Alan Kornspan
Believeland Media
For Guardians fans, it might be interesting to know why Cleveland has the best record in baseball at 67-43.
Certainly, a few main reasons could include excellent pitching, hitting and fielding.
So let's talk about what the Guardians are doing well.
Let's start with pitching.
Guardians Pitching
The Guardians currently have the second best ERA in the American League and the fourth best ERA in the MLB at 3.66. The only teams the Guardians trail are the Atlanta Braves (3.45), Seattle Mariners (3.46), and the Philadelphia Phillies (3.63).
In addition, the Guardians rank in the top four in the American League in lowest hits allowed (2nd), lowest total runs allowed (2nd), lowest total earned runs allowed (2nd), and strikeouts (4th).
An amazing thing to consider is that the Guardians are the top team in the MLB without one of their top pitchers, Shane Beiber. Beiber pitched on March 28th and April 2nd. On March 28th, Beiber threw 6 innings of shutout baseball in the Guardians 8-0 victory over Oakland. The last game Beiber threw was on April 2nd when he also threw six innings of shutout baseball.
Unfortunately, Beiber, the 2020 American Cy Young Award winner, has not pitched for the Guardians since April 2nd.
In addition to Beiber, the Guardians have got excellent pitching this season from Tanner Bibee and Ben Lively.
For the season, Bibee has a 9-4 record and a 3.48 ERA. In addition, Bibee has struck out 132 and only walked 31 batters.
Lively, the former University of Central Florida star, is having the best season of his career at age 32.
So far this season, Lively is 10-6 with a 3.42 ERA. Also, Lively has struck out 90 and only walked 30 batters.
Although Gavin Williams' record this season is only 1-3, he has a good ERA of 3.72.
In addition to very good starting pitching, the Guardians bullpen has been amazing. In fact, they have been one of the best bullpens in baseball.
Leading the Guardians out of the bullpen has been closer, Emmanuel Clase.
In 51.1 innings pitched this season, Clase has 33 saves and a 4-1 record on the season.
Also having excellent seasons out of the Guardians bullpen include Hunter Gaddis (4-2, 1.38 ERA), Tim Herrin (4-0, 1.44 ERA), and Cade Smith (6-1, 1.86 ERA).
So how does the Guardians Pitching compare to previous Cleveland World Series teams?
The 1995 team had a 3.83 ERA, while the 1997 team had a 4.73 ERA in the regular season.
In 2016, Cleveland had a 3.84 ERA in the regular season.
Guardians Batting
It would make sense that the best team in baseball would have a good hitting team.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Guardians only have the 17th best batting average in the MLB.
In fact, the Guardians are hitting .242, 19 points behind the top hitting team, the San Diego Padres who are hitting .263.
The Guardians are 12th in home runs and 15th in on base percentage (.312) in the MLB.
Individually, Steven Kwan is leading the Guardians with a .330 average and a .386 on base percentage.
Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 29 home runs and has the third best batting average on the team, as he is currently hitting .276.
All-star, David Fry, has the second best batting average on the team (.284).
Guardians Fielding
The Guardians are currently the 15th best fielding team in the MLB with a .985 fielding percentage. For the season, the Guardians have made 59 errors. In addition, the Guardians have turned 92 double plays.
So, overall, the statistics suggest that the Guardians pitching is probably the main reason the Guardians have the best record in baseball.
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