3 Guardians players with the most to lose in their quest to complete AL Central three-peat

The second half is here, and the Cleveland Guardians are right in the mix of the American League postseason picture. 

While their presence there is due in part to the American League being as bad as it, they’ve been able to get just enough production from up and down their roster to keep pace in the AL Central. 

With that in mind, here are three Guardians who are going to need to turn things around in the second half for the team to keep up that postseason pace. 

The second half of this season is going to be crucial for Slade Cecconi, Steven Kwan and Shawn Armstrong

1. Slade Cecconi 

While the Guardians’ lack of pitching depth puts a lot of pressure on every member of Cleveland’s rotation, there’s even more pressure on Cecconi given he’s the team’s No. 5 starter. 

He struggled at the start of the year, bounced back in June (1.88 ERA in five games) but had back-to-back rough starts before heading into the All-Star Break. 

Even if Cecconi isn’t the same kind of liability that he was earlier in the season, he’s clearly not on the same level as Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Joey Cantillo and Parker Messick. 

When Cecconi was at his best earlier in the season, he was able to use his varied arsenal to keep batters off balance while inducing weak contact. The biggest problem is that those kinds of outings have been few and far between. 

While the Guardians don’t have the depth needed to remove Cecconi from their rotation this season, any struggles from him down the stretch could lead to them cutting bait with him at some point during the offseason. 

2. Steven Kwan 

Coming into the season, it looked like Kwan was going to author yet another All-Star season thanks to his usual contact skills and addition of the Automated Ball-Strike system. 

But it’s been the exact opposite, as he entered the All-Star Break with a .225/.332/.282 slashline that would have been even worse had he not finished the first half on a tear. 

Kwan has handled his defensive shuffle with aplomb, but it seems like it’s come at the expense of his offense. 

The Guardians helped mitigate his struggles by moving him down in the lineup, but that’s only going to do so much in the grand scheme of things. 

Kwan’s making $7.725 million this year in his second run through arbitration, and his price tag is only going to go up next season. If he’s not able to put things together in the second half, he’s in danger of being non-tendered after the season. 

3. Shawn Armstrong

Although the first half of Armstrong’s return to Cleveland hasn’t gone the way anyone hoped, there’s still time for him to turn things around. 

He also had an uneven opening month to the season before missing a month with a right groin strain. He returned at the end of May and has been a bit better, though there was a period at the end of June where he allowed a run in three straight games. 

Most of his struggles can be tied back to his inflated walk rate (12.4%, which would be a career-high), though it’s worth noting that he’s also gotten hitters to chase just 23.7% of the time.

Even though the Guardians will likely add a reliever or two at the trade deadline, Armstrong’s still an important piece of their bullpen picture.

At a certain point, there’s going to be a point where a crucial game is going to come down to Armstrong getting an out or two. That outing could end up defining the Guardians’ season. 

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