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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/10-greatest-guardians-players-all-time-ranked');   ga('set', 'title', '10 greatest Guardians players of all time, ranked');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Bob-Feller-statue.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>10 greatest Guardians players of all time, ranked</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-15T09:35:10-07:00">April 15th, 9:35am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-15T09:41:20-07:00">April 15th, 9:41am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/indians-news-guardians-of-the-galaxy-james-gunn-has-best-reaction-cleveland-name-change">Guardians, despite their name change</a> a few years ago, have been around for over 120 years now after being founded all the way back in 1901 as the Cleveland Indians. Throughout their lengthy history, they have had quite a few players who could go down as some of the greatest to ever player.</p><p>But who are the greatest Guardians of all time? Let’s take a trip very far down memory lane and pick out the ten best Guardians players in their history and see why they earn this prestigious honor.</p><h2><b>10. Larry Doby</b></h2><p>Position: Centerfield</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1947-1955</p><p>Notable Accolades: Broke AL color barrier, seven-time AL All-Star, Two-time AL HR Champ</p><p>Larry Doby is most famous for becoming just the second Negro Leagues player to play in Major League Baseball and the first in the American League. However, this shouldn’t overshadow that Doby was an excellent player regardless of race. However, for him to excel in the face of the racial inequities of the time was truly impressive.</p><p>Doby struggled as a part-timer in 1947 but was a key outfielder for the 1948 Indians, who won a one-game playoff in Boston to win the AL pennant by one game over the Red Sox. They then won the World Series in six game over the Boston Braves. Doby batted .318 in the World Series very well might have been named MVP if they had the award at the time.</p><p>Doby then was an All-Star for the Indians for the next seven seasons. He led the AL in OPS in 1950 and finished runner-up for AL MVP to New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra in a very close vote. Doby led the AL with 32 home runs and 126 RBIs. The Indians won 111 games to return to the World Series but were swept by Willie Mays and the New York Giants.</p><h2><b>9. Jim Thome</b></h2><p>Position: First Base and Third Base</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1991-2002</p><p>Notable Accolades: Three-time AL All-Star, 1996 Silver Slugger, Hall of Famer</p><p>You could probably break Jim Thome’s career into two separate careers and end up with two different Hall of Fame players. The first part of that came during his time with the Cleveland Guardians where he established himself as one of the best hitters in the game. Thome eventually burst his way into the lineup, and eventually proved himself to be an absolute force at the plate.</p><p>Thome could hit for power, as he hit at least 30 home runs in his final seven seasons with Cleveland, and even when he wasn’t hitting bombs, he was getting on base at a high rate, as he always seemed to draw over 100 walks. When all is said and done, Thome was one of the best hitters in Cleveland’s history.</p><h2><b>8. Bob Lemon</b></h2><p>Position: Starting Pitcher</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1946-1958</p><p>Notable Accolades: Seven-time AL All-Star, 1948 World Series winner, Hall of Famer</p><p>If you ever need a reminder that pitchers are not used the same way they once were, go look at Bob Lemon’s stats. Lemon threw over 200 innings in nine straight seasons, which is just outrageous. Not only that, but Lemon was dominant when he pitched. He only had two seasons where his ERA was above four, and those were the two final seasons of his career.</p><p>Despite pitching a ton throughout his career, Lemon rarely gave up runs, and was a key piece of Cleveland’s last World Series winner all the way back in 1948. Had Lemon not had to serve in the military from 1943 to 1945, he probably could be a bit higher up on this list.</p><h2><b>7. Kenny Lofton</b></h2><p>Position: Centerfield</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1992-1996, 1998-2001, 2007</p><p>Notable Accolades: Five-time AL All-Star, Four-time Gold Glove winner, Five-time AL Stolen Base leader</p><p>Kenny Lofton had three separate stints with the Indians, and he found a way to make each one count. Lofton didn’t pan out with the Houston Astros in 1991 but found his way to Cleveland in 1992 and immediately made Houston look foolish.</p><p>Lofton was a fantastic contact hitter who consistently hit over .300, one of the best defensive outfielders in the league, and for a point in time, the best leadoff hitter and base stealer in the league. He had five seasons where he stole more than 50 bases, including 1996 when he swiped a <a href="https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2020/04/kenny-lofton-becomes-tribes-all-time-stolen-base-king-on-this-day-in-cleveland-indians-history.html" rel="noopener">career-high 75 bags</a>.</p><p>Lofton was even impactful in his age 40 season in 2007 when he helped the Guardians make it to the ALCS, and he’s easily the greatest Guardians player in recent memory.</p><h2>6. Jose Ramirez</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Jose-Ramirez-celebrates.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Position: Third Base, Second Base, and Shortstop</p><p>Years with Guardians: 2013-2025</p><p>Notable Accolades: Six-time AL All-Star, Five-time Silver Slugger</p><p>Jose Ramirez has been one of the best all-around players in MLB for more than a decade and could very well end up several spots higher on this list when all is said and done. He’s been an anchor in the middle of the lineup for the Guardians in their most recent run of success as they have reached the postseason in six of his 13 seasons.</p><p>Ramirez not only is an excellent hitter with a career 130 OPS+, but also a great base runner with 20+ stolen bases seven times, and an excellent defender at third base. It’s very surprising that he’s never won a Gold Glove, however, he’s been a finalist for the award six times. Ramirez is just 32, and he’s already second all time for the Guardians in home runs and third in total bases.</p><h2><b>5. Earl Averill</b></h2><p>Position: Centerfield</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1929-1939</p><p>Notable Accolades: Six-time AL All-Star, Hall of Famer</p><p>Earl Averill was one of the Guardians first great sluggers, and he was consistently one of the top hitters in the league. There wasn’t much Averill couldn’t do at the plate, as he was almost always hitting over .300 or hitting 20 home runs. Averill always seemed to be in the running for the MVP award but never ended up winning it, finishing as high as third place in 1936.</p><p>That season was easily Averill’s best (.378 BA, 28 HR, 126 RBI, 1.065 OPS) and probably is the best way to show just how good Averill was. He never stood out like other old school players, but he was a consistent presence in Cleveland’s lineup throughout his career.</p><h2><b>4. Lou Boudreau</b></h2><p>Position: Shortstop</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1938-1950</p><p>Notable Accolades: 1948 AL MVP, Eight-time AL All-Star, 1948 World Series winner, Hall of Famer</p><p>Lou Boudreau was the key piece of the Guardians last World Series title back in 1948. He put together the best season of his career that year (.355 BA, 18 HR, 106 RBI, .987 OPS) which earned him his lone MVP award, but that’s not the only reason he’s this high on his list.</p><p>Despite never being a power hitter, Boudreau was one of the best contact hitters in the game. He always found his way on base and played solid defense at shortstop, and during a time where good shortstops weren’t exactly common, Boudreau stood out. But it’s his contributions from that legendary 1948 season that will always save him a place in Cleveland’s history.</p><h2><b>3. Bob Feller</b></h2><p>Position: Starting Pitcher</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1936-1941, 1945-1956</p><p>Notable Accolades: 1940 Triple Crown winner, Eight-time AL All-Star, 1948 World Series winner, Hall of Famer</p><p>The Indians were in good shape throughout the 1940s with a pair of Bobs leading the way for them. And while Lemon, who we looked at earlier, was great, it’s clear that Bob Feller was always the ace of the staff.</p><p>Feller quickly proved he was one of the best pitchers around when he entered the league as a 17-year-old back in 1936 and had one of the greatest pitching seasons in MLB history in 1940 when he won the AL pitching triple crown.</p><p>Feller’s career was put on hiatus from 1942 to 1944 as he served in the military for World War II, but when he came back, it was like he had never left. Feller was instrumental to the team winning it all in 1948, and he easily earns one of the top three spots on this greatest Guardians list.</p><h2><b>2. Nap Lajoie</b></h2><p>Position: Second Base and First Base</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1902-1914</p><p>Notable Accolades: Three-time batting average champ, Hall of Famer</p><p>Nap Lajoie started his career in Cleveland one year after the founding of the Indians. Lajoie was the first great Indian, and to this day, he remains one of the franchise’s all time best players.</p><p>Lajoie was a pure contact hitter back in a day when home runs weren’t prevalent, but even then, he was always one of the best players in the game. He came around before accolades were ever truly a thing, although he did manage to win the NL Triple Crown in 1901 with the Philadelphia Athletics.</p><p>Still, Lajoie’s greatness cannot simply be measured in accolades, and he helped make baseball relevant in Cleveland. His impact is still felt over 100 years after he played, and while he may not exactly be a household name, it’s clear that Cleveland baseball fans cherish Lajoie’s impact on baseball for the Guardians franchise.</p><h2><b>1. Tris Speaker</b></h2><p>Position: Centerfield</p><p>Years with Guardians: 1916-1926</p><p>Notable Accolades: 1920 World Series winner, Hall of Famer</p><p>Tris Speaker’s best seasons may have come with the Boston Red Sox earlier in his career, but that didn’t stop him from being wildly productive in Cleveland as well. Speaker’s 1916 season, where he hit a then career-high .386, proved right away that this guy was going to be a steal for Cleveland.</p><p>Despite spending just half of his career in Cleveland, Speaker dominates the franchise’s all-time leaderboard. He’s their all-time leader in doubles, which is no surprise since he still holds the all-time record for career doubles. Speaker also has the franchise record for career on-base percentage at .444. He also is second in hits, triples, runs scored, and total bases.</p><p>Speaker helped the Indians win their first World Series in 1920 when he upped his batting average career-high to .388, but he managed to set a new high in his age 37 season when he somehow hit .389. Speaker is one of the best pure contact hitters the game has ever seen, and it’s easy to see why he is the greatest Guardians player of all time.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

