2024 Cleveland Guardians

2024 Cleveland Guardians / Franchise: Cleveland Guardians / BR Team Page

Record: , Finished in AL Central Division (2024 AL)

Managed by Stephen Vogt

Coaches: Craig Albernaz, Sandy Alomar, Brad Goldberg, Rouglas Odor, Dan Puente, Joe Torres, Chris Valaika and Carl Willis

Ballpark: Progressive Field

History, Comments, Contributions

From April 27th to May 1st, the 2024 Cleveland Guardians did something unseen in franchise history since 1910 by playing four consecutive extra-inning games - winning two of them. The last win, 3-2 over the Houston Astros in ten innings, improved their record on the season to 20-10, the best in the American League at that point. Two players were standing apart from the lot in justifying this great start: 1B Josh Naylor, who was hitting .269 with 7 homers and 24 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 152, and LF Steven Kwan who was at .360 with 27 runs scored and an OPS+ of 166 as the team's lead-off hitter; he was leading the AL in both average and hits. The pair had plenty of support though, as after a slow start, 3B José Ramírez was tied with Naylor for the team RBI lead, and 2B Andres Gimenez had scored 17 runs and driven in as many with an OPS+ of 114. That came even though the Guardians had lost ace Shane Bieber for the season after just two starts (both of them brilliant, it must be said) and had received mediocre performances from its other starting pitchers, with Tanner Bibee posting the lowest ERA among the four pitchers with six starts at that point, at 3.45. Closer Emmanuel Clase had been light out, though, with 9 saves and an ERA of 0.55 in 17 games, while their top five relievers all had ERA's at 3.00 or below. All this was accomplished with a new manager at the helm, 39-year-old Stephen Vogt, who was only one season removed from playing his final MLB game.

By recording their seventh straight win on June 25th, the Guardians secured themselves the best record in the majors at that point at 51-26, percentage points ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Awards and Honors

• All-Stars: Emmanuel Clase, David Fry, Steven Kwan, Josh Naylor and José Ramírez

Further Reading

• Mandy Bell: "With MLB-best record, Guardians show offensive success could last", mlb.com, April 21, 2024. [1]
• Mandy Bell: "Kwan's brilliance highlights Cleveland's historic extra-inning streak", mlb.com, May 2, 2024. [2]
• Mandy Bell: "'Playoff series' mentality pushing Guards to historic start: Cleveland extends lead in AL Central to five games with comeback win over Kansas City", mlb.com, June 4, 2024. [3]
• Anthony Castrovince: "B. Naylor's pinch-hit 3-run HR exemplifies differences in '23 and '24 Guards", mlb.com, July 7, 2024. [4]
• Melanie Martinez-Lopez: "Guards' lineup catches fire in surge to MLB's best record", mlb.com, June 25, 2024. [5]
• Brian Murphy: "The unsung pitchers -- and one All-Star -- leading MLB's best bullpen", mlb.com, August 20, 2024. [6]

2024 MLB season by team