Guardians Are The Best Team In Baseball At This On Offense

The Cleveland Guardians have the lowest strikeout rate in MLB.

It's not even news anymore to say that the Cleveland Guardians have one of the worst offenses in baseball. They've hit the fewest home runs in MLB, have struggled to score with runners in scoring position, and have a top-heavy batting order.

However, there's still one thing this team does better than anyone else.

The Guardians have the lowest strikeout rate in all of baseball at 18.7 percent, per Fangraphs data. They may not be getting hits, but they certainly are putting the ball in play for what it's worth. 

Cleveland has a number of players who have an elite plate presence. Jose Ramirez (10.3 percent) and Steven Kwan (10.4 percent) have the lowest strikeout rate in the American League among qualified hitters. Then there are players such as Will Brennan (12.6) and Josh Naylor (13.9) who aren't too far behind them. 

In some ways, this makes the struggles at the plate even more frustrating considering they are so close. This just goes to show how important a ball traveling a few more feet or being hit a little further away from a defender can be on an entire season.

Jul 23, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan (38) hits a home run during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Having such a low strikeout rate is such an important feat to accomplish, especially considering how good pitchers have gotten with finessing their pitches with a ton of spin rate.

There are still a number of issues that this offense needs to fix before 2024. However, Cleveland's inability to go down on strikes should have fans a little optimistic about a turnaround at the plate in 2024.