What went wrong for the Cleveland Guardians in 2025 and where they go from here

You know how sometimes when you're starting to wake up, maybe you hit the snooze a few times, and then before you know it reality smacks you in the face, and you have to get out of bed and start your day? That is pretty much how Thursday's loss in the winner take all AL Wild Card Game felt to Guardians fans.

The entire month of September felt like a perfect dream. The comeback story made for Cleveland as if almost scripted by Hollywood. A team full of misfits and oft-injured prospects who somehow overcame a 15.5 game deficit to win their division and sneak into the playoffs.

Tuesday's game against Tarik Skubal had the dream, almost turning into a nightmare. And then on Wednesday, fans were able to hit the snooze button, and squeeze a little bit more out of this dream. Chase DeLauter, making his debut, and company would save the day and Cleveland wouldn't have to face the harsh realities that come with an Ohio fall and winter.

And then Thursday came, and the Guardians almost allowed us another week of dreaming on bringing another title to Cleveland. The Cleveland Cavaliers came back from down 3-1 in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, so why couldn't this team overcome their deficiencies and rise to the moment?

2025 Cleveland Guardians Tale of the Tape:

Pitching:
SP ERA: 3.86 (10th)
RP ERA: 3.44 (3rd)
Overall WHIP: 1.26 (15th)

Batting:
wRC+: 87 (28th)
OPS: .670 (29th)
BA: .226 (29th)
OBP: .296 (29th)
SLG: .373 (29th)
HardHit%: 35.8% (30th)
Barrel%: 6.6% (30th)
— La Mole (@FranmilsEyebrow) October 3, 2025

What you are looking at above, is the proverbial alarm clock. On Thursday, it finally woke us up.

Lets start with the pitching numbers, they're good. Better than people expected, and way better than they looked in the first half. Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee showed they are quite a formidable duo when locked in, and both seem on their way to being frontline starters for the foreseeable future. Bibee, Williams, Slade Cecconi and Joey Cantillo are all under team control through at least 2029

Let's not forget that this bullpen lost American League Reliever of the Year Emmanuel Clase, for half the year, and still had a top five bullpen. Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski, Tim Herrin and Cade Smith are also all under team control through 2029. The numbers here are good, but there is still room for improvement. A bonafide No. five starter and at least one more bullpen arm could propel this pitching staff into record books.

On the flip side, the offense leaves a lot to be desired. Out of 30 Major League teams, the absolute best the Guardians did offensively here was second to last. And these are the advanced numbers so they don't take into account that quite literally (by batting average) these Guardians were the worst offensive team to make the playoffs ever.

Now, a lot of fans are taking that as proof that the experiment of Guards Ball doesn't work, on the contrary I would like to argue that this season is proof that it does. These offensive numbers are so bad, that it's almost laughable that this team took a playoff game, and nearly a series from Detroit. And it literally can only go up from here.

Fans will understandably get frustrated with ownership, and being upset or disappointed about the way the season ended. Do not mistake optimism as an excuse to not spend during the offseason.

However, at a certain point, fans have to realize that this front office is not going to change, for better or worse. This is how they operate.

And it's an operation that has landed them in the playoffs eight out of the last 13 years, it works and they have proven it. If, even in perhaps it's weakest year, if what you're gonna get is a historic September, an entertaining team, and a playoff appearance, I am signing up for that, why wouldn't you?