3 Guardians players who are entering the most important month of their career 

Spring training is finally here. After an offseason of hypothesizing and waiting, the first steps toward the 2026 baseball season are finally being taken. 

And, for some players on the Guardians, it’s serving as the start of the most important month of their career. 

There’s no denying the Guardians have plenty of young players who are on the cusp of starting their big league career. But they also have some players on their roster who are about to start a season that could define the rest of their baseball career. 

With that in mind, here are three Guardians who are about to enter the biggest month of their career. 

3 Guardians players who are entering the most important month of their career 

SS Gabriel Arias 

This has to be a make or break year for Arias, right? While he has the tools that have long made evaluators salivate, he has yet to put it together at the big league level and is in danger of being lapped by prospect Juan Brito and Travis Bazzana. 

Last season Arias hit .229 in a career-high 129 games while appearing at second base, third base and short, and it seems like the Guardians are set to use him in a utility role again, which is both good and bad. 

While the fact that he’s able to play multiple positions means that he could be a valuable bench bat, he’s too streaky of a hitter to be trusted to come off the bench in a big spot. For him to carry any value on this roster, he’s going to need to be in the lineup everyday. 

It also doesn’t help that Brayan Rocchio hasn’t exactly set the world on fire next to Arias, postseason notwithstanding. The Guardians’ offense ranked among the league’s worst last season, and Arias and Rocchio’s struggles were a big reason for that. 

Now is the time for Arias to take over one of the infield spots; his time on the roster could come to an end if he doesn’t. 

LHP Joey Cantillo 

Last year, Cantillo  authored a breakout season despite having to navigate a stint in the bullpen, demotion to Triple-A and shift to the rotation. 

All of that led to a strong September where he was named American League Rookie of the Month thanks to a 1.55 ERA across five starts in the Guardians’ six-man rotation. 

And although the Guardians are planning on moving back to a fiveman rotation for 2026, Cantillo should clearly be in it regardless of how things go this spring.

Cantillo’s changeup reached a new level last season (.165 batting average against), and he also cut down on the command issues that had plagued him the season prior. 

Tanner Bibee and Gavin Wiliams are clearly the alphas in the Guardians’ rotation, but Cantillo is closer to them than you think. 

RHP Cade Smith 

Don’t get us wrong; Smith’s one of the best relievers in baseball and is nowhere near being in danger of losing his roster spot (just the opposite, in fact). But there’s no denying this will be an important spring for him given that it will be the first time he’s going to be ramping up for the season as a full-time closer. 

At this time last year, Smith was coming off a record-setting rookie campaign and seemed poised for another strong year as a setup man extraordinaire.

But he ended up opening the season with a cameo as the closer due to Emmanuel Clase’s struggles before taking over the closer role on a full-time basis after Clase was placed on paid leave. 

Smith ended up posting a 2.79 ERA in 29 innings after Clase’s suspension before tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the postseason. He passed his first closing test with flying colors. 

But now Smith is set to enter 2026 with the pressure of closing on his shoulders, which may be part of the reason why he's pitching for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.