3 former Guardians who are off to a slow start with current club 

While the Cleveland Guardians have plenty of intriguing players on their current roster, they also have plenty of former players who are worth paying attention to as the season goes on. 

With that in mind, here are three former Guardians who have stumbled out of the gate with their new team. 

These three former Guardians have struggled at the start of the 2026 season

1B Josh Naylor 

The Guardians didn’t have to wait long to see Naylor again thanks to them starting the season in Seattle against him and his Mariners teammates. And, luckily for the Guardians, he didn’t make much of an impression. 

In fact, he didn’t really make any impression at all. 

Naylor went 0-for-15 with three walks across the Guardians’ four-game series against Seattle before going 0-for-4 with a strikeout against the Mets yesterday. 

Not exactly the kind of production the Mariners were thinking about when they signed him a big contract in the offseason. 

That said, Naylor’s always been a bit of a streaky hitter so this start isn’t much of a surprise, but it’s still a bit jarring to see him hit such a low early in the season. 

He hit .299 with nine home runs, 33 RBI and 19 steals in 54 games with the Mariners after being acquired at last year’s trade deadline, so it’s clear that he feels comfortable hitting in Seattle’s lineup. 

He’s going to wake up eventually, and the Guardians were lucky to avoid it. 

OF Lane Thomas 

Thomas went from hero to zero in the offseason when he signed a one-year contract with the division rival Royals, but it looks like it’s going to take him a second to find his footing. 

Thomas entered play on Tuesday 1-for-9 through four games, with his lone hit coming in Kansas City’s Opening Day loss to the Braves. 

His role also seems a little bit in flux considering he’s made a start in center field and a start in right field along with appearing twice as a pinch-hitter. 

Thomas will forever live in Guardians lore thanks to his huge home run against Tarik Skubal in Game 5 of the American League Division Series, but his final season in Cleveland was one filled with starts, stops and ineffectiveness. 

There’s a good player in there thanks to his blend of power and speed; he just hasn’t been able to tap into it thanks to those injuries. 

Even if the season hasn’t started the way he’s wanted, he could still end up putting it all together at some point this season. 

RHP Michael Kelly 

In 2023, Kelly emerged as an intriguing arm in the Guardians’ bullpen after he posted a 3.78 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.

He ended up parlaying that into a role in The Athletics’ bullpen. He’s seen some big league action in every season since despite being suspended in 2024 for violating the league’s sports betting policy. 

He served the year-long suspension and returned to The Athletics' bullpen last June. He ended up finishing the year with a 3.18 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. 

He had a rough start to 2026, however, as he surrendered a game-tying home run to Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk in the ninth inning of his first appearance of the year. 

Manager Mark Kotsay called on him two days later and he allowed another run in an eventual 4-0 loss to the Braves. While that wasn’t as bad as him blowing a save opportunity, it was still a step in the wrong direction. 

The Athletics entered the season as a trendy postseason pick but they entered play on Tuesday as baseball’s lone winless team thanks in large part to their bullpen’s struggles.