3 Guardians who can salvage their season with a big September

The Cleveland Guardians are running out of time.

At one point this season, they were less than a game away from holding a playoff spot. But now they're in another swoon and entered the weekend below .500 and on the absolute fringes of the postseason picture.

And, for the Guardians to salvage the final four weeks of the season they're going to need their big bats to finally break through and find the consistency that's been dodging them all season.

The three players who need to do that the most are Bo Naylor, Nolan Jones and David Fry, all of whom are highly thought of players in the organization who have endured frustrating campaigns. Here's what they can do to salvage something out of this season.

3 Guardians who can salvage their season with a big September

C Bo Naylor

The 2025 season has not been a kind one to Naylor.

Just a few years ago, all of Cleveland was excited to see what Naylor could do at the major league level. While his defense has lived up to the hype, his offensive production has been less than lackluster.

The 25-year-old is producing a career-low slashline of .180/.278/.350 and has just 55 hits, 17 doubles and 11 home runs in 105 games.

He's shown raw power at points this year, but there also hasn't been any consistency.

With September here, Naylor needs to elevate his play at the plate and try to finish off the season with a late surge. With a strong final month, Naylor could push his batting average above .200 and his OPS ahead of .700, which would help down the Guardians that he could be a building block for the future.

OF Nolan Jones

The Guardians gave their fanbase a shot int he arm at the end of free agency when they acquired Jones from the Rockies, which had all of the Guardians' faithful dreaming of his tenure with the club.

In 2022, Jones played 28 games with the Guardians and slashed .244/.309/.372 with two home runs. He then put together a breakout season with the Rockies in 2023 before struggling in 2024, which made him expendable.

This year has also been a struggle for him. Although he's played in 122 games with the Guardians this year, he's hit just .214 with 12 doubles and five home runs.

While those aren't the numbers the Guardians wanted to see when they traded for him, there's still a chance for him to save his season.

Despite his struggles, he still has a hard-hit rate of 47.4% and average exit velocity of 91 miles per hour, which show that he's making good contact.

To rescue his year, he need's to convert these strong metrics into results. If he's able to bump his batting average up to .220 with a couple more home runs, he could re-establish himself as a middle-of-the-order bat

Jones' arm is considered to be one of the best in the league so if his bat can come around, he can once again hold legitimate value on both sides of the game.

UTL David Fry

Fry has been on the unfortunate end of injuries this year.

He was sidelined at the beginning of the year due the Tommy John surgery he underwent in the offseason, and hasn't really been able to settle in since making his return.

In 38 games across June and July, he had just 15 hits and hit just .174 before hitting .118 in 16 games in August.

It's lear that his injury has disrupted his rhythm, which has impacted his ability to get things going.

While that injury will be hanging over Fry the rest of the year, he's going to need to recapture the magic he had last season when he authored several clutch moments in the Guardians' parth toward the American League Championship Series.

As of Friday, Fry's average sits at .174. If he can even get it close to .200, it could give him some renewed confidence for 2026.

Fry has the talent to an everyday contributor for the team next season; he just needs to get his swing back into form.