3 Truths about the 2023 Cleveland Guardians fans don't want to hear

The 2023 season is entering its final days, and there are a few things about this Cleveland Guardians team that fans do not want to hear.

1. Regression was inevitable

2022 was a magical season for the Cleveland Guardians as they managed to win the American League Central by a comfortable margin. Thanks in part to a late surge and timely hitting in the clutch down the stretch, Cleveland's death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts approach was able to propel the team past the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Wild Card series and into the Division Series, losing to the New York Yankees in five games.

The harsh reality is that this is not a sustainable way to win games consistently. There is a certain level of home run power required to be a winning ballclub, and the Guardians do not have nearly enough of it. Cleveland is going to finish with the least amount of home runs in all of baseball when the year is over, with their lackluster total having a direct correlation to their disappointing record.

It is incredibly difficult to win games powered by singles and extra-base hits that do not clear the fence, and the Guardians' guaranteed losing record is evidence of that.