10 greatest Guardians players of all time, ranked

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-accomplishes-feat-seen-2009-white-sox');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians accomplishes feat not seen since 2009 vs. White Sox');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Nolan-Jones-celebrates-walk-off-walk.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians accomplishes feat not seen since 2009 vs. White Sox</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-08T16:46:16-07:00">April 8th, 4:46pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-08T16:46:16-07:00">April 8th, 4:46pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Guardians b<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-lane-thomas-white-sox-injury">eat the Chicago White Sox 1-0 on Tuesday to start a three-game series</a>. Their pitching was dynamite, from Ben Lively to the bullpen. But the offense could not get it going until the ninth. The Guardians loaded the bases, and Nolan Jones won it on a walk-off walk. According to MLB Stats, <a href="https://x.com/MLBStats/status/1909741312372363502" rel="noopener">this is the first</a> walk-off walk in a 1-0 game since 2009.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Walk-off walk! <a href="https://t.co/jnnENjv9L5">pic.twitter.com/jnnENjv9L5</a></p><p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1909738872243704043?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Guardians started the inning with a single from Carlos Santana. Then, White Sox closer Mike Clevinger walked the next two batters. That sent Jones to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs in a tie game. After working a full count, Jones walked and won the game. While the offense didn’t exactly light the game on fire, a win is a win.</p><p>The last walk-off walk was on May 1, 2009, in a game between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. Russell Martin walked and Orlando Hudson scored to give Los Angeles the victory. Duaner Sanchez surrendered the walk for the Padres in an early-season loss.</p><p>For the White Sox, this is a brutal loss to continue a brutal stretch of baseball. For the Guardians, they got great pitching, which is exactly what they had last year. Can their offense improve?</p><h2><b>The Guardians have elite pitching once again</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Emmanuel-Clase-with-Guardians.jpg"><figcaption>Ken Blaze-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>At 4-6, the Guardians are struggling to start the year. They went to Anaheim to play the Angels and lost that series, which is a disappointing outcome for any AL team. Their home opener was Tuesday, and their pitching stood up to the test in front of their home crowd. This is especially true for the bullpen in Tuesday’s game.</p><p>Cade Smith, Paul Sewald, Hunter Gaddis, and Emmanuel Clase came into the game for the Guardians, in that order. They did not allow a hit, let alone a run, to the White Sox over the four innings. That bullpen is the reason they won the AL Central and made the ALCS last year. With that crew shining early, things are looking up for Cleveland.</p><p>The Guardians did get some great offensive performances early in the season. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirezs-reaction-3-home-run-angels">Jose Ramirez had a three-homer day in Anaheim</a> and put up seven runs on Opening Day against Kansas City. But to not scratch a run across until the final batter against the White Sox shows issues that could cost them the playoffs.</p><p>The Guardians and White Sox continue their series at 6:10 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians accomplishes feat not seen since 2009 vs. White Sox

