Happy With Four Wins, Way Too Soon For Conclusions On Guardians

Looking at the schedule for the Cleveland Guardians before the season started, since they were opening the season against a team that played in the American League Championship Series last year in Seattle, and then were taking on the two-time World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, coming back to Progressive Field at 3-4 would be great.

They went 4-3. Even better.

And we were a big critic of the off-season by the front office, not adding enough hitting, so naturally, seeing Steven Vogt’s squad getting two hit twice in the first six games make us feel justified in that criticism, correct?

Not yet. It is still way too early.

The Guards are 13th in the AL in runs scored, but a game scoring 10 runs would boost them greatly in that ranking, because it is way too soon.

We know we live in a social media society where everyone voices an instantaneous opinion, but people do need to relax. For example, the Guardians though Bo Naylor would break out offensively and so far, he is 3 for 19 and looks pretty much like the same guy we’ve seen over the past couple of years. But a 3 for 4 day, would bring his batting average up to .261. That’s how volatile stats can be at this time of the season.

Readers of this site know we are bullish on strikeout to walk ratio, and right now Kyle Manzardo has fanned 11 times with just two walks. He came to the organization with a good knowledge of the strike zone but did whiff a lot in spring training.

In watching his at bats, it is not like he is striking out on four pitches a lot. There have been several at bats where he has battled with two strikes to get back in the count by fouling off pitches and goes down on the sixth or seventh pitch.

We wish he’d put the ball in play, but all in all, it’s a solid at bat.

And because Chase DeLauter is off to a solid start (we know, an understatement), the calls for Travis Bazzana have started too. People, he’s hitting .200 to start the year in Columbus (3 for 15, with a double, triple, and four walks!). He’s had just 139 plate appearances in AAA,

First, no one can assume Bazzana will be good because DeLauter started off hot. And DeLauter will have struggles at some point too. But let the Australian get some more at bats in the minors. We have no doubt if Gabriel Arias and Brayan Rocchio keep struggling, he will be in Cleveland soon enough.

There were some freaking out about Steven Kwan after the first couple of games. He took an 0 for 5 in the opener. Since then, he is 7 for 22.

Make no mistake, we would like to say “we told you so”, but it is way too early and as we said before they are coming home with three wins against two quality opponents. Have to be happy about that.

And even better, the Guardians will be home tomorrow and that’s always a great thing.

Can Guardians Get Back To October Baseball? We Just Don’t See It

The regular season starts today for most Major League Baseball teams, including the Cleveland Guardians. What will the season hold for Steven Vogt’s crew this season? Here are our thoughts:

Why they can win. Much has been discussed about the so-called “Cleveland pitching factory” and frankly it is merited. Since 2020, the Guardians have finished in the top half of the American League in ERA in all but one year (2021), and have been in the top three thrice, including the last two seasons.

The 20-7 stretch to end the season last year was in part possible because the Guardians held their opponents to under three runs per contest. They can pitch.

Gavin Williams takes the next step towards being an ace. Slade Cecconi allowed less hits than innings pitched and showed some old school traits, like pitching to weak contact. And Tanner Bibee rebounds from a bit of a tough year and pitches more like he did in his first two seasons.

The bullpen continues to be the backbone of the staff, led by fireballer Cade Smith, and bolstered by new acquisition Shawn Armstrong, while one of the new relievers, Peyton Pallette, Colin Holderman, or Connor Brogdon steps up and becomes another guy Vogt can rely on.

Offensively, Chase DeLauter is what we hoped he’d be, another solid bat in the middle of the lineup. Steven Kwan rebounds from an off year for him. Bo Naylor hits like he did in September when he hit .290 with an OPS of 872.

And of course, Jose Ramirez has another MVP type season.

And two of these players, Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio and Angel Martinez continue to progress like the front offce thinks they will.

The result is a third consecutive AL Central Division title.

