Guardians Have Made Up Significant Ground In MLB Playoff Race

Those odds still may seem small, but considering that on July 12, Fangraphs gave the Guardians a 9.2%chance to reach the postseason and an 8.7% chance of snagging a wild-card spot, Cleveland is undoubtedly headed in the right direction.

However, unlike last year when the Guardians jumped out to a big lead in the playoff race, Cleveland can’t afford to stumble even for one week. They own an American League-best 15-7 record since the All-Star Break and must keep playing at an elite level if they want to play October baseball. 

Guardians Making AL Central Race Interesting

The Detroit Tigers were in a position to run away with the American League Central, and they’re still the clear favorite to come out on top of the division when the season ends. However, the Guardians certainly aren’t going to make it easy on their division rival.

Cleveland was 15.5 games back of Detroit on July 6. Now, the Tigers’ lead is just 6.0 games, and FanGraphs gives the Guardians a 3.9% chance of catching up and winning the division.

Again, this may seem small, but considering where they were at one point this season, Cleveland is clearly making up significant ground. 

On July 1, Fangraphs gave the Guardians a 1.2% chance of overtaking the Tigers. That wasn’t even the second-highest in the division, with the Minnesota Twins ahead of Cleveland. Now, the Twins are out of the picture after their trade deadline sale, and the Tigers have a 13-17 record over their last 30 games.

A window is opening for the Guards. 

To make matters even more intriguing, the Guardians still have six more games against the Tigers this year, all of them coming in the final two weeks of the season.

If Cleveland can stay even within four games of Detroit until the middle of September, then they’ll put themselves in a good spot to possibly steal the AL Central crown and reach the playoffs.  

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