The Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff berth in 2024 under first-year manager Stephen Vogt.
The Guardians leaned on quality pitching — especially in the bullpen — and savvy baserunning throughout the year to beat out their AL Central rivals.
As such, the Guards will avoid the MLB postseason Wild Card round, instead waiting to face the winner of the showdown between the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros.
Recent history has shown us that MLB teams who have to go through the Wild Card round aren't always at a disadvantage compared to teams that get time off ahead of the ALDS. The Texas Rangers stormed to a World Series championship last year with their journey beginning in the Wild Card round against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Guardians postseason outlook: 'We'll be ready to go': Guardians preparing to handle five days of rest before playoffs
Can the Guardians use the rest to springboard them to a deep postseason run?
Here's what pundits around the sports landscape are predicting for Vogt's Guardians this year.
MLB Tonight's Adnan Virk predicts World Series championship for Cleveland Guardians
On MLB Tonight's postseason predictions on MLB Network , host Adnan Virk gave his prediction that Cleveland will ultimately prevail over the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2024 World Series.
Virk predicts the Guardians will "ride that great bullpen" to wins over the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees en route to their first World Series appearance since 2016 when Cleveland lost in seven games to the curse-breaking Chicago Cubs.
"Ultimately, I'm calling the Guardians' first World Series since 1948 over the Phillies," Virk said.
Meanwhile, Virk's colleagues were not as bullish on the Guardians.
Both Carlos Peña and Anthony Recker predicted the Guardians losing in the ALDS, with the former picking his former team the Tigers to knock them out and the latter saying the Astros will reach the ALCS.
ESPN's Jeff Passan gives MLB playoff predictions, touts Guardians' bullpen
Providing his own MLB playoff predictions, ESPN's Jeff Passan (subscription required) praised Cleveland's bullpen.
"Emmanuel Clase has been the best reliever in MLB this year and deserves down-the-ballot Cy Young votes," Passan writes, noting that Clase hasn't allowed a run in the month of September.
Guardians bullpen: 'He 100% should be in consideration': Guardians make case for Emmanuel Clase as Cy Young
However, Passan also notes that the Guardians will need to lean on that dominant bullpen "with iffy starting pitching and a lineup that, though better this year, has been hit-or-miss in terms of consistency."
Passan goes on to say that Lane Thomas and rookie Kyle Manzardo have helped take the offensive pressure off of Josh Naylor and Steven Kwan, who were inconsistent late in the season, but that all four of them need to get going around star third baseman José Ramírez in the playoffs.
Ultimately, though, Passan predicts the Houston Astros making a run out of the Wild Card round and through the Guardians en route to a World Series appearance. The MLB insider predicts the Phillies will beat the Astros in the World Series.
CBS Sports predicts 'an Arozarena postseason' for Guardians All-Star José Ramírez
"As great a player as he is -- and he is great -- José Ramírez's postseason resume is not exactly sterling," Mike Axisa writes for CBS Sports . "He's a career .242/.291/.347 hitter with two home runs in 32 career postseason games."
Despite the lackluster postseason stats compared to his usual high standard, Axisa predicts Ramírez "goes nuclear" for the Guardians this playoffs.
Axisa draws the comparison to former Tampa Bay Ray Randy Arozarena, who hit 10 home runs during an otherworldly run of success in the 2020 postseason, collecting ALCS MVP honors in the process.
"This will be Ramírez's long-awaited October breakout," Axisa predicts. "It's time."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians MLB playoffs predictions from ESPN, MLB Tonight, more
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