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Cleveland Guardians 2025 Season Preview
The Cleveland Guardians look to repeat their AL Central championship from 2024 and hope to make a deep run in the playoffs, ending the season with a World Series championship. In MLB news, this franchise has not won a World Series since 1948 and its fans are starved for a title.
2025 Cleveland Guardians Win Total Projection & World Series Odds
This is an interesting projection. The Guardians are coming off a season that saw them win 92 games. They were 50-30 at home and 42-39 on the road. However, the sportsbook isn’t sold there will be a repeat as the win total project in MLB picks sits at 82 ½, which is almost a full 10 games less than 2024. When it comes to the World Series, the Guardians are +3300.
2025 Cleveland Guardians Projected Starting Lineup
The Guardians’ starting lineup with help from MLB.com, the ultimate resource when it comes to all things baseball.
Lineup
- Steven Kwan, LF
- Kyle Manzardo, DH
- José Ramírez, 3B
- Carlos Santana, 1B
- Lane Thomas, CF
- Will Brennan, RF
- Bo Naylor, C
- Gabriel Arias, 2B
- Brayan Rocchio, SS
Lineup Strengths and Weaknesses
While the Guardians struck out a total of 1,196 times in 2024, only two players went over the century mark. They were the brothers, Bo and Josh Naylor. The latter is no longer with Cleveland, having been sent to Arizona. So putting the bat on the ball is a challenge but not for every player in this strikeout-crazy generation of MLB.
Steven Kwan is a strong player at the plate, hitting .292 last year. He’s one of the better batters on the team. When it comes to power, Bo Naylor and Jose Ramirez deliver the wallop. They combined for 70 home runs and 226 RBI. Ramirez added 41 steals. The team lost some speed with the trade that sent Andres Gimenez to Toronto. He had 30 steals.
Second base will be a tester with Gimenez gone. The Guards will count on Gabriel Arias to fill the role. In limited duty, the now 24-year-old hit .222 in 2024. He will need to step it up to deliver what Gimenez did. Arias is no lock to hold down the position for the season if he can’t hit. One of the reasons Gimenez was dealt, was his huge contract and limited ability to hit.
At first base, the Guardians turned to a former player. Carlos Santana spent 10 seasons in Cleveland before bouncing from team to team since 2022. He’s a Gold Glove first baseman despite being about to turn 39 in April. Santana hit 216 of his 324 career homers with the Cleveland franchise. He had 23 homers and 71 RBI last year as a Twin. If he could repeat those numbers and continue to excel in the field, the Guardians will be happy.
Cleveland Guardians Projected Starting Rotation
The pitching rotation features Tanner Bibee, Luis Ortiz, Gavin Williams, Ben Lively, and Triston McKenzie, per MLB.com
Bibee and Lively combined for 25 wins out of the starting rotation. Given the lack of ability of pitchers to go the required five innings to get a decision that is a decent amount of wins from the combo.
Skipping Ortiz for the moment, Williams and McKenzie are definitely concerns. They went a combined 6-15 in 2024.
Ortiz was 7-6 with a 3.32 ERA in Pittsburgh last season. He struck out 107 in 135 innings, which means he is more crafty than powerful. He easily could become the No. 3 guy in the rotation.
Projected Bullpen
MLB expert picks will love this bullpen. Even with Nick Sandlin going to Toronto in the Gimenez trade, the Guardian relievers are strong. They were dependable until Emmanuel Clase had issues in the postseason. In addition to Hunter Gaddis, Cade Smith and Paul Sewald should get a lot of work. Smith had a remarkable 103 strikeouts in 75.1 innings.
Look for Cleveland to add a lefty arm or two during the season.
Cleveland Guardians Schedule and Key Matchups
Manager Stephen Vogt will be challenged to repeat the 92-win season. The Guardians improved 16 wins from 2023 and the sportsbook’s MLB predictions have the number settled at 82 ½ games.
That in a large part is because the AL Central is a difficult division. With the exception of the putrid White Sox, every team in the AL Central finished above .500. So making the Guardians and MLB playoff prediction once again will be something to watch.
Cleveland will be challenged early in its schedule as it opens with a nine-game road swing through Kansas City, San Diego and the Los Angeles Angels. You can’t win your way into the playoffs in March and early April but you can certainly put a dent in your hopes.
There is a testing homestand between April 21-May 1 against the Yankees, Red Sox and Twins. If you thought the season-opening trip was annoying, there is a 10-game swing in mid-May and when the Guardians return home they will face the World Champion Dodgers. This team needs to avoid MLB injuries in May particularly.
If Cleveland can stay in the playoff race, its hopes could rest on a stretch from Sept. 8-25. Every game in that run will be against AL Central rivals. The regular season concludes with a three-game series against the Texas Rangers.