Why they won’t. In the wild card era, you have to score runs to make the post-season. While there are exceptions, teams that score the most runs get to play in October. Since 2000, here is where Cleveland has ranked in runs scored in the AL: 13th, 9th, 6th, 12th, 7th, and last year 15th (last).

This year, their luck runs out. Essentially adding two hitters (DeLauter and Rhys Hoskins) to the worst run scoring team in the league doesn’t make a big difference. The team still ranks in the bottom half of the league in scoring

Vogt continues to get subpar offense out of his keystone combination, leading to rushing Travis Bazzana and Naylor is the hitter he has been throughout his career, an OPS of 670.

The starting rotation springs a leak or two due to minor injuries and the rotation depth in Columbus isn’t ready to pick up the slack. And the new additions to the bullpen show why they were available for the Guardians this winter.

What do we think will happen? Unfortunately, we believe the lack of offense finally catches up to the Guardians in 2026 and they will hover around the .500 mark and finish third in the Central Division behind the Tigers and Royals.

Continuing to depend on hitters like Arias, Schneemann, and younger hitters who don’t have a great minor league resume is an issue. We do think DeLauter will be an effective hitter and signing Hoskins helps too, but a good offense needs seven solid bats, and the Guards aren’t there.

We also are concerned about the starting pitching depth. We wish they would have signed an extra arm like Zack Littell or Lucas Giolito to start the year and soak up some innings. Not sure having to have Doug Nikhazy make around ten starts in the big leagues is something to look forward to.

We are sure the influencers won’t be happy, and we would love to be completely wrong and be celebrating October baseball later this year. But we see too many holes right now.

Guardians Seem To Be Basing A Lot On Last September

The Cleveland Guardians had a magical September in 2025. They went 20-7 to erase a 10-1/2 game deficit in the American League Central Division and overtake the Detroit Tigers to win the division.

They also scored 124 runs in those games, which did make up 1/6th of the season, an average of 4.6 runs per contest, compared to the average for the entire year, which was 3.97/game.

During the off-season, the front office talked about giving their young hitters a runway to success, giving that as a reason not to go out and get an experienced bat, save for the Rhys Hoskins signing at the beginning of spring training.

GM Mike Chernoff said over the weekend that one of the reasons for the great September by Steven Vogt’s club was the team got younger, apparently referring to moving on from Carlos Santana and not having Lane Thomas available to the team, creating opportunities for rookies like George Valera and C.J. Kayfus.

We understand Chernoff’s thinking, but he is overlooking a couple of things. First, like the movie Moneyball the pitching was overlooked. The Guardians’ staff allowed four runs per game over the entire season. In last season’s final month, they gave up just 75 runs in the 27 games, an average of just 2.8 per contest.

If you do that, you will win a lot of games, no matter what your offense does. For example, during the Guardians 22 game winning streak in 2017, they allowed just 37 runs in that span.

Secondly, Cleveland didn’t exactly play a bunch of juggernauts down the stretch. Yes, they have the six great games against the Tigers during the last two weeks of play, winning five of six, but they also played 14 games (a little over half) against teams playing out the string.

Now, as usual, it would have been disappointing to lose to those teams, but we are just saying they weren’t dominating the best teams in the AL.

There is an old saying in baseball that you should ignore what happens in April and September because teams are either trying to figure things out (April) or playing out the string (September). Teams out of contention are looking ahead to the following season and looking at some younger players.

Putting all of your proverbial eggs in the basket of what happened in September doesn’t seem like a great strategy when trying to win. And the front office can say what they said about the young hitters, but right now, it looks like the only young hitter who will break camp is Chase DeLauter.

He and Hoskins are the only additions and remember, last year, the Guardians ranked at the bottom of the league in runs scored, even with their September resurgence. We repeat, part of the reason for the great last month was the pitching staff, and that was fueled by two young hurlers with less than 100 big league innings under their belt in Joey Cantillo and Parker Messick.

