Guardians ‘23, how good can they be?

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Like many of the teams Cleveland has seen over the last several years, the 2023 Guardians will be lead by it’s pitching staff.

Shane Bieber remains one of the best in the game. Triston McKenzie, once healthy, will look to build on a breakout 2022 season. Cal Quantrill is seeking to do the same. Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac are steady.

The bullpen is lead by Emmanuel Clase, one of the best closers in baseball, but championship-caliber bullpens need a lot more than a closer. The Guards seem to have a lot of options. James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan and Enyel de los Santos are formidable. Nick Sandlin and Eli Morgan are good as well.

The question with this team has been the offense. Can they score enough? They needed a thicker line up in the playoffs against New York. Josh Bell was brought over to help the middle of the order. Catcher Mike Zunino should provide some power to the bottom of the card. The best way for this offense to really grow though is from within. Young players like Andres Gimenez, Oscar Gonzalez, Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor still have room to grow.

At the end of the day, they should contend. They will not be favored to win the World Series, but they can pitch, they seem to hit enough, they play defense and Terry Francona is in the dugout. They’ll be relevant come late September, and maybe into October.

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