Let’s take a look at the season that was for the 2024 Cleveland Guardians, the questions the team must address this winter and the early outlook for 2025.
Read more: 2024 MLB offseason previews: What’s next for the Orioles, Astros, Phillies and more?
Postseason outcome
The Guardians held serve in the postseason until Game 5 of the ALCS. They saved themselves from a potentially embarrassing end to their campaign by coming back from a 2-1 series deficit to eliminate their division rivals from Detroit in the ALDS before falling to the Yankees in the next round.
Lane Thomas had a solid postseason (.766 OPS) and delivered arguably the biggest Cleveland hit of the year when he took Tigers ace Tarik Skubal deep for a grand slam in the series-clinching victory. Steven Kwan continued to spark the lineup, hitting .381 in October, and José Ramírez (.798 OPS) remained the lineup’s centerpiece.
Jhonkensy Noel and David Fry delivered October’s other big blasts when they homered in the ninth and 10th innings, respectively, in an ALCS Game 3 win over the Yankees. On the pitching side, Matthew Boyd (0.77 ERA) and Tanner Bibee (3.45 ERA) carried the rotation. Unfortunately, Emmanuel Clase (9.00 ERA) had a forgettable postseason. While the superstar closer earned a pair of saves, he also suffered two losses and blew a lead in another game.
Things that went right
The Guardians were carried by their bullpen as much as any team in recent memory. After all, this is a club that won 92 games despite having an offense that ranked 14th in runs scored and a rotation that placed 24th in ERA. Thankfully, shortcomings from other parts of the roster were often erased by the relief corps, which produced a 2.57 ERA that was 0.61 lower than that of any other team. Emmanuel Clase was the leader of the group, as he was the third pitcher in the past 30 years to collect 47 saves and post an ERA below 1.00. The setup crew of Hunter Gaddis, Cade Smith and Tim Herrin each posted an ERA below 2.00 while making at least 74 appearances.
Offensively, the club was led by José Ramírez, who fell one homer shy of a 40-40 season (and the team’s final game was rained out) while topping the century mark in runs and RBI. His .872 OPS ranked 12th in baseball. Josh Naylor was another driving force, as he reached the 30-homer and 100-RBI plateaus for the first time.