They also didn’t add to the rotation either, so there is very little big league ready depth to start the year in Columbus.

There’s a reason people don’t predict future events on small sample sizes. We guess the Guardians’ front office will see how it works out for them.

Guardians Looking Pretty Set To Start The Season

It is hard to believe the Cleveland Guardians will open the 2026 baseball season a week from Thursday in Seattle. And there doesn’t seem to be much drama about who will make up the roster when they hook up with the Mariners next week.

We know that Daniel Schneemann has a sprained ankle and George Valera has a calf issue (is this the NBA?), but if both players are ready to play next week, the everyday players appear to be set for skipper Steven Vogt.

The catchers will be Bo Naylor, fresh off his bomb against the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), David Fry and Austin Hedges. We do wonder how much Vogt will use Fry behind the plate when the regular season starts.

Fry has struggled with a bat in his hand, but he’s always been able to hit lefties, and he has drawn five walks this spring. He’s always had a pretty good eye at the plate.

The infielders will be Jose Ramirez, Kyle Manzardo, Brayan Rocchio, Gabriel Arias, Schneemann, and Rhys Hoskins, and if Schneeman isn’t ready to go, we would guess rookie Juan Brito gets the nod.

And the outfield make up will be Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter, Valera, and Angel Martirez. Valera’s injury could put Petey Halpin in the mix, and although we hate to say it, DeLauter’s health is always a question mark.

That said, DeLauter has looked good in camp, going 10 for 25 with three doubles and a home run, and just two strikeouts. It would be a shock if he’s healthy and didn’t break camp with the big club, especially since they played him in a playoff game.

The bullpen seems to be set up well. Figuring that Hunter Gaddis’ elbow will keep him off the roster to start, the relief corps figures to be heading by Cade Smith, with Shawn Armstrong and Erik Sabrowski as the set-up men, with Tim Herrin, Connor Brogdon, Colin Holderman, Matt Festa, and rule 5 draftee Peyton Pallette completing the group.

We are sure Kolby Allard could replace one of this group if the Guardians decide to make a small trade to ease roster issues.

To us, the last real battle is in the rotation where Vogt has to choose between Parker Messick, who was outstanding in September last year, or Logan Allen. Allen was 8-11 with a 4.25 ERA last season, but he’s very inconsistent and has struggled in spring training and in his one start for Panama in the WBC. He’s allowed 11 hits and six walks in his 7-2/3 innings of work in Arizona.

Our guess is Allen will make the team and Messick will go to AAA, but the former will be on a short leash. The division figures to be close this season and Vogt and the Guardians can’t afford to start a pitcher who is going to struggle to throw strikes and give up lots of hits.

So, it appears we all have a pretty good idea of who will be on the Opening Night roster in Seattle. For all of the talk about giving young hitters opportunities, it looks like just DeLauter and Valera will get looks.

We wonder how much better the offense can be with just those changes.

Early Spring Training Thoughts And Disappointments

The Cleveland Guardians have been playing exhibition baseball for a little over a week now, and it is hard to believe the regular season will start three weeks from Thursday in Seattle. As we always say, the results of the games aren’t important, but how younger players perform does.

Since outside of Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan, most of the Guardians don’t have a real track record, we do look through the box scores to see how the prospects are performing and also, we look at the players the front office should be ready to move on from.

Of course, the guy causing the most buzz and the most worry is Chase DeLauter. He has started off 5 for 8 with a home run and two doubles but also missed three days with leg soreness. His durability has been in question since he was drafted and having to miss a few days after playing in three games has to send up a warning flare.

George Valera is 5 for 14, but with five strikeouts and just a walk. We aren’t too concerned about the lack of walks, as we have seen he is a patient hitter, but if he keeps hitting, we would expect him to open the year on the big club.

It is also good to see Bo Naylor get off to a strong start (5 for 10, 3 doubles, two walks). After a solid September, perhaps he’s found something at the plate.

