The Cleveland Guardians are right in the middle of the American League wild card race. The Guardians have fallen 10.5 games back in their division, but sit just three games back in the wild card race.
Despite the Guardians’ 64-62 record, Cleveland has severely struggled in one area throughout season, especially since the All-Star break.
The Guardians rank last in the MLB in batting average. However, the Guardians pitching has been good enough to carry the team this far. Can the Guardians make the postseason despite their achilles heel in the batter’s box?
The Guardians Hitting Has Been Bad
The Guardians have been a small-ball team the last couple years. Cleveland had prided itself on being able to hit and get on base, move runners overs and manufacture runs to find success. However, the hitting has disappeared in 2025.
“The numbers on offense are depressing. The Guardians are 26th out of 30 teams in runs scored. I know that modern analytics doesn’t like batting average, but this team is hitting .227 … 30th out of 30 teams. The OPS is .672 … 27th in baseball,” Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto wrote. “I don’t know how they are staying in playoff contention with those numbers. I don’t know how they have a 64-62 record with those numbers.”
The Guardians have just two hitters on the team of who are hitting above .240, and that’s Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan. Even though BA doesn’t tell the whole story, there’s only one Guardian outside Ramirez and Kwan with an OPS over .700.
Cleveland has six batters hitting under .220 with an OPS under .700 since the All-Star break. One of which is Carlos Santana, who’s been the mainstay at first base after the departure of Josh Naylor this offseason.
“He’s not showing any signs of getting hot. Santana is batting .205 (.522 OPS) since the All-Star break. He has ZERO home runs,” “When they traded Josh Naylor, they did it with the idea of adding pitcher Slade Cecconi. They also received what amounted to a second-round pick in the 2025 draft. Then they signed Santana to take over first base.”
The Guardians have the worst batting average in baseball… does that matter?
“They just have not been able to slug. They have not been able to hit.”
–@JLEWFifty explains #GuardsBall
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— BIGPLAY Cleveland Show (@BIGPLAYCLEshow) August 21, 2025
To make matters worse, Kwan has struggled since the All-Star break as well. The lefty outfielder is hitting .244 since June 1, and .252 with a .680 OPS since the All-Star break. His numbers aren’t awful, but they aren’t what you’d expect from one of the most consistent hitters in the game.
Although the Guardians offense has been one of the worst in the league, the pitching has been the sixth-best in terms of ERA since the All-Star break. It’s the only thing keeping the Guardians afloat.
However, if Cleveland has any hope of making the postseason, they’re going to need guys like Kwan, Santana, Gabriel Arias and others to step up in the batter’s box and help Ramirez produce some runs.
