Three Positives From the Week of September 20th

Breathe. The regular season is over, we’ve made it to the postseason, and we have a bye week. It’s all positive over here.

Clinching’s So Nice, We Did It Twice

Thanks to a 1-0 win against the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, the Guardians clinched a postseason berth for the third year in a row. It was all Angel Martínez as he took a 79 mph changeup from Ranger Suarez into the right field seats. A combined two-hit effort from Daniel Espino, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski, and Cade Smith secured the one-run win and postseason spot. While the Kansas City Royals took an early three-run lead on Saturday, the Guards answered with four runs of their own in the second inning. They secured the win with a four-run ninth inning and locked down the American League Central. They’ll have a first round bye and will play the winner of the Wild Card series.

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Ingle Earns MVP

The Guardians’ number four prospect, Cooper Ingle, brought home the hardware on Saturday when Minor League Baseball announced that he earned International League MVP honors. On top of hitting 20 home runs this season, he topped the league in OPS with a .952. He was also in the top-five for runs with 85, walks with 86, batting average with .297, and BABIP with .362. In 21 at bats with the Major League club this year, he hit just .095/.208/.095. However, with nearly a full season of Triple-A experience under his belt and a fresh start just six months away, he has the opportunity to blossom in 2027.

ClevelandRox Gives Back

Thanks to two home runs from catcher Hunter Goodman, the Colorado Rockies took down the Chicago White Sox on Saturday which secured the AL Central for the Guardians. Fans took to Twitter to show their gratitude, especially user @GuardsJoey. They quoted the Rockies’ win graphic asking if they could set up a GoFundMe for Goodman’s favorite charity. Goodman selected Kids of Denver which provides school clothing for children in Denver. By Sunday, fans had donated $2,500 to Kids of Denver to show their thanks to the catcher.