3 Guardians players who need to bounce back if Cleveland wants to compete in 2026 

While the Cleveland Guardians made it back to the postseason in 2025, one of the biggest reasons it happened is because of their strong September combined with a historic collapse from the Tigers. 

And that win gets even more impressive when you consider the fact the Guardians’ got next to no production from a variety of everyday players on their roster. 

Although they haven’t added a truly impact player in free agency, part of the reason for that is because the front office seems to have faith that they’re going to get some bounce back performances from players who struggled last season. 

Here are three Guardians who fall into that category. 

The Guardians are going to need more from David Fry, Tim Herrin and Nolan Jones in 2026 

Utility David Fry

It’s hard to overstate how important Fry is to the Guardians’ lineup. Not only would he help add some balance to the team’s left-handed heavy lineup, but he’d also provide Stephen Vogt with a chess piece to use given his positional flexibility. 

Fry returned from offseason Tommy John surgery last June and hit .171 while only being able to play at designated hitter, but Vogt has gone on the record to say that Fry is going to primarily work as a catcher during spring training. 

Fry was able to author an All-Star season in 2024 thanks to his ability to move around the diamond and mash left-handed pitching, and it’s hard to believe he won’t get back to doing that in 2026 so long as he’s healthy. 

Bo Naylor finished last year strong and is set to serve as the Guardians’ starting catcher yet again, but having Fry in the fold as a third option will do nothing but help.

Not only could he start at a different position and move to catcher later in a game, but he could also be a valuable matchup pinch hitter late in a game who could easily slide into any position afterward. 

LHP Tim Herrin 

After putting together a lockdown 2024 season, Herrin had a nightmare 2025 that included a mid-season demotion to Triple-A. 

And while the 6.94 ERA he had posted after being recalled doesn’t look impressive, he held opponents scoreless in 11 of the 15 appearances he made in that time before throwing 1 1/3 impressive innings in the postseason. 

The Guardians have added Shawn Armstrong, Connor Brogdon, Collin Holderman, Peyton Pallette to their bullpen this offseason along with bringing in Pedro Avila and Codi Heuer on minor league contracts. 

The biggest reason for Herrin’s struggles last year was due to a lack of command (15.5% walk rate), but he still posted a whiff rate of 29.4% and barrel rate of just 5.3%.

While the Guardians’ front office has plenty of new faces who could replace Herrin, there’s still a lot to like about his profile even with his command struggles. He may not be the lock that he was last spring, but Herrin should still get plenty of chances to find his 2024 form. 

OF Nolan Jones 

The bounce back player to end all bounce back players. The Guardians reunited with Jones at the end of last spring training when they were able to wrestle him away from the insular Rockies by trading away Tyler Freeman. 

That reunion went about as poorly as it could have, however, as Jones slashed just .211/.296/.304 with five home runs and 34 RBI in 136 games. The Guardians kept showing faith in Jones, but he never made it stand up outside of some big home runs late in the season. 

That lack of production led to some thinking that the Guardians would cut Jones loose at the end of the season, but the Guardians elected to tender him a $2 million contract ahead of last November's deadline, which makes it seem like he’s going to be a big piece of the Guardians’ roster picture in 2026. 

Jones finished 2025 with above average batted ball metrics, but he was clearly held back by his 28% strikeout rate. If he’s able to cut that down for next season then the sky’s the limit for Jones’ production.