On the other hand, so far, it’s been more of the same from Gabriel Arias and Nolan Jones.

Arias is two for nine in his four games, but that’s not the problem. His issue has been making contact and he was already whiffed five times in those nine plate appearances and hasn’t walked. He’s coming off a year where he fanned at a 34.4% clip, the highest of his career. He walked only 27 times in 471 times at the dish.

His competition at shortstop, Brayan Rocchio has gone 4 for 14 early with a walk and just two punchouts. If Rocchio wins the spot, it could make room for rookie Juan Brito at 2B.

As for Jones, after hitting a homer in his first exhibition appearance, he has struck out six times without a walk in 17 plate appearances. He whiffed 113 times versus 39 walks a year ago. If he’s vying for playing time against DeLauter and Valera, it would seem he would be the odd man out.

The front office has a lot of faith in both Arias and Jones, and frankly we don’t know why. Forget the metrics, the eyes tell you both need to learn the strike zone better to be consistently successful.

Switch-hitter Angel Martinez is just 2 for 10, but with two walks, but his success vs. southpaws keeps him in the mix for Opening Day. We like the walks, but in both of the last two seasons when he came up, he was very patient and then started free swinging. We think he’d be better, especially from the left side, being more selective.

Petey Halpin is off to a good start too, going 5 for 10 with three walks and if he was a right-handed hitter, he’d probably would have a leg up on a roster spot, but the glut of lefty bats makes it likely he goes to AAA.

There are a lot of games and a lot of at bats for these guys to impress or turn it around. That’s the beauty of spring training baseball.

Hoskins Gives Guards A RH Stick

It took a long time, but the Cleveland Guardians finally signed a proven right-handed bat, inking veteran Rhys Hoskins to a minor league deal, but who is kidding who, barring an injury, Hoskins is going to break camp with the big-league club.

It kind of supports the old saying “good things come to those who wait”.

Hoskins will be 33 soon and seems to be exactly what the Guardians needed. The major league average OPS last season was 717 and Hoskins has been over that number every year of his career.

By the way, the 2025 Guards had two hitters who exceeded that average number, Jose Ramirez and Kyle Manzardo. Yes, that’s how bad the Cleveland offense was last season.

For his career, Hoskins has an 882 OPS vs. left-handed pitching, with a .382 on base average, something the Guardians badly need, and even last year, when he was limited with a thumb injury, the veteran still had a 731 OPS vs. southpaws.

He did lead the National League in walks in 2019 with 119, but his walk rate has decreased from 16.5% in that season to a still respectable 11.6% a year ago.

As a frame of reference, no Cleveland player had a rate that high in 2025, the closest was Carlos Santana at 11.4%.

We don’t know the agreement (beyond contractual) the Guardians made with Hoskins, but it would seem to us that if you limit his at bats against righties, he should be productive for Cleveland.

It was definitely a concern here how Steven Vogt’s squad was going to do vs. lefties. They are very left-handed hitting dominant. Even the broadcast during the exhibition opener commented there were only four right-handed hitters on the 40-man roster: Austin Hedges, Gabriel Arias, David Fry, and Johnathon Rodriguez.

And no one has ever compared any of them to Joe DiMaggio.

We contemplated what Vogt was going to do with a tough lefty going for the opposition, after all, the two-time AL Cy Young Award Winner resides in their division in Tarik Skubal.

The signing allows the skipper to not have to expose rookies like Chase DeLauter and George Valera to a hurler of that caliber, at least early in the season. And for a historical comparison, remember that Jim Thome wasn’t in the lineup for the first game at Jacobs Field because Hall of Famer Randy Johnson was pitching for Seattle.

Now, Vogt can play Hoskins at first, DH Manzardo, and use David Fry in rightfield vs. a tough lefty, assuming Fry’s elbow has fully recovered. Of course, he could also use Fry behind the plate as well.

