Guardians preview: Top priority is improving offense

Employing one of the worst offenses in the major leagues and doing outside of nothing but signing Phillies outcast Rhys Hoskins this offseason seems like an alarming prospect in the traditionally power-packed American League. That's how the Guardians roll. Cleveland hasn't hit for two straight years and yet has still won consecutive American League Central Division titles, even pulling off a miraculous comeback in 2025 to chase down the Tigers from a 15½-game deficit and make Stephen Vogt a two-time AL Manager of the Year in two seasons on the job. "We didn't hit well last year. We all know that," catcher and team leader Austin Hedges said. "We know what the adjustments are and everybody's kind of realized that their abilities have got them to the big leagues, and now their mental (approach), their plan, their preparation is what's going to take them to the next level — to go from guys with a .650 OPS to a .750, our guys guys with a .700 OPS flirt with an .800. "And then we get a bunch of guys out there with mid-.700 OPS's, guys that are there take that to the 800s. Now, we're really the team that we expect to be." Overcoming obstacles — such as one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, one of the least experienced rosters and losing one of the majors' best closers — is what the Guards do, but how long can it continue on the offensive front without costing the club? Making the playoffs is one thing, but winning the World Series is a tall order for a team that scored the fewest runs in the majors last year while collectively batting .226. "We ended the year strong. You look at the last couple months of our season, the offense improved, we pitched better, everything was clicking in the right direction, and we've got a majority of that group coming back and we've added reinforcements," Vogt said. "We're starting the year with the group we finished with. That group won a lot of games and was a lot better offense than the first four months. We're really excited about our young guys, we're excited for the group we have and we're excited to get them rolling and we feel really good about our offense." A potential offensive improvement will no doubt be led by seven-time All-Star Jose Ramirez (.283, 30 home runs, 85 RBIs) and leadoff hitter Steven Kwan (.272, 11 HRs, 56 RBIs, 21 SBs), but the dynamic duo could use assistance from a healthy David Fry and a young group that includes Bo Naylor, Chase DeLauter, Brayan Rocchio, CJ Kayfus, with first baseman Kyle Manzardo at the top of the list. After a nondescript first half last year, Manzardo, who has shown the potential to be a force in the middle of the order, turned it on in the second half and finished just shy of 30 home runs. Vogt is counting on a lot more from All-Star Josh Naylor's replacement this season. "He's put on 14 pounds, and he's really starting to focus on his body and getting bigger and stronger," Vogt said of Manzardo. "And I think for Kyle, going through your first full season in the big leagues is a different monster. And until you've played 162 games and gone through the rigors of eight months of getting your body prepared every day, you don't know what that feels like. And now Kyle does and he's showing it in his winter work by putting on the weight that he has. "I've talked with him about 'be ready to play first base.' I think for Kyle to play first base four to five days a week, that puts us in the best position possible to be successful. And he's put in the work both offensively, defensively, and most importantly with his body to be able to do that." "Kyle Manzardo has had a great offseason," team president Chris Antonetti said. "One of the things we really challenged our guys in, is taking the next step in their physical developments. Kyle had an opportunity to get a little bit bigger, stronger and more agile." At least one cause for optimism in 2026 centers around a talented, young rotation whose individual parts all shined last year, most notably right-hander Gavin Williams, who turned a corner by finally staying healthy and putting up ace-like numbers — 12-5, 3.06 ERA, 173 strikeouts 167⅔ innings (31 starts). Williams will be joined by right-handers Tanner Bibee and Slade Cecconi and lefties Joey Cantillo and Parker Messick, who beat out lefty Logan Allen for the final spot. "I'm so pumped for our starting group," Hedges said. "The strides that Gavin took last year, I mean, I think everybody knows we got a bona fide ace right there. And just the growth that he's had to go from being a thrower that just throws hard, has nasty stuff naturally to truly being able to pitch, adding the sinker and the cutter and really changing shapes. I don't even think we've seen his best yet. I think these next few years he's going to solidify himself as a household name. "Obviously, we got Tanner Bibee on an (contract) extension. We know he's going to be here for a while. Having him and Parker Messick and Slade Cecconi and Joey Cantillo, Logan Allen, we have so much depth at the starting pitcher position that it gives us a lot of confidence. I know we're going to make a lot of strides this year offensively, but Cleveland's a pitching factory." "We feel that the depth of our starting rotation is going to be strong and the showing that those guys put on for everybody in the last month of the year is something ... we expect them to hit the ground running. They're all working hard to come back and returning majority of the bullpen as well as adding some very big arms at the back end, so feeling really good about the team and the pitching as a whole." For the first time in five years, Cleveland will enter the season without suspended right-hander Emmanuel Clase in the closer role, but Hedges believes righty Cade Smith, who performed well in place of Clase last year, and company will still be the effective unit it's been the past two-plus years. "The arms that we've added, Shawn Armstrong obviously brings us a veteran back-end reliever coming off a phenomenal year, coming back to Cleveland, wanted to come back here, wanted to be with our pitching group to continue his career," Hedges said. "To add him into the mix gives us that third righty to throw in leverage. And the other guys returning are great. (Offseason additions) Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon, those are two guys with big stuff. I feel like this is the deepest bullpen we've had since I've been here. "Obviously with the starting pitching we have, I think we're going to be in a really good spot. When we get into October, where we expect to be, the shorter games can get, we take a quick lead early ... if we can go straight to matchups with a bunch of guys that can throw leverage innings, that's going to be an advantage for us." Ignorance has been bliss for the Guardians, who have won on a consistent basis over Vogt's first two seasons despite owning one of the majors' least-experienced rosters. Though that's the case again this year, Hedges is quick to point out that this group has already been tested. "It's funny because we're going to go in with maybe the youngest team in baseball again, we always do, but it's an experienced young team," he said. "Everybody that will start on the team this year has played in playoff games last year. The majority of them played in playoff games the year before, and a good chunk of those guys played in meaningful playoff games in 2022. "So you go 2022 Division Series, 2024 ALCS, and then the wild card round last year, there's a lot of guys that are still pre-ARB or maybe ARB-1 that have real meaningful, deep playoff experience. And once you've experienced that, the pressure of a regular season is a lot less. And the growth that is allowed because of that, I think we're going to see that this year. I think we're going to really see that translate with these guys that are more experienced young guys that know." "I think mature is the first word that comes out," Kwan said of Cleveland's young group. "It would be real easy with a locker room full of young guys (for them) to not have the feel, but there's none of that. Everybody's really locked into their program, their routines, they're really consistent with what they do. Just seeing them from afar has been really fun. "I almost feel like you can see that switch click in their heads, where it's like, maybe they're a big leaguer, maybe they're not, to the moment where they're like, 'No, I belong here. I know what to expect now. I know who these pitchers are.' And they just start handling themselves like pros. I think there's a confidence and a swagger that comes with that, when you know you belong here." The Guardians have proven they can overcome adversity to achieve postseason glory, but they've still fallen short of the ultimate goal of winning the organization's first world championship since 1948. According to Vogt, that means they have accomplished nothing. "We're here for one thing, and that's to win a World Series. We expect to go out and win every night," Vogt said. "We are trying to win as many games as we can so we can have a chance to win a World Series. I think when that's our expectation, whatever expectations or pressure is coming in from the outside, it's not as much as the pressure we put on ourselves." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com.