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-lane-thomas-white-sox-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians outfielder exits vs. White Sox with injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Lane-Thomas-swings-a-bat-against-Angels.jpg"><figcaption>Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians outfielder exits vs. White Sox with injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-08T16:24:22-07:00">April 8th, 4:24pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-08T16:24:22-07:00">April 8th, 4:24pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Chicago White Sox by a final score of 1-0 on Tuesday in the team’s home opener. However, outfielder Lane Thomas exited the game early with an apparent injury. It was later revealed that Thomas <a href="https://x.com/tim_stebbins/status/1909726778609787198" rel="noopener">suffered a right wrist contusion</a>, according to Tim Stebbins of MLB.com.</p><p>The injury occurred after Thomas was hit by a pitch. Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan reported that Thomas’ <a href="https://x.com/RuiterWrongFAN/status/1909727313178034613" rel="noopener">X-rays were negative</a>. Of course, the hope is that Thomas won’t have to miss too much time. The Guardians have yet to provide a timeline for a return.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-cleveland-roster-lane-thomas-trade">Guardians acquired Thomas in a trade</a> with the Washington Nationals during the 2024 season. He struggled for the most part after joining Cleveland, but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-lane-thomas-grand-slam-tarik-skubal-mlb-world-buzzing">Thomas did hit a clutch home run in the playoffs</a>.</p><p>Thomas is a right-handed hitter with potential at the plate. The Guardians need all of the offensive help they can get, so he will be missed if he does indeed have to sit out some games.</p><p>With the win, Cleveland improved to 4-6 in 2025. The Guardians are in third place in the American League Central. Cleveland won the division a season ago, and the team should have a realistic opportunity to repeat as AL Central champions. A grueling nine-game road trip led the Guardians to their mediocre start, but perhaps finally playing some games at Progressive Field will help the ball club get back on track.</p><p>Tuesday’s matchup represented the first contest of a six-game homestand. The Guardians will host the White Sox on Wednesday and Thursday before welcoming the Kansas City Royals into town for a three-game series over the weekend. Cleveland can make some serious noise in the division by taking care of business against their AL Central rivals.</p><p>The White Sox-Guardians game on Wednesday night is scheduled for 6:10 PM EST in Cleveland.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians outfielder exits vs. White Sox with injury

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirezs-reaction-3-home-run-angels');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians’ Jose Ramirez’s perfect reaction to 3-home run game vs. Angels');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Cleveland-Guardians-third-baseman-Jose-Ramirez-11-runs-around-bases-after-hitting-his-third-home-run-of-the-game-during-the-ninth-inning-against-the-Los-Angeles-Angels-at-Angel-Stadium.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians’ Jose Ramirez’s perfect reaction to 3-home run game vs. Angels</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-05T10:11:10-07:00">April 5th, 10:11am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-05T10:11:10-07:00">April 5th, 10:11am</time><address><a>Zachary Draves</a>Zachary Draves is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Zachary covers a variety of different sports as well as sports history, sport and society, and sport and culture. He is also a professor of sociology.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It was quite a Friday night for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-3-home-run-angels" rel="noopener">Cleveland Guardians’ Jose Ramirez, who hit three home runs</a> in an 8-6 win over the Los Angeles Angels. He was riding so high from that feat that he responded superbly. </p><p>When asked what transpired, Ramirez <a href="https://x.com/MLB/status/1908542814725582900" rel="noopener">provided a simple reaction</a> that perfectly encapsulated the moment, per MLB.com. </p><p>“Home run pitch. Home run pitch. Home run pitch.” he said three times. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="fi">Do NOT throw José Ramírez the home run pitch 🤣 <a href="https://t.co/THiXVP4eg6">pic.twitter.com/THiXVP4eg6</a></p><p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1908542814725582900?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>He hit a solo shot in the first inning, a two-run blast in the fifth, and another solo shot in the ninth.</p><p>Ramirez is known for being one of the Guardians’ most competitive and positive personalities. Last year, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-confident-message-alcs-deficit" rel="noopener">Ramirez expressed confidence in the Guardians</a> when they were down 2-0 to the New York Yankees in the ALCS. Though they lost the series in five games, Ramirez’s positive nature didn’t dissipate. </p><p>Ramirez has been with the Guardians since 2013. Along the way, he became a six-time All-Star and a five-time Silver Slugger Award winner. His three-home run performance only adds to his status as a history-maker. </p><h2><b>Jose Ramirez’s place in Guardians history</b></h2><p>Ramirez has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/jose-ramirez-three-homers-guardians-8bc8ab60c2b064a756254b49d6c124b3" rel="noopener">cemented his place</a> as one of the Guardian’s most prolific sluggers for the last few years, per Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. His performance yesterday was his 26th multi-homer game. </p><p>It was the second time he hit three home runs in a game. On June 8, 2023, he hit three home runs against the Boston Red Sox. </p><p>Ramirez has 259 career home runs, the second most in Guardian’s history behind Jim Thome’s 337. In addition to Thome, Ramirez has been compared to fellow Guardian slugger Albert Belle. </p><p>His ability to hit for power and his personality has evoked praise from Guardians manager Stephen Vogt.</p><p>“Best player in the world,” he said. “Man, he’s some kind of impressive. What a great night! They picked us up on a night when we needed a lot of offense, and our best player came through the way those guys do. They step up. They know when we need that. They have a knack for finding ways to do that. Those three-homer games are so rare in itself, but to be able to witness it and have him do it the way he did was really impressive.”</p><p>If he keeps it up, Ramirez will have more history to be made. </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians’ Jose Ramirez’s perfect reaction to 3-home run game vs. Angels

