Guardians clinch first AL Central title since 2018
ARLINGTON, Texas — A sturdy pair of goggles was mandatory attire Sunday in Cleveland’s clubhouse, where impromptu showers of Champagne and beer broke out inside a thick haze of cigar smoke.
The Guardians, baseball’s youngest team, finished an unexpected run to the top of the AL Central.
Rookie Steven Kwan hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs as the Guardians clinched a division championship no one thought possible six months ago with a 10-4 win over the Texas Rangers.
When catcher Luke Maile squeezed Josh Smith‘s foul pop for the final out, the Guardians began celebrating a title that actually became official 15 minutes earlier following second-place Chicago’s loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Tied for first place Sept. 4, the Guardians have won seven straight and ripped off 18 wins in 21 games to open a 10-game lead and run away with the division.
“This team’s good. We’re not just young. We’re pretty good,” said starter Cal Quantrill, the club leader with 14 wins. “I don’t think anybody’s excited to face us right now. We’re playing our best baseball. We’re playing baseball the right way.”
This is Cleveland’s 11th Central title since the division’s inception in 1994 and its fourth in 10 years under manager Terry Francona, who battled health problems the past two seasons but has enjoyed this ride with a team that may have surprised early on but is now being viewed as a legitimate World Series threat.
“For what our guys did, and when you’re doing it with people that you absolutely care about and love and respect, it means a lot,” Francona said before his statement was interrupted by a bone-chilling dousing.
“I’m amazed by these guys,” said Chris Antonetti, the team’s president of baseball operations. “They came together and played the game the right way.”
This season wasn’t supposed to happen.
After dropping Indians as their team name following the 2021 season, a move that rankled a sizable portion of Cleveland’s fan base, the Guardians did little to upgrade their roster in free agency as the front office decided 2022 would be devoted to seeing what it had.
As it turned out, Cleveland’s kids were more than all right.
Maybe no one more so than Kwan, a 25-year-old with a game way beyond his years. He made the roster in spring training and has been the Guardians’ pesky leadoff hitter from opening day, working pitchers into deep counts before slapping hits and becoming an annoyance on the base paths.
It was fitting that it was Kwan who led the way to the Sunday clinch.
“Help any team I was on whether it had been Triple-A or the majors,” Kwan said of his goals this season. “I think that helped me in college, travel ball, whatever. I know if I focus on helping the team and others, then everything will fall into place.”
Kwan’s slam in the eighth inning barely cleared the wall and bounced back into play. He wasn’t sure it was out until signaled by first-base umpire Bruce Dreckman. He said his reaction was “blackout.”
With bigger games ahead, Kwan wasn’t ready to reflect on what he and his teammates have accomplished.
“I definitely want to keep my head down, keep it rolling,” he said. “Maybe in a superstitious kind of way don’t want to take my eyes off anything. Keep it going forward.”
The Guardians have defied the odds from the start and became the first team to win a division with at least 16 rookies making their major league debuts.
The season began with low expectations everywhere but inside Cleveland’s clubhouse. Maybe it was naivete, but the Guardians believed they could be special, and that’s exactly what’s happened.
“From day one, they’ve come together,” Antonetti said. “You go around the clubhouse, the tone our veteran players set like José Ramírez, Amed Rosario, Shane Bieber, Austin Hedges. ‘Tito’ [Francona] said just find a way to help the team win.
“They embraced that mentality.”
The Guardians have done it with an offense that puts the ball in play, solid and often spectacular defense and a lights-out bullpen anchored by closer Emmanuel Clase (a big league-best 39 saves).
Cleveland strikes out less than any team in the majors, and nobody goes from first to third better.
Amid the clubhouse chaos, Antonetti made a point to credit the 63-year-old Francona, who won two World Series with Boston and may have had his best season after dealing with serious medical issues.
“To think of what he’s overcome personally to get to this point,” Antonetti said. “This is a special moment for Tito.”
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is set.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. became the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He was followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals, Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, Brent Rooker of the Athletics and Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Friday, however, Acuna was replaced by teammate Matt Olson.
With all the entrants announced, let’s break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 434 feet
Why he could win: Olson is a late replacement for Acuna as the home team’s representative at this year’s Derby. Apart from being the Braves’ first baseman, however, Olson also was born in Atlanta and grew up a Braves fan, giving him some extra motivation. The left-handed slugger led the majors in home runs in 2023 — his 54 round-trippers that season also set a franchise record — and he remains among the best in the game when it comes to exit velo and hard-hit rate.
Why he might not: The home-field advantage can also be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first round, with 41 home runs, but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 36 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 24 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he could win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he might not: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
2025 home runs: 16 | Longest: 463 feet
Why he could win: If you drew up a short list of players everyone wants to see in the Home Run Derby, Cruz would be near the top. He has the hardest-hit ball of the 2025 season, and the hardest ever tracked by Statcast, a 432-foot missile of a home run with an exit velocity of 122.9 mph. He also crushed a 463-foot home run in Anaheim that soared way beyond the trees in center field. With his elite bat speed — 100th percentile — Cruz has the ability to awe the crowd with a potentially all-time performance.
Why he might not: Like all first-time contestants, can he stay within himself and not get too caught up in the moment? He has a long swing, which will result in some huge blasts, but might not be the most efficient for a contest like this one, where the more swings a hitter can get in before the clock expires, the better.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 425 feet
Why he could win: Although Caminero was one of the most hyped prospects entering 2024, everyone kind of forgot about him heading into this season since he didn’t immediately rip apart the majors as a rookie. In his first full season, however, he has showed off his big-time raw power — giving him a chance to become just the third player to reach 40 home runs in his age-21 season. He has perhaps the quickest bat in the majors, ranking in the 100th percentile in bat speed, and his top exit velocity ranks in the top 15. That could translate to a barrage of home runs.
Why he might not: In game action, Caminero does hit the ball on the ground quite often — in fact, he’s on pace to break Jim Rice’s record for double plays grounded into in a season. If he gets out of rhythm, that could lead to a lot of low line drives during the Derby instead of fly balls that clear the fences.
2025 home runs: 19 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: The Athletics slugger has been one of the top power hitters in the majors for three seasons now and is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season. Rooker has plus bat speed and raw power, but his biggest strength is an optimal average launch angle (19 degrees in 2024, 15 degrees this season) that translates to home runs in game action. That natural swing could be picture perfect for the Home Run Derby. He also wasn’t shy about saying he wanted to participate — and maybe that bodes well for his chances.
Why he might not: Rooker might not have quite the same raw power as some of the other competitors, as he has just one home run longer than 425 feet in 2025. But that’s a little nitpicky, as 11 of his home runs have still gone 400-plus feet. He competed in the college home run derby in Omaha while at Mississippi State in 2016 and finished fourth.
2025 home runs: 17 | Longest: 442 feet
Why he could win: Chisholm might not be the most obvious name to participate, given his career high of 24 home runs, but he has belted 17 already in 2025 in his first 61 games after missing some time with an injury. He ranks among the MLB leaders in a couple of home run-related categories, ranking in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage and 98th percentile in barrel rate. His raw power might not match that of the other participants, but he’s a dead-pull hitter who has increased his launch angle this season, which might translate well to the Derby, even if he won’t be the guy hitting the longest home runs.
Why he might not: Most of the guys who have won this have been big, powerful sluggers. Chisholm is listed at 5-foot-11, 184 pounds, and you have to go back to Miguel Tejada in 2004 to find the last player under 6 foot to win.
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