The move also probably means it will be very difficult for CJ Kayfus to make the opening day roster. We would rank him behind DeLauter and Valera as a hitter anyway at least right now. Besides, good teams need depth in the high minors. We are sure Kayfus will be in Cleveland at some point this summer.

We still wouldn’t mind adding another right-handed bat to this lineup, but getting Hoskins is no doubt a good move and is insurance in case one of the young guys show they aren’t ready to produce when the season begins.

Hard to find any reason to disagree with the move.

Guardians Need Production At The Plate To Make Playoffs Again

Exhibition baseball will be played at the end of this week; another indication spring and baseball are just around the corner.

Of course, we are all aware the Cleveland Guardians are two-time defending American League Central Division champions, but we are also aware it has been a very quiet off-season for the front office.

Overall, the Indians/Guardians have made the playoffs in seven of the last ten seasons, a time period we should start calling the Jose Ramirez Era. And in this decade, they’ve continued to win despite a payroll that keeps shrinking.

Despite the criticism we give them, we can also see the argument that they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Since 2021, the Guards have finished 9th, 6th, 12th, 7th, and last in the AL in runs scored, so basically it has been five years since the team had a real good offense. The seasons in which they made the playoffs are in bold.

So outside of last year, when they have pretty much a league average hitting attack, they make the playoffs. Last year? We loved the stretch run when they pulled themselves from more than 10 games out to the division title, but if asked how they did it, we would say “smoke and mirrors”.

In fact, we will go out on a limb and say that if the Guardians rank in the bottom three of the AL in runs scored in 2026, they will be sitting at home when the post-season starts. If you look at the last 10-15 years in major league baseball, the teams that score the most runs are the teams that play in October.

Right now, the front office is saying they are going to give their young prospects, they pretty much have universally been rated as a top ten farm system in the sport, a runway for playing time. And we agree they need to give Chase DeLauter and George Valera solid chances to not only make the team, but to be in the lineup more often than not.

But what we fear is what happens if and when their luck runs out. What does it look like if the offense ranks in the bottom three in the Junior Circuit again in 2026? Our guess would be a below .500 record and general discontent from the fan base after two straight division titles.

We keep seeing people project batting orders and rosters for the 2026 season and still keep seeing three proven hitters: Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Kyle Manzardo. Again, we feel if DeLauter stays healthy (a huge “if”), he won’t be overmatched.

And a reminder here the roster is still very heavy from the left side. And where is the hope for a decent right-handed hitter? They have David Fry, who had a very good ’24 season, but still has under 700 plate appearances in the bigs.

Angel Martinez was solid vs. lefties last season, but he’s also not a lock to make the team especially if DeLauter, Valera, and CJ Kayfus are on the roster. The other hope is Johnathan Rodriguez, who has performed well in AAA, but in 117 big league times at the plate (a horribly small sample size) has a 586 OPS.

Can the good luck continue for the Guardians? A better question is can the organization finally develop a legitimately good hitter? The success for this year is largely dependent on doing just that.

Spring Training Starting. Guards Still Need A RH Bat

The Cleveland Guardians had to play all 162 games before clinching the American League Central Division title over the Detroit Tigers last year. That’s a pretty slim margin.

Now imagine a key series at Progressive Field on the first weekend in September in a tight race for a playoff spot and Tigers’ skipper A.J. Hinch maneuvers his rotation to have his pair of left-handed aces, two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and free agent signee Framber Valdez face the Guardians.

And Steven Vogt’s counter is…what?

Team president Chris Antonetti has said twice in the past few weeks that he wants to give the Guards’ young prospects a runway for playing time this season. The problem with that is all of those hitters, Chase DeLauter, George Valera, and C.J. Kayfus hit from the left-side and another, Juan Brito is a switch-hitter.

In 2025, Cleveland hitters batted .224 with a 647 OPS against southpaws. Keep in mind, the league average OPS against all pitching was 719. So, against lefties, the offense was pretty mediocre.