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-3-home-run-angels');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians star Jose Ramirez’s 3-home run game draws ‘best player’ admission');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Jose-Ramirez-hits-a-home-run-against-the-Angels.jpg"><figcaption>Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Guardians star Jose Ramirez’s 3-home run game draws ‘best player’ admission</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-05T06:23:42-07:00">April 5th, 6:23am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-05T06:23:42-07:00">April 5th, 6:23am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Jose Ramirez led the Cleveland Guardians to an 8-6 victory against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night. The Guardians star crushed three home runs and drove in four total runs to help Cleveland earn the win in Anaheim. Guardians manager Stephen Vogt <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/jose-ramirez-ties-cleveland-record-multihomer-games" rel="noopener">made a bold claim</a> following Ramirez’s huge night, via MLB.com.</p><p>“Best player in the world,” Vogt said of the third baseman. “Really picked us up on a night where we needed a lot of offense, and our best player came through the way those guys do. They step up.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-admission-mlb-opponents">Ramirez is looking to have another big season</a>. Despite consistently producing some of the best numbers in baseball, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-laughs-off-mlb-network-cleveland-snub">Ramirez is often underrated</a>. Perhaps it is because he plays in a small market. The Guardians themselves have been overlooked quite often, yet Cleveland has been a fairly consistent postseason contender over the past decade.</p><p>In the end, Jose Ramirez and the Guardians likely don’t mind being underrated. All that matters is that they believe in their ability to get the job done. Cleveland certainly knows how important Ramirez is to the success of the ball club.</p><p>With the win, the Guardians improved to 3-4 overall in 2025. That record isn’t ideal, but it’s better than people may think. Playing around .500 baseball on the road is important throughout the course of a 162-game season. The Guardians were given a nine-game road trip to begin the ’25 campaign.</p><p>Sure, Cleveland would love to hold a record of above .500, but the team is holding its own despite the challenging schedule. The Guardians have two more games in Anaheim before heading to Cleveland for their home opener on Tuesday against an American League Central rival in the Chicago White Sox.</p><p>For now, Jose Ramirez will do everything he can to help his team finish the road trip on a positive note.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians star Jose Ramirez’s 3-home run game draws ‘best player’ admission

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-admission-mlb-opponents');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians’ Jose Ramirez drops admission that will frighten all MLB opponents');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jose-Ramirezs-confident-message-amid-ALCS-deficit.jpg"></figure><h1>Guardians’ Jose Ramirez drops admission that will frighten all MLB opponents</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-27T11:57:46-07:00">March 27th, 11:57am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-27T11:57:46-07:00">March 27th, 11:57am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Cleveland Guardians star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-jose-ramirez-mookie-betts-freddie-freeman-comparison">Jose Ramirez is regarded as one of the best players in MLB</a>. Ramirez may be able to take a step forward in 2025 based on <a href="https://x.com/ZackMeisel/status/1904969393580158994" rel="noopener">his latest admission</a>, via Zack Meisel of The Athletic.</p><p>“I lost fat and increased muscle, so I have the same weight I finished at last season, but a different body,” Ramirez said.</p><p>Ramirez was then asked if he made the change in order to have a 50/50 (50 home runs and 50 stolen bases) season.</p><p>“I would love to do 100/100, but the game isn’t easy,” the Guardians third baseman said. “I’ll do my best.”</p><p>A 100/100 campaign may be possible in MLB The Show (maybe?) but the chances of it happening in real life are extremely slim. Reaching the 40/40 mark is difficult enough.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/dodgers-news-shohei-ohtani-50-50-season">Shohei Ohtani became the only player in MLB history</a> to enter the 50/50 club in 2024. Meanwhile, only six players have reached 40 stolen bases and 40 home runs in a single season (Ohtani, Ronald Acuna Jr., Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez and Alfonso Soriano). Jose Ramirez came extremely close to joining the club in 2024, though, finishing the year with 41 stolen bases and 39 home runs.</p><p>Perhaps Ramirez’s admission about increasing muscle will help him accomplish the feat during the upcoming ’25 campaign. The 32-year-old will be regarded as a superstar regardless of whether or not he reaches the 40/40 club, but it certainly is possible given how close he came in 2024.</p><p>Ramirez’s primary focus is on helping the Guardians win games, however. Cleveland has not earned a World Series victory since 1948. With Ramirez leading the way, the Guardians reached the American League Championship Series last year. They were ultimately defeated by the New York Yankees, though.</p><p>Cleveland has come close to ending the World Series drought over the years (reached Game 7 of the Fall Classic in both 1997 and 2016). The Guardians just can’t seem to get the job done in October, though. Perhaps that will change soon with Jose Ramirez on the roster.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians’ Jose Ramirez drops admission that will frighten all MLB opponents

