MLB Analyst Reveals Guardians' Biggest Success, Failure From Season

The Cleveland Guardians' pitching staff is the focus of their biggest accomplishment and shortcoming from the 2024 MLB season.

May 13, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Hunter Gaddis (33) comes on in relief during the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images / Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

There's only a week left in MLB's regular season before the playoff start. Outside of a few races in the American League, the postseason picture is also pretty much set. Now is a great time to reflect on the last few months and see where teams excelled and where they came up short.

Bradford Doolittle, ESPN MLB analyst, examined each team and identified its biggest success and failure from the regular season.

Here's what he had to say about the Cleveland Guardians:

For their "biggest strength," Doolittle points to the impact the bullpen has made in helping the Guardians reach another postseason berth.

"Led by that rarest of things - a reliever who is a legit Cy Young candidate - the high-leverage contingent of the Cleveland bullpen has been devastating. Emmanuel Case (46 saves, 0.65 ERA) leads the way, but Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Tim Herrin have been almost as good. Cleveland has won 44 games by one or two runs, a figure topped only by Tampa Bay across the majors."

Aug 25, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) celebrates with catcher Austin Hedges (27) after the Guardians beat the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

As for Cleveland's "biggest failure," Doolittle highlights the rotations' shortcomings since Opening Day.

"Like the Dodgers, the Guardians' rotation has seen too much IL time. Shane Bieber going down in April was perhaps the starkest example. Either way, this has resulted in a rotation performance that has ranged from inconsistent to just plain bad all season."

It's hard to argue with Doolittle's assessment of the Guardians' season.

Cleveland wouldn't be on the precipice of winning the American League Central division without the bullpen's effort, but the starting rotation has also been a liability at times. A recent article from Sports Illustrated even identified the Guardians' rotation as their biggest weakness heading into the playoffs.

Stabilizing the rotation is certainly a task that needs to be addressed in the offseason, but as for now, the Guardians need to focus on the team they have and how they'll make a deep playoff run this October.