3 Guardians heating up at perfect time ahead of 2025 MLB playoffs

For the seventh time in the past 10 seasons, the Cleveland Guardians are heading to the postseason. And they're entering the postseason as the American League's No. 3 seed thanks to a magical comeback in the American League Central that was capped by a dramatic walk-off home run from Brayan Rocchio in the final game of the season. 

Now the Guardians will face off against the Detroit Tigers, who they just faced off against six teams in September. While beating the Tigers will be a team effort, here are three red-hot Guardians who should lead the charge. 

These three Guardians will need to step up if the Guardians want to win the Wild Card Series

Tanner Bibee

While you could really put any member of the Guardians’ rotation in this list, we elected to go with Bibee, who posted a 1.30 ERA in 27 2/3 innings in September and looked every bit like the Guardians’ ace. 

Bibee seems set to start Game 2 of the Wild Card Series behind Gavin Williams, which means that he’ll likely go against Jack Flaherty. Both of Bibee’s final regular season starts came against the Tigers, and he met the moment by allowing just two runs across 12 innings. 

BIbee got his first taste of the postseason last year when he tossed 15 2/3 innings across four starts in the Guardians’ march toward the American League Championship Series, and that experience should help him in this year's postseason.

Guardians starters had a 2.60 ERA in 159 innings in September (which was the second-best mark in baseball behind the Dodgers) and they were able to set their postseason rotation the way they wanted by virtue of them clinching on Saturday.

The Wild Card Series being best-of-three means that starting pitchers don’t have much margin for error, but the Guardians should be favorites in the first two games of the series thanks to Williams and Bibee. 

Brayan Rocchio

Last year we got our first look at Rocctober when the maligned infielder hit .333 with a home run in the postseason.

And while his start of the season was rough, he’s turned things around since being called up at the start of July and added the final signature moment of the Guardians’ improbable regular season on Sunday when he mashed a walk-off home run that added an extra celebration to their clinch of the American League Central. 

Rocchio hit .257 in the second half with 32 RBI while navigating between second base and shortstop, and he should be in the lineup in every game this October. 

Bo Naylor 

After being stuck in neutral for most of the 2025 season, Naylor figured something out in September. He ended up hitting .290 with three home runs and 16 RBI, marking the most productive full month of his major league career

Like Rocchio, Naylor usually hits in the bottom of the Guardians' order, so any production from him helps the Guardians on multiple fronts. Not only is it a positive to have production in general, but it also means that guys like Steven Kwan and José Ramírez will get more chances to hit with runners on base.

Naylor was going to be on the Guardians’ postseason roster regardless thanks to his acumen behind the plate (74th percentile in caught stealing), but his recent run of form at the plate adds another weapon to the bottom of the Guardians’ lineup.