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-tanner-bibee-scratched-opening-day-start');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Guardians’ Tanner Bibee was scratched from Opening Day start');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Why-Guardians-Tanner-Bibee-was-scratched-from-Opening-Day-start.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Guardians’ Tanner Bibee was scratched from Opening Day start</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-27T09:39:59-07:00">March 27th, 9:39am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-27T09:51:41-07:00">March 27th, 9:51am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Guardians are set to play the Kansas City Royals on Opening Day. Tanner Bibee was expected to draw the Opening Day start, but he reportedly <a href="https://x.com/ZackMeisel/status/1905289934665048400" rel="noopener">won’t pitch</a> on Thursday due to an illness, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic.</p><p>“Tanner Bibee will not start today for the Guardians. He’s sick. Ben Lively will start instead,” Meisel wrote on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>Royals broadcaster Joel Goldberg reported that Bibee is <a href="https://x.com/goldbergkc/status/1905287832563822751" rel="noopener">dealing with food poisoning</a>.</p><p>“Tanner Bibee scratched due to food poisoning. Ben Lively will get the opening day nod for the Guardians in KC,” Goldberg wrote on X.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-tanner-bibee-contract-extension">Bibee and the Guardians recently agreed to a contract extension</a>. Shane Bieber still features Cy Young potential, but Cleveland seems to view Bibee as their ace of the future. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-tanner-bibee-inspirational-message-signing-contract-extension">Bibee is prepared to lead the Guardians</a> for years to come.</p><p>On Thursday, though, it will be Ben Lively taking the mound. The Guardians are certainly hopeful that Bibee can return as soon as possible. They will proceed with caution, though, as the season gets underway, as there is no need to rush the starting pitcher back into action.</p><h2><b>Guardians’ 2025 season outlook</b></h2><p>Cleveland upset expectations a season ago and reached the American League Championship Series. It was a successful first season for Stephen Vogt as Cleveland’s manager.</p><p>The Guardians will have increased competition in the American League Central, though. The division was among the worst in the sport a few years ago, but now the AL Central is becoming quite competitive. The Royals, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins are all postseason contenders alongside the Guardians.</p><p>As a result, the Guardians-Royals opening series in Kansas City projects to be exciting. Bibee’s presence will be missed on Opening Day, but the series itself should still be intriguing to follow.</p><p>Thursday’s first pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM EST.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Guardians’ Tanner Bibee was scratched from Opening Day start

