Guardians clinch first-round bye in American League Playoffs

It was a productive night for the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday. Not only were they able to hand the Cincinnati Reds a 6-1 loss and hang on to The Ohio Cup for the 10th consecutive year, but they also managed to clinch a first-round bye in the American League Playoffs.

As exciting as retaining possession of The Ohio Cup is, the headline here is bypassing the first round of the American League playoffs. Securing one of the top two spots in the AL Postseason is an impressive achievement for a team that very few expected to even contend for a playoff spot. This team has proven time and time again that they are one of the best in the sport, with this latest accomplishment reinforcing that fact.

There is more to this beyond the celebratory nature of what took place on Tuesday night, and the proved countless people wrong victory lap this team has more than earned. Being able to skip the Wild Card round of the playoffs has a huge advantage, especially for the Guardians.

By now, everyone is well aware of the state of Cleveland's starting rotation. This is a group that has seen plenty of change throughout the season for one reason or another, and being able to give them a proper reset and rest period before the postseason begins is a benefit for this team as currently constructed. Allowing them to put their best foot forward and pitch who they want rather than who is available could make a huge difference in their potential playoff success.

Of course, it should be mentioned that there are two players in particular that this little extra break will help, Steven Kwan and Alex Cobb. Both Kwan and Cobb are on the injured list currently, and having a few more days off to fully recover instead of being rushed into action in a Wild Card matchup should allow them to be ready to go once Cleveland is set to begin their postseason quest.

It has been an exciting regular season for the Cleveland Guardians. Still, things are only just getting started on the corner of Carnegie and Ontario as they hope to end the longest active championship drought in baseball.