Consider that the Guardians’ resident superstar, Jose Ramirez, batted .322 vs. LHP and had an 896 OPS. That means that when Ramirez isn’t in the equation, the Guardians’ hitters batted .212 against lefties.

If we limit the numbers to right-handed hitters vs. LHP, it’s a little better, a .233 batting average and a 695 OPS. But again, removing Ramirez’ numbers, the batting average falls to .215 and he belted six of the team’s 37 homers against southpaws.

Clearly, the Guardians need to hit left-handers a heck of a lot better in 2026. But they also haven’t done anything to address the situation in the off-season.

If you look at the current roster and rank the hitters by OPS (limiting the list to players with over 200 plate appearances), the list will go like this:

Ramirez (S)
Kyle Manzardo (L)
Steven Kwan (L)
Bo Naylor (L)
Carlos Santana (S) and of course released

The best right-handed hitter was Gabriel Arias who had a 638 OPS and if you are a regular reader, you know how we feel about him as a hitter. His numbers vs. LHP? Try a .211 batting average and a 666 OPS with 51 strikeouts and just seven walks in 135 plate appearances.

Having David Fry back will help. In his career he is hitting just .234 vs. lefties but has a .342 on base percentage and slugs .465 with 17 homers in 336 plate appearances.

Kwan hit .246 vs. lefties with a 581 OPS.

Angel Martinez was the next best hitter against LHP, batting .279 with a 792 OPS. They need another player with that kind of production, maybe two.

But it’s most definitely an issue. The Guardians need a proven right-handed bat. So, if it comes down to another race to make the post-season, will the team have a stick from the right side they can rely on?

So, while we appreciate the brass wanted to give DeLauter, Valera, and Kayfus a runway to get at bats, can Steven Vogt count on them against a lefty like Skubal? They would argue that nobody has much success against a pitcher like him but know this–he gave up 18 homers last season. Only one to a left-handed hitter.

Heck, Jhonkensy Noel took him deep.

We know the regular season doesn’t start until the end of March, but usually a contending team seems to make a move to counteract something their main competition does. The Cleveland Guardians can want to see their young players, but they need a right-handed bat.

Surely, the front office can see that.

The Cleveland Franchise Icon: Jose Ramirez

We have always looked wistfully at baseball teams that have a franchise icon. Kansas City has George Brett and Milwaukee has Robin Yount. Pittsburgh, of course, has Roberto Clemente. A fan of the Cleveland Indians/Guardians never had that.

When Jim Thome was elected to the Hall of Fame, the team erected a statue of him in Heritage Park at Progressive Field. But as we all know, Thome left Cleveland to sign with the Phillies as a free agent, then was traded to the White Sox, and played for several other teams, and did come back here for a cup of coffee in 2011.

There have been a lot of great players here especially in the Jacobs/Progressive Field years: Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, C.C. Sabathia, Francisco Lindor. None of them stayed.

We think the last position player to play 10 years in Cleveland and never play for another team was Al Rosen. He retired in 1956.

That will change thanks to Jose Ramirez, who signed an extension with the Guardians over the weekend through the 2032 season. Unless something drastic happens, Ramirez will retire here and will never wear another big-league team’s uniform.

Everyone around baseball should be aware of Ramirez’ six top five finishes in the MVP voting, the most by any player who has never won the award. It will be difficult for him to win now because the voting seems to be based on WAR, and the nuance of how much impact he has in the clubhouse won’t be figured in.

By the time he retires, Ramirez will likely be the greatest position player in the history of the franchise. Soon after the season starts, he will take the field for his 1620th game, breaking Terry Turner’s franchise record.

He is just 65 at bats shy of breaking Napoleon Lajoie’s record for at bats. He is currently 7th in hits with 1668 and could be 4th behind Lajoie, Tris Speaker, and Earl Averill by the end of the season.