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-nolan-jones-vocal-reuniting-guardians-rockies-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Nolan Jones vocal on reuniting with Guardians after Rockies trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Nolan-Jones-vocal-on-reuniting-with-Cleveland-after-Rockies-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>Nolan Jones vocal on reuniting with Guardians after Rockies trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-27T00:41:31-07:00">March 27th, 12:41am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-27T00:41:31-07:00">March 27th, 12:41am</time><address><a>Brayden Haena</a>Brayden Haena is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He's a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and a football fanatic. In addition to sports writing, he works for Arizona Football in the Player Personnel and Recruiting department and formerly served as the Defensive Coordinator for Heritage High School.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-nearing-trade-rockies-reunite-with-outfielder">Nolan Jones was pulled from the Rockies’ Cactus League lineup</a> last Saturday, he didn’t know where he was going—only that he was being traded. Wandering the complex “shook,” the 26-year-old right fielder <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-jones-joins-guardians-ahead-of-opening-day" rel="noopener">spent nearly an hour</a> trying to process the news and guess his destination. The Cleveland Guardians? He ruled them out.</p><p>“I did not see myself coming back here,” Jones admitted. “For no particular reason — I just thought, I was traded from here already.”</p><p>Yet just hours later, after a FaceTime call with close friend and former Guardians teammate Tyler Freeman, the picture started to come together. Freeman had also been pulled from his lineup in Cleveland and told he’d been traded—but not to whom. Jones told him, “I might have an idea where you’re going.”</p><p>By that evening, the trade was official: the Guardians were bringing Jones back, sending Freeman to Colorado in a rare one-for-one swap of two young players with ties to both organizations. For Jones, who was drafted by Cleveland in the second round in 2016 and debuted with the club in 2022, it was a full-circle moment.</p><h2><b>Nolan Jones traded for former Guardians teammates</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Nolan-Jones.jpg"><figcaption>Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>“It’s been an absolute whirlwind,” Jones said. “It’s very nice that I was able to walk into a clubhouse and kind of feel like I never left.”</p><p>After a breakout rookie year in 2023 where he slashed .297/.389/.542 with 20 homers and 20 steals, Jones battled through a back injury that derailed his 2024 season, limiting him to 79 games and a .227 average. This offseason, he focused on rehab and physical therapy—spending four days a week in recovery while also enjoying time with his young daughter. “My body feels great right now,” he said.</p><p>That’s good news for the Guardians, who are banking on Jones to provide left-handed power and stability in right field. He’ll be part of a platoon with Jhonkensy Noel, manager Stephen Vogt confirmed, though Jones is expected to get the bulk of the reps against right-handed pitching.</p><p>“We felt like it was an opportunity to add a left-handed impact-type bat… which we felt like we really needed,” GM Mike Chernoff said. “We obviously know Nolan really well from his time here… which probably allowed us to act a little bit more quickly than we typically would.”</p><p>Team president Chris Antonetti echoed that sentiment: “Our goal is to try to help keep him out on the field and be as productive as he can.”</p><p>Jones’ return was unexpected, but it’s clear the Guardians see real potential in his bat and presence. “Sometimes you just feel like you’re back at home,” he said. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-cleveland-surprising-triston-mckenzie-decision-2025">With Opening Day around the corner, Jones isn’t just back in Cleveland.</a> He’s back where he belongs—and ready to prove he should’ve never left.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Nolan Jones vocal on reuniting with Guardians after Rockies trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/mistrettas-mlb-musings-paul-skenes-cy-young-season-2025-yankees');   ga('set', 'title', 'Mistretta’s MLB Musings: Predicting Paul Skenes’ electrifying Cy Young season in 2025');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Mistrettas-Musings-Predicting-Paul-Skenes-electrifying-Cy-Young-season-in-2025.jpg"></figure><h1>Mistretta’s MLB Musings: Predicting Paul Skenes’ electrifying Cy Young season in 2025</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-24T08:38:28-07:00">March 24th, 8:38am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-24T12:34:04-07:00">March 24th, 12:34pm</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joey.mistretta/" rel="facebook">Joey Mistretta</a>Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. He is originally from Lake Arrowhead, California. Mistretta graduated from Biola University with a degree in broadcast journalism.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Hello everyone, welcome to the first edition of Mistretta’s MLB Musings. In my weekly column (published every Monday), we will be discussing news, analysis, opinions and more from around the MLB world. Today, let’s take a deep dive into Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pirates-news-paul-skenes-drops-firm-take-pirates-2025-outlook">Paul Skenes’ chances of earning his first Cy Young award</a> in 2025.</p><h2><b>Paul Skenes’ time to shine</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Paul-Skenes-pitches-during-spring-training-2.jpg"><figcaption>Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/pirates-news-paul-skenes-opening-day-starter-video">Skenes was recently given the Pirates’ Opening Day starting pitcher honor</a>. He is the reigning National League Rookie of the Year winner, but there have been plenty of flame-throwing hurlers with potential in recent seasons. So why is Skenes different?</p><p>The 2023 first overall pick certainly throws the baseball hard. There is no denying that fact. What sets Skenes apart, though, is his ability to command the ball.</p><p>See, many young hard-throwing pitchers lack control on the mound. It’s anyone’s guess where the ball will end up once it leaves their hand. Skenes — much like a veteran painter — grabs his brush and dots the corners. He has the baseball on a string.</p><p>Don’t believe me? Well, let’s examine a recent scenario from spring training during a Pirates’ game against the Baltimore Orioles.</p><p><a href="https://x.com/MLB/status/1903495421311246437" rel="noopener">Video via</a> MLB:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">This sequence from Paul Skenes to start the day is downright filthy 😱 <a href="https://t.co/4V1o0qd8VG">pic.twitter.com/4V1o0qd8VG</a></p><p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1903495421311246437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>I want you to watch where the Pirates catcher places his glove, and then watch where the ball ends up.</p><p>The first fastball lands down and away from the left-handed hitter, which is exactly where the catcher placed his glove. The second, also a heater, is placed in the same location. Skenes then climbs the ladder and freezes Orioles slugger Colton Cowser with a high fastball.</p><p>Oh, and each pitch was at least 98 MPH. Yes, Paul Skenes is the real deal.</p><p>Sure, there are other pitchers with better command than Skenes. There aren’t many 22-year-olds who can throw absolute gas while painting the sides of the strike zone, though.</p><p>Skenes finished third in National League Cy Young voting a season ago, trailing only Zack Wheeler and 2024 NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale. Finishing third as a rookie suggests that Skenes is close to taking the next step and winning the award soon.</p><p>And I think he’s ready to take that step in 2025. Skenes wants to help the Pirates return to the postseason. He remains cool, calm and collected on the mound, but he also has the motivation to take care of business.</p><p>Pittsburgh still has some uncertainty on the roster, but Skenes is going to do everything he can to lead the Pirates back to contention during the ’25 campaign.</p><h2><b>What’s new in MLB world? Yankees can still compete despite injuries</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Gerrit-Cole-during-spring-training.jpg"><figcaption>Dave Nelson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The New York Yankees are already dealing with a plethora of injuries. Ace <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/yankees-news-gerrit-cole-miss-2025-season-tommy-john-surgery">Gerrit Cole is expected to miss the season due to Tommy John surgery</a>. Veteran designated hitter <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/yankees-news-giancarlo-stanton-injury-timeline-uncertain">Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with elbow injuries</a> and his injury timeline remains uncertain.</p><p>The Yankees have question marks to say the least, but this is a ball club that should not be counted out. Aaron Judge is one of the best players in the sport, while Cody Bellinger seems to be on the verge of a big campaign with his new team following his strong spring training.</p><p>Young players such as Jasson Dominguez and Austin Wells may also make an impact. New York’s bullpen will help matters. The rotation still features quality hurlers like Carlos Rodon and Max Fried.</p><p>It has become easy to doubt the Yankees given the injuries, but it would not be surprising to see them make another competitive run.</p><h2><b>More MLB news/analysis: Reunion in Cleveland?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Nolan-Jones-swings-a-bat-during-spring-training-game.jpg"><figcaption>Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>– In other news, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-nearing-trade-rockies-reunite-with-outfielder">Cleveland Guardians recently traded infielder Tyler Freeman for outfielder Nolan Jones</a>. Jones was once a highly-regarded prospect with Cleveland, but was later moved to the Colorado Rockies. Now, Jones is set to return to the Guardians.</p><p>– Speaking of the Guardians, the team recently announced that Triston McKenzie will begin the season in the bullpen. In similar fashion to Jones, McKenzie was once a top prospect with the Guardians. Now, his future with Cleveland is fairly uncertain. Perhaps McKenzie can get back on track in a bullpen role.</p><p>– The Yankees <a href="https://x.com/ByRobertMurray/status/1904174639514865743" rel="noopener">agreed to</a> a contract with veteran left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough on Monday, Robert Murray of FanSided reports. Yarbrough adds deception as a left-handed arm. He features both relief and starting experience, and he could prove to be an underrated addition for the injury-plagued Yankees.</p><p>– Ranger Suarez, an MLB All-Star in 2024 with the Philadelphia Phillies, is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/philadelphia-phillies/phillies-news-phillies-all-star-pitcher-likely-start-season-on-il" rel="noopener">expected to begin the 2025 season on the injured list</a>. The team is hopeful Suarez can return sooner rather than later.</p><p>– Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts did not play in the Tokyo Series due to an illness. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/los-angeles-dodgers/dodgers-news-mookie-betts-weight-admission-amid-illness-dodgers-fans-concerned">Betts recently revealed that he is 20 pounds lighter</a> than his normal playing weight. There is increasing concern over the issue. The Dodgers will continue to closely monitor the situation.</p><p>– This next one is more of an opinion rather than news, but Seattle Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert could emerge as an American League Cy Young contender in 2025. Much like Paul Skenes, Gilbert will pitch on Opening Day and his team clearly believes in his ceiling. Don’t be surprised if Gilbert enjoys a big season.</p><p>– A Boston <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/boston-red-sox/mlb-rumors-red-sox-garrett-crochet-contract-extension-harsh-reality">Red Sox-Garrett Crochet contract extension seems unlikely</a> to come to fruition before the 2025 campaign. Chris Cotillo of MassLive <a href="https://x.com/ChrisCotillo/status/1903251486022275576" rel="noopener">first reported the news</a>. Anything can happen, but Crochet is probably going to enter the regular season without an extension.</p><p>– Finally, let’s talk about the San Francisco Giants. Spring training standings don’t mean anything, but San Francisco does currently hold the best record in the Cactus League with a 19-6 mark. Perhaps the team’s strong spring will give them a boost of confidence in 2025. The Giants have played a rather mediocre brand of baseball in recent seasons (aside from that random incredible 2021 campaign), so San Francisco could unquestionably use a strong 2025 performance.</p><p><i>Joey Mistretta’s “Mistretta’s MLB Musings” provides the latest news and analysis from around the MLB world. Be sure to check in every Monday to read new editions of the weekly column. </i></p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Mistretta’s MLB Musings: Predicting Paul Skenes’ electrifying Cy Young season in 2025

