professional offer came from Cleveland, which signed him for a modest $50,000 bonus out of the Dominican Republic. He wasn’t on any top prospect list until he began to hit in the minors.
Ramírez batted .351 and .354 in his first two minor league seasons. He came up to the Majors for the first time in September of 2013.
He went back-and-forth from the Majors and Class AAA twice in 2014 and 2015.
He played second, shortstop, left field and third early in his Cleveland career, anything to show he belonged – and to prove his critics wrong.
By 2016, he was in the Majors to stay.
And on Wednesday, Sept. 17, he turned 33 years old.
This Little Engine That Could has no doubt about this team – he believes they can. After all, he’s seen it before … and done it.
Gavin Williams has emerged as the Guardians ace.APHow are they doing it?
Yes, the Guardians have Ramírez. They have Steve Kwan, MLB’s premier defensive left fielder and a two-time All-Star. They have Kyle Manzardo, a rising star.
But what the Guardians do is pitch. They can really pitch.
In the month of September, the Guardians have a 2.47 ERA. By far, that’s the best in the Majors.
Gavin Williams has turned into an ace. Parker Messick has come up from the minors as the latest product from Cleveland’s pitching factory.
The rotation has been good to great of late – with Tanner Bibbe, Logan Allen, Slade Cecconi along with Williams and Messick. The bullpen has been sensational.
Can the Guardians make the playoffs?
Part of me says, “Yes, I think they can.”
– This post has been updated to clarify that Thursday’s Guardians-Tigers game is an afternoon game; and that José Ramírez’s birthday was Wednesday.
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