Looking back at Guardians’ biggest surprise of 2025

The 2025 season for the Cleveland Guardians will be remembered as one of the most improbable and paradoxical campaigns in Major League Baseball history — a season that encapsulated both the sport’s greatest capacity for redemption and its darkest vulnerabilities. But if you’re asking what the biggest surprise was, the answer is clear: the Guardians’ historic 15.5-game comeback victory to claim the AL Central crown stands as the singular narrative that defined their year.

The Impossible Becomes Inevitable: A Comeback for the Ages

The Cleveland Guardians were on the verge of becoming obsolete on July 6, 2025. The Guardians were trailing the division-leading Detroit Tigers by 15.5 games, which was the biggest deficit a team had ever overcome to win a division during the Wild Card era. It looked like they would have to “wait until next season.” Their record stood at 46-49 at that point, and the baseball community had written their obituary.

However, what transpired over the next three months defied reason, precedent, and the overwhelming odds. In late September, the Guardians defeated Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and the Tigers 5-2 after going on a 17-5 September run that eventually closed that enormous 15.5-game deficit. The Guardians defeated the legendary 1914 “Miracle” Boston Braves to become the second team in baseball history to overcome a deficit of more than 15 games to win a division championship. They finished 88-74 and won the AL Central title.

The Guardians’ method of accomplishing this feat was what made it even more amazing. They had a team batting average of.225, the lowest for a playoff-bound team in baseball history, and ranked 28th in runs scored. Because of their negative-6 run differential, statistical models indicated that they should have won just 80 games rather than 88. They were performing at a pace that was inconsistent with their underlying skill level and winning games they had no business winning. They amassed nine walk-off victories and 33 comeback victories, exhibiting an almost superhuman capacity to win in the closing seconds.

José Ramírez, who finished fifth in MLB in OPS and became just the second player in baseball history to reach the 30-40 milestone, personified this clutch excellence. With 27 home runs, Kyle Manzardo became a breakout player and supplied much-needed power in the final moments. Rather than June consistency, the entire lineup appeared to be designed for September heroics.The

The Bullpen Carried a Deficient Offense

The Guardians’ offense struggled to put runs on the board for most of the season, as they were ranked 29th in OPS and 25th in overall batting. In contrast, their bullpen turned out to be a major source of power for the team, especially in the tense situations that were the hallmark of their season. Relief pitchers were ranked third in the MLB, and the late, inning versatility would have been absolutely necessary when two of their important arms encountered trouble.

Cade Smith’s rise is a perfect example of this kind of perseverance. He started out as a setup man, working alongside Hunter Gaddis. He excelled in his new role, finishing with an 8-5 record, a 2.93 ERA, and 104 strikeouts over 73.2 innings, plus 16 saves. His performance in September was so impressive that he was named AL Reliever of the Month. Smith’s dominance was crucial in keeping the Guardians’ playoff dreams alive as the season headed into its final, decisive month.

The Gambling Scandal That Nearly Derailed Everything

Yet the biggest surprise also came with a profound darkness. In late November, more than three months after the regular season concluded, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn on charges related to an alleged scheme to rig pitches in exchange for bribes from bettors. The indictment alleged that Clase, the team’s closer, had been manipulating individual pitches since May 2023, defrauding bettors and earning approximately $700,000 in kickback payments. Ortiz, acquired before the 2025 season, allegedly joined the scheme in June, netting $60,000 in fraudulent winnings in just a single month.​

The Guardians’ incredible comeback was overshadowed by this scandal, which put both pitchers on indefinite leave during the investigation, depriving Cleveland of vital bullpen arms at different points during their push for October baseball. It is nearly unbelievable that the team overcame these investigations—both men were charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery—and still managed to win their division.

One of the most contradictory stories in recent baseball history will be the Cleveland Guardians’ 2025 season: a team that overcame the biggest deficit in divisional history but failed when it mattered most; a roster built on clutch execution but lacking in basic offensive competence, an organization that persevered through a criminal investigation and made it to October, only to exit humiliatingly. The fact that they arrived at all was their biggest surprise.

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