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-cleveland-surprising-triston-mckenzie-decision-2025');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians make surprising Triston McKenzie decision ahead of 2025 campaign');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Guardians-news-Cleveland-makes-surprising-Triston-McKenzie-decision-ahead-of-2025-campaign.jpg"></figure><h1>Guardians make surprising Triston McKenzie decision ahead of 2025 campaign</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-23T12:47:51-07:00">March 23rd, 12:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-23T12:47:51-07:00">March 23rd, 12:47pm</time><address><a>Christopher Hennessy</a>Christopher Hennessy graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022. He has also worked at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders writer. Chris is originally from Connecticut and is a lifelong New York Yankees, Islanders, and Jets fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Guardians are defending their American League Central title from 2024. Their rotation will be the biggest improvement, with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/guardians-news-guardians-fans-will-love-shane-biebers-latest-move">Shane Bieber returning from injury this summer</a>. Triston McKenzie is healthy for the Guardians this year, but they will start him in the bullpen. The Athletic’s Zack Meisel<a href="https://x.com/zackmeisel/status/1903844837931045257?s=46&amp;t=t0whIKQHb8OeDuFs8twM-g" rel="noopener"> has the latest</a> on Cleveland’s Opening Day roster from Goodyear.</p><p>“Logan Allen will be the Guardians’ fifth starter. Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Luis Ortiz, and Ben Lively round out the rest of the rotation,” Meisel reported. “Triston McKenzie will begin the year in the bullpen.”</p><p>McKenzie made 16 starts for the Guardians last year, posted a 5.11 ERA, and walked a team-high 49 batters. At 27 years old, he is a valuable piece for Cleveland. While starting the season in the bullpen is disappointing, his ability to start games will be key this season.</p><p>The Guardians do not know what they will get from Bieber or when he will return. He remains on track to return during the season but anything can happen when recovering from Tommy John surgery.</p><p>Tanner Bibee will be a key starter for the Guardians without Beiber and McKenzie in the rotation. He was just <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-tanner-bibee-inspirational-message-signing-contract-extension">rewarded with a five-year extension that kicks in next year</a>.</p><h2><b>What is next for the Guardians and Triston McKenzie?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Triston-McKenzie-with-Cleveland-Guardians.jpg"><figcaption>Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>McKenzie showed promise in his first three years in the Major Leagues. He made 64 appearances and 60 starts with a 3.68 ERA and 3.3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But the last two seasons have been poor and injury-riddled. Thankfully for Cleveland, he has made it out of spring training healthy. Getting his confidence back in the bullpen may be the answer for manager Stephen Vogt.</p><p>The biggest loss for the Guardians this offseason was<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/diamondbacks-news-acquires-josh-naylor-trade-guardians"> Josh Naylor, who they traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks</a>. They picked up a minor-league pitcher and a competitive-balance pick for the deal. They signed 38-year-old Carlos Santana for his third stint in Cleveland.</p><p>With less pop in the lineup, the pitching is important this year for the Guardians. Last year, they were able to win their division without Beiber and mostly without McKenzie. But the Royals, Tigers, and Twins are all fielding competitive teams this year. They will need to be a more well-rounded operation to win the division and get back to the ALCS.</p><p>Bibee will take the hill in Kansas City on Opening Day, March 27, for the Guardians. With fewer division games than in years past, everyone is important, even the ones in March.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians make surprising Triston McKenzie decision ahead of 2025 campaign

