If you have watched one season of Cleveland Guardians baseball in the last 10 years, you have watched them all. The team churns out competitive yet unremarkable rosters year after year. That is probably why O’s GM Mike Elias has cited them as an aspirational franchise. Now, have they actually won a World Series throughout those years of competitiveness? No. But they have been to one, and they got to the ALCS just last year, so it’s not an entirely empty ambition.
The 2025 Guardians have already shown themselves to be a streaky bunch. They have suffered through a 1-5 spell, and just recently pulled off five wins in a row. That has balanced out to an 8-7 record overall, 1.5 games backs of the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers.
Offense has been a bit of a problem so far for Cleveland. The 59 runs they have scored are 24th in MLB. But the lineup has plenty of threats. Kyle Manzardo has been their best hitter, boasting a 144 wRC+ and four home runs. Gabrial Arias has a 137 wRC+, and don’t forget José Ramirez, who is lurking with his modest 128 wRC+.
But their pitching has been as good as it usually is. Their 3.60 ERA is 10th-best in MLB. That has happened while all-world closer Emmanuel Clase has struggled. The 27-year-old Clase has a 7.71 ERA and has allowed runs in three of his last four appearances. But the rest of the bullpen has been nails. Despite the closer’s struggles, Cleveland still has a 2.25 bullpen ERA, the fourth-best mark in MLB.
Game 1: Tuesday, April 15th, 7:05 p.m., TBS
RHP Charlie Morton (0-3, 8.78 ERA) vs. LHP Logan Allen (0-1, 3.60 ERA)
Of all the things that have not gone well for the Orioles this season, Morton might be the most disastrous so far. The 41-year-old is yet to throw more than five innings in any one start, and he has allowed four or more runs in every outing. It’s been bad. Technically, he is trending in the right direction since his last start against the Diamondbacks was his best of the young season (5 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 4 SO), but still. At some point you have to think he reverts back to the 4-ish ERA pitcher he was just a year ago.
The Orioles have not done well against left-handed pitching this season. They are batting a combined .213/.301/.250 with no home runs, 11 walks, and 31 strikeouts against southpaws. Will this encourage Brandon Hyde to abandon some of his right-handed platoon options for this one? Probably not.
Despite his solid ERA, Allen has not thrown particularly well this season. Across two starts he has tossed 10 total innings, issued seven walks, and struck out five. He lives off of weak contact and ground balls. So just, like, don’t let him do that? I don’t know. I’m not a hitting coach.
Game 2: Wednesday, April 16th, 6:35 p.m., MASN2
RHP Dean Kremer (1-2, 8.16 ERA) vs. RHP Gavin Williams (1-0, 3.46 ERA)
Kremer has been nearly as bad as Morton. At least he can point to his start against the Royals, when he allowed just two earned runs over 4.2 innings, as evidence of some level of competence. But a lot of that got wiped away when he served up six runs (including three home runs) in his most recent start against the Diamondbacks. This will be Kremer’s first start of the season at Camden Yards, so maybe some home cooking will be good for him.
The whiplash from Allen to Williams could be severe. They are very different pitchers with very different velocities. Williams is one of the hardest-throwing starters in MLB, and he has been effective through three starts. He is coming off of a five-inning, one-run outing against the White Sox.
Game 3: Thursday, April 17th, 6:35 p.m., MASN
RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP Tanner Bibee (1-1, 4.40 ERA)
Suagno’s peripheral stats through his first three MLB stats look rough. He’s striking out just 3.21 per nine innings and getting few whiffs. To his credit, he has made two of his starts against the same opponent (Blue Jays), so it’s possible that that is just a bad matchup for him, and his overall numbers are suffering as a result. A start against a less potent offense in Cleveland could help his stats bounce back to where he would like them.
Bibee is your classic Cleveland success story on the mound. He was Rookie of the Year runner up to Gunnar Henderson in 2023, and looked good again in 2024. He has made three starts so far in 2025, two of which have been against the Royals. In those starts against the Royals he has tossed 10.1 shutout innings. In his one start against someone else (Angels), he coughed up seven runs across four innings.
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