Guardians Given Prominent Primetime Game During 2025 Season

The Cleveland Guardians will return to ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball during the 2025 MLB Season.

Jul 28, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan (38) and outfielder Jhonkensy Noel (43) celebrate win against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians were among baseball's best teams during the 2024 season.

However, those outside Cleveland never got a great look at the eventual American League Central and final two teams team left in the AL bracket because of their lack of nationally televised games.

For now, that's changing for the upcoming season, as the Guardians have been given at least one appearance on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball during the first half of 2025.

Cleveland will play the Philadelphia Phillies in an interleague showdown at Progressive Field on May 11. The first pitch will be at 7:10 PM EST.

ESPN unveils the 2025 #SundayNightBaseball early-season game schedule⚾️

SNB begins March 30 with #BravesCountry vs #Padres

Details: https://t.co/YzKKR7jVcj pic.twitter.com/I8czCWte6G

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) January 15, 2025

The Guardians only had six nationally televised games in 2024 (three on Fox Sports and three on FS1), a far cry from the New York Yankees, who led MLB with 15.

It's still way too early to consider possible lineups during the second week of May.

However, the Guardians and Phillies were both playoff teams a year ago and have the talent to win their respected division again this year. It's also intriguing that Cleveland will take on Philadelphia on the national stage when these two teams have not historically had too many matchups.

The two teams have only played 15 times since their first meeting in 2022. The Phillies barely control the all-time record, having won 13 of those matchups.

Jul 21, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner (7) catches the throw from catcher J.T. Realmuto (not pictured) as Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) steals second during the third inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

When the Guardians and Phillies played at Citizens Bank Park last year, Cleveland shocked the star-filled Phillies team by winning two of the three games in that series. In some ways, this was the Guardians' message to the rest of MLB that they were a legitimate contender to make a deep postseason run.

No matter who takes the field or starts for either side, this has the potential to be a solid early-season showdown between two elite teams.