Ranking the Guardians' offensive players from least to most likely to walk it off

The Guardians may not be the best team in baseball, but they always seem to be playing in close games thanks to their strong bullpen and anemic offense. 

That late game trend hit a fever pitch last weekend when the Guardians picked up three walk-off wins in their series against the Tigers, which led to every Cleveland fan dreaming about who is going to play hero next. 

Although the Guardians haven’t had a chance to pick up a walk-off win since then because of their road trip, they’re going to get another chance next week via their homestand against the White Sox and Athletics. 

With that in mind, we decided to rank all the hitters on the Guardians roster based on how likely they are to pick up a walk-off hit. 

Note: We limited this list to players currently on the team's active roster.

The Guardians have no shortage of players who have been a walk-off hero before

No chance
Austin Hedges

With all due respect to Hedges (who is in the midst of the best offensive season of his career), a lot would need to happen for him to be hitting with the game on the line. Stephen Vogt is incredibly aggressive in his pinch-hitting for catchers. The only way Hedges would be in this situation is if he was the late-game substitution and there wasn’t another catcher available. 

The bunt sign is going up
Petey Halpin and Daniel Schneemann

While it may seem like Schneemann’s walk-off single against the Tigers goes against him being in this tier, his at-bat against Detroit came with a runner at third. If it was first and second, he would have been squaring up. 

Schneemann may get some more clutch at-bats before the end of the season thanks to his versatility, but that should lead to plenty of bunt signs. 

The same can be said for Halpin, who is best used as a fourth outfielder. But using him in that role increases the chances that he could get an at-bat late in a game. If that happens, he’ll also be bunting unless there’s a runner at third or there’s two outs. 

It’s only a matter of time
Angel Genao and Chase DeLauter 

Although Genao has yet to record a walk-off homer in his career, he showed his clutch gene on Sept. 1 when he slugged a go-ahead, pinch-hit home run against the Blue Jays in the seventh inning that helped power the Guardians to a huge win. 

He may have just 106 big league plate appearances under his belt, but Genao has looked like a veteran. And the Guardians clearly agree, otherwise they wouldn’t have put him in that pinch-hit situation. 

DeLauter may not have a walk-off under his belt, but he’s done pretty much everything else. He’s not going to get pinch-hit for, and it seems like the only thing standing between him and a walk-off would be an injury. 

Been there, done that
Steven Kwan, Travis Bazzana, Angel Martínez, David Fry, Jo Adell and Nathaniel Lowe

This list includes a varied list of hitters. Kwan may not hit the ball hard, but he’s racked up three walk offs during his time with the Guardians. Bazzana may be in his first big league season, but he’s already recorded a walk-off homer. And Adell may not have a walk-off with the Guardians, but he recorded four walk offs during his time with the Angels. 

Not only do all of these guys have a walk-off hit on their ledger, but they also would get an opportunity to hit if their spot in the lineup came up in the ninth inning. 

The one outlier to that from this group is Fry, but he arguably has the biggest walk-off of everyone in this group. He may be a fringe player now, but it would be hard to take the bat of his hand in the clutch given what he did in 2024. 

He’s going to do it (if the opponent lets him)
José Ramírez

Don’t let the fact that Ramírez only has five walk-off hits fool you, he’s come up in the clutch plenty of times. 

The problem is that teams don’t let him hit. Ramírez has been intentionally walked an eye-popping 84 times since the start of 2022, trailing only Aaron Judge (89). 

If Ramírez is at the plate and there’s an open base, teams are going to give him a free pass and attack whoever is behind him. 

A tier of his own
Patrick Bailey 

Bailey may not seem like a walk-off savant given he’s been more of a defense-first catcher during his time in Cleveland, but he made quite a name for himself with the Giants. 

Last season, Bailey became the first player in MLB history to record a walk-off inside-the-park home run and a walk-off grand slam in the same season. 

He nearly netted his first walk-off with the Guardians on Sunday when he opened the tenth inning in Sunday’s game with a single, but he hit it too hard for the runner to score (Schneemann ended the game a batter later). 

Bailey may not have the best stats of the Guardians hitters, but he has a clutch gene unlike any other. 

A tier of his own pt. 2
Brayan Rocchio 

Say what you want about Brayan Rocchio, but you’re never going to be able to call him clutch. 

He showed that in 2024 when he earned his ‘Rocctober’ nickname, but he’s doubled down on it in the past two seasons with four walk-offs — three of which were home runs. 

His first walk-off homer gave the Guardians the American League Central crown last September, and his latest one came a week ago in the first game of Cleveland’s doubleheader against the Tigers after he had previously tied the game with a grand slam. 

Rocchio may have some frustrating moments, but he’s the player you want at the plate with the game on the line. 

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