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-tanner-bibee-inspirational-message-signing-contract-extension');   ga('set', 'title', 'Tanner Bibee’s inspirational message after signing Guardians contract extension');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Guardians-news-Tanner-Bibee-s-inspirational-message-after-signing-contract-extension.jpg"></figure><h1>Tanner Bibee’s inspirational message after signing Guardians contract extension</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-22T17:41:55-07:00">March 22nd, 5:41pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-22T17:41:55-07:00">March 22nd, 5:41pm</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2025 MLB Opening Day is less than a week away. But before that, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-tanner-bibee-contract-extension">Cleveland Guardians gave their Opening Day starter Tanner Bibee something to be inspired by</a>, and it came in the form of a five-year contract extension, reportedly worth at least $48 million.</p><p>“I feel like I just sit and keep going,” Bibee said when <a href="https://x.com/DreKnott/status/1903575113288798287" rel="noopener">asked for his viewpoint</a> on his signing a new contract (h/t Andre Knott of Fox 8 News).</p><p>“I mean, I wasn’t really necessarily a super high pick out of the draft. I mean, I feel like I kind of really leaned into what Cleveland kind of develops into. And I feel like it was obviously very mutually beneficial. And I feel like I got to a point where I kind of was able to blossom a little bit, I think, in 2022. So I think I’ve just kind of used that from here on out.”</p><p>Tanner Bibee, who just turned 26 years old earlier this March, was a fifth-round pick by the Guardians in the 2021 MLB draft. He made his debut in the big leagues in the 2023 campaign in which he went 10-4 with an impressive 2.98 ERA and a 143 ERA+ through 25 starts.</p><p>Bibee regressed the following season, going 12-8 on the mound while posting a 3.47 ERA with a 117 ERA+. So far in this MLB career, Bibee has a 2.7 percent home run rate and a<a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bibeeta01.shtml" rel="noopener"> 26.3 percent strikeout rate,</a> per Baseball Reference.</p><p>According to MLB Trade Rumors, Bibbe’s newest deal with the Guarduans is the “<a href="https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/guardians-extend-tanner-bibee.html" rel="noopener">third-most money ever given to a pitcher</a> with between two years and two years and 171 days of service time.”</p><p>With Shane Bieber still on the mend from a Tommy John surgery, Bibbe is <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/guardians" rel="noopener">expected to anchor</a> the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-tanner-bibee-gets-100-real-guardians-strong-pitching-secret">Guardians’ rotation</a> that also features the likes of Ben Lively, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen and Luis Ortiz. In the 2024 MLB season, the Guardians finished just 24th in the big leagues with a 4.49 ERA and 24th with a 4.51 ERA.</p><p>Bibee will get to showcase his stuff right from the get-go of the 2025 season, as he is expected to start for the Guardians on Opening Day this coming Thursday when Cleveland kicks off a three-game series on the road at Kauffman Stadium versus Bobby Witt Jr. and the Kansas City Royals.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Tanner Bibee’s inspirational message after signing Guardians contract extension

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-nearing-trade-rockies-reunite-with-outfielder');   ga('set', 'title', 'Guardians complete trade with Rockies to reunite with outfielder');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Guardians-news-Cleveland-nearing-trade-with-Rockies-to-reunite-with-outfielder.jpg"></figure><h1>Guardians complete trade with Rockies to reunite with outfielder</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-22T16:51:05-07:00">March 22nd, 4:51pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-22T17:36:38-07:00">March 22nd, 5:36pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Cleveland Guardians</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Cleveland Guardians have <a href="https://x.com/tim_stebbins/status/1903593804436779325" rel="noopener">completed a trade</a> with the Colorado Rockies that will reunite them with outfielder Nolan Jones in exchange for utility man Tyler Freeman, per MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins (originally reported by Thomas Harding).</p><p>The organization that first drafted Jones in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft is ready to give him another look. Cleveland traded him for infielder Juan Brito in November of 2022 but is clearly pleased with the progress he has made in Colorado.</p><p>Despite a brutal and injury-riddled 2024 season, which saw the 26-year-old bat just .227 with with three home runs in 79 games, Jones has flashed a great deal of talent in the past. Plenty of people expected a genuine breakout campaign with the Rockies last year, or even a possible All-Star selection, but maybe he needs a change of scenery to unlock his full abilities.</p><h2><b>Guardians look to round out roster before 2025 season</b></h2><p>Although the Guardians initially moved off of Jones, they have a track record of developing productive position players. He can provide added pop to a lineup that was looking quite thin following the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-news-acquires-josh-naylor-trade-guardians">Josh Naylor trade</a> and David Fry’s elbow injury. Even if the Pennsylvania native does not return to his 2023 form (.297 batting average, 20 homers in 106 games), he seemingly carries a higher ceiling than the player Cleveland shipped out to the National League.</p><p>Freeman, a second-rounder himself, has a .223/.304/.329/.632 slash line through 206 games. He is still only 25 years of age, though, so perhaps the Rockies believe he can figure out something at the plate. His versatility should come in handy as well, but fans surely expected a bit more upside in a Nolan Jones trade package.</p><p>While Colorado continues its long rebuild, the wheels are turning in the Guardians’ front office. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti struck <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mlb/cleveland-guardians/guardians-news-tanner-bibee-contract-extension">an agreement with starting pitcher Tanner Bibee</a> on a five-year contract extension and then quickly shifted his attention to getting a deal done with the Rockies. Regardless of how the franchise’s offseason approach works out, it appears motivated to stay in the American League playoff conversation.</p><p>Jones does not have much time to adjust to his new reality. Opening Day is on March 27.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Guardians complete trade with Rockies to reunite with outfielder

Angel
Martínez

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2025 SEASON STATS
BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
.500	0	3	1.155	0

2025 SEASON STATS
BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
.500	0	3	1.155	0

Angel Martínez

Latest Related Team News

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• Nolan Jones vocal on reuniting with Guardians after Rockies trade

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• Guardians make surprising Triston McKenzie decision ahead of 2025 campaign

• Tanner Bibee’s inspirational message after signing Guardians contract extension

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Angel
Martínez