For a team that was getting written off not long ago, the Cleveland Guardians have turned October into a complete reversal.
A week ago, the conversation around this club was harsh. There were real doubts about whether they’d even reach the postseason, and when they dropped Games 1 and 2 of the AL Division Series at Progressive Field, plenty of the frustration spilled everywhere - at the hitting coach, at the front office, at ownership, at the roster itself.
Then they flipped it. The Guardians rallied past the Chicago White Sox, advanced to the AL Championship Series, and opened that round with a 7-3 win on the road over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
That’s the kind of swing Anthony Lima pointed to when he described the mood around Cleveland.
“This is cloud nine. This is a cloud-nine situation.
A week ago, this team was buried. It was literally seven days ago [when] everybody wanted their hitting coach fired.
It was blame-Dolan radio. That’s what we were doing.
Seven days later, you might have the best offense in the postseason if you actually go by the numbers and their trade deadline moves look insanely good, transformed the team into a ball club that’s three wins away from going to the World Series,” Lima said.
"To see the way that they played yesterday, I don't know how a Guardians fan could be anything but excited."
That’s the reality now: Cleveland has gone from looking like a team on the brink to one that has already survived one October test and now owns a 1-0 lead in the ALCS. The turnaround has brought a surge of belief with it, and the fan base is feeling every bit of it.
The Guardians are back in the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2024, when they fell into a 0-2 hole against the New York Yankees, won Game 3, and then lost the final two games. This time, they’ve started with an early advantage instead of playing from behind.
There’s still a lot of baseball left, of course. Tampa Bay won 98 games in the regular season for a reason, and even if Cleveland pushes all the way through, the Milwaukee Brewers or Los Angeles Dodgers would be waiting in the World Series. The Guardians are close to something much bigger, but not there yet.
For now, though, they’ve earned the right to dream. Cleveland is suddenly staring at its first World Series appearance in 10 years and its first title since 1948, and the only thing left is to keep that focus day by day.
In Other News...
Guardians' Most Painful Trade Looks Even Worse After New Report
The 2021 swap that sent Junior Caminero from Cleveland to Tampa Bay has long lingered as one of the organizations toughest second guesses, and fresh reporting only adds another layer to the regret. The Guardians moved the then-rising prospect for pitcher Tobias Myers, a deal made with the hope of solving a pitching need while parting with a young hitter who was still far from the majors.
Now the sting is not just what Cleveland gave up, but how close the Rays came to asking for something else from the system before settling on Caminero. Xzavion Curry was among the minor leaguers Tampa Bay initially sought, and the fact that Caminero has developed into a top prospect while Myers and Curry have had quieter big league careers makes the trade look even harder to defend in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Schedule Change Created An Unusual MLB Playoff Ripple
MLBs postseason calendar picked up an odd little domino effect Wednesday, with the league moving Game 4 of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers up an hour to 8 p.m. ET. The change did not come out of nowhere. It followed the earlier decision to shift ALCS Game 3 between the Guardians and Rays from 6 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET because of expected inclement weather, a reminder of how one playoff adjustment can ripple across the rest of the bracket.
For Cleveland fans, the practical part is simple: the team confirmed that tickets and parking passes will still work for the new start time. The bigger picture is a postseason schedule that can still bend quickly around weather, TV and the rest of the leagues needs, even as the Guardians try to stay focused on the field rather than the clock. [Read more 🡒]
Gavin Williams Is Giving Guardians Fans Another Reason To Believe
Gavin Williams has already done his share to fuel Clevelands October run, and now he is looking to add something else to the mix as the Guardians head into the next round. The young starting pitcher said he wants to be a more vocal leader as the club prepares for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, a sign of how quickly he has grown from power arm to one of the voices in the room.
Williams backed up that confidence with his latest outing, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in the series-clinching win over the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland now turns to a Game 3 matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays, set for 1 PM ET Thursday after a weather-related delay from the original 6 PM start, and the Guardians will be hoping their emerging starter brings the same edge both on the mound and in the clubhouse. [Read more 🡒]