He is third in runs scored and will likely be second behind Averill by season’s end. He is 53 home runs away from passing Thome as the franchise home run leader and is second in RBIs and should pass Averill in that category in 2027 (if there is a season).

Oh yeah, he’s also second all-time in stolen bases behind Kenny Lofton.

And for the sabermetric crowd, Ramirez is 5th in WAR behind Lajoie, Speaker, Feller, and Lou Boudreau and it isn’t out of the realm of possibility he will pass all four by the time he is ready to hang up his #11 jersey, which we don’t think it is going out on a limb to suggest he will be the last player to wear that number with Cleveland.

And although we are frequent critics of the Dolan ownership, hats off to them for making sure Ramirez will not play someplace else. However, it also takes two to tango, and no doubt Ramirez’ desire to be in Cleveland is a huge factor in getting this extension done.

What would really be great is improving the current roster so Ramirez can continue to play for winning teams and what would even be better, have a chance to compete for a championship, which he had said he wants to bring to this city.

Perhaps the biggest testament to that is the number of intentional walks issued to Ramirez over the last four seasons. He been given over 20 free passes in three of those seasons, leading the American League in 2022 and 2023.

Hopefully, the front office can get him some help. He deserves that for all he has done for the Cleveland franchise.

Spring Training Nears And Guardians Offense Is Still Subpar

As of today, spring training opens for the Cleveland Guardians in one month. The regular season is about nine weeks away. Yes, snow covers the ground in northeast Ohio, but in a few weeks, baseball will be in the news.

Actually, it is in the news for some franchises, as those teams have made moves to try to improve weaknesses from last season. Other franchises are making news by pushing the sport toward a work stoppage after the 2026 season. Yes, we are talking about you, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After the season, Steven Vogt talked about improving the bullpen and the offense. The front office has signed some bullpen arms, the most notable being Shawn Armstrong, but it looks like basically they are trying solve that issue with quantity, signing Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon, and most recently Yorman Gomez.

We don’t necessarily disagree with that because bullpens are arguably the most volatile part of any team, and it is quite possible that by the end of the season, one of the mainstays of the Cleveland bullpen will be someone who isn’t on the radar right now.

But perhaps the bullpen won’t matter because the Guardians had the worst offense in the American League last season, and third worst in all of Major League Baseball, and simply haven’t done anything about it.

Yes, team president Chris Antonetti and GM Mike Chernoff will tell you they are trying to provide a runway for the Guards’ top prospects, meaning Chase DeLauter, George Valera, and Travis Bazzana, and to a lesser point, C.J. Kayfus and Juan Brito.

And we will offer the usual opinion we have about this organization at times: Wishing and hoping is not a plan. It’s a great song by Dusty Springfield.

If the Guardians were a 90-loss team, going with the young players and giving them a long leash to see what they can do, should be the plan. But that’s not where they are, they are the two-time defending champions in the AL Central, and the goal, the plan, should be how do we go from being ousted in the League Championship Series in ’24 and in the Wild Card Series in ’25 to get to the World Series.

A particular area where the Guardians need help is right-handed hitting. As a team, they had a 647 OPS vs. left-handed pitching and their hitters from the right side against righties batted just .186 with a 545 OPS.

In short, they need a right-handed bat.

All of the young players mentioned earlier hit from the left side outside of Brito, who is a switch-hitter. The Guardians need someone to hit from the right side of the plate.

And what happens if DeLauter or Valera struggle when the season opens, if they even open the regular season with the team? The Guardians are notoriously conservative having young players open the year with the big club, choosing to keep them out of the cold weather.

So, as of right now, get ready to see the same group who struggled to score runs last season getting a lot of at bats.

Remember, the Guardians finished 88-74 last year. Based on their run differential, they should have been 80-82. They had luck on their side.

The best right-handed hitter Cleveland had a year ago was Gabriel Arias. Think about that and think about should the front office be satisfied with that.