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Cleveland Guardians complete historic, season-long comeback in securing 2025 playoff berth
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- Cleveland Guardians complete historic, season-long comeback in securing 2025 playoff berth
CLEVELAND — In game 1 of the 2025 season, the Guardians won on a walk-off walk. In game 161 , they won on a walk-off hit-by-pitch.
In between, they put together a wild, season-long comeback fueled by a scorching-hot September and a few extra doses of "Guards Ball" en route to improbably punching their ticket to the playoffs .
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Champagne bottles were popped Saturday night, Sept. 27, that nobody outside of the Guardians clubhouse thought they'd need. At several points throughout the season, it looked like the Guardians, themselves, had been put on ice.
"It feels pretty good — really good," said president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti as champagne and beer sprayed behind him. "I mean, I give our players and coaches and staff and [manager Stephen Vogt ] a ton of credit, because it was a really hard mountain to climb to make this a reality.
"There were obviously times during the season where this looked really far away, and our group was never daunted by that."
The path to this point was like a hellish scenic route without any road signs or directions.
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They had to grind through a slow start in April and May. They had to endure a painful losing streak in June that nearly sank their entire season. They had to deal with the sudden sidelining of their All-Star closer in July that threatened to turn them into total sellers at the trade deadline . They were still under .500 in September and well outside of the playoff picture.
And yet, through all of it, they somehow came out the other side and will play into October. On Sept. 4, the Guardians were 69-70 and struggling to just keep their heads above water. They then went on to win 18 of their next 22 games and, after the Sept. 27 win, were a playoff-securing 87-74.
Game 1 of a best-of-3 Wild Card Series, whether it's as division champs in Cleveland or as a wild card seed in Detroit, is set for Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Stephen Vogt guides Guardians to second consecutive playoff berth
Veteran catcher Austin Hedges has celebrated a playoff-clinching game at Progressive Field before (including one instance in which he lost his shirt). This one was different. It was a much more difficult road, a much more treacherous path that demanded a more extreme degree of perseverance.
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"I've never been more proud in my life, and that's honest," Hedges said on the field, after the raucous clubhouse celebration. "As we were making this run, I tried not to get ahead of myself and expect us to get into the playoffs. It's so hard, but I knew in my heart that if we pulled this off and found a way into October, I don't think I could imagine being any prouder. And that's exactly how I feel."
At of the end of the celebration Saturday night, the Guardians still didn't know who they'd play or where. The division and final seeding of the playoff bracket will be decided on the season's final day.
In the moment, they didn't care too much. They had just pulled off something that was so unexpected, the projection systems as of a few months ago would have said a one percent chance was too generous, too optimistic.
"There is no such thing as easy, especially this year," Antonetti said. "We don't make things easy on ourselves, but I give our guys a ton of credit — no matter the game, no matter what the score was, we found a way."
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In 2024, they shot out to first place and cruised from there, clinching with plenty of time before the playoffs began. This season was a mad, frantic dash to the finish line after they had tripped at the starting line.
"I mean, it's a crazy, crazy thing we all stood together," said No. 1 starter Tanner Bibee . "A lot of teams I feel like would've just cashed it in and went home and been happy with the offseason. But us as a group, we weren't happy with that."
The Guardians will now have two playoff appearances in Vogt's first two seasons at the helm. A year ago, Hedges called Vogt's performance the best season of managing he had ever seen up close. Saturday night, he jumped into Vogt's arms once again.
"I love that guy. I mean, he's our leader," Hedges said. "We're not here without him. It's tough to put into words what he means to our group. … As proud as I am of our group, I'm extremely proud of Stephen Vogt.
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"This is the hardest season I've ever been a part of, and the fact that we are in the playoffs right now is a credit to him."
The Cleveland Guardians pose for a team photo after defeating the Texas Rangers to clinch a spot in the American League playoffs on Sept. 27, 2025, in Cleveland.
How the Guardians earned their way into the 2025 postseason
They also punched their ticket to the postseason in one of the most peculiar ways possible, as technically it was the right forearm of rookie C.J. Kayfus getting drilled with a 95 mph pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth that scored the winning run.
It was a strangely fitting way for the Guardians to complete a wild, unexpected and improbable journey. And it was even predicted by some in the dugout, because with this against-the-grain team, why not?
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"It's exactly us," Vogt said. "Find a way."
Kayfus had so much adrenaline going that he was only just beginning to feel the spot where the pitch hit him as the clubhouse celebration was winding down.
"I knew I had a job to do and I knew I was going to get that job done one way or another," Kayfus said with a smile.
Johnathan Rodriguez, who was only called up a few days ago because David Fry was hit in the face by a 99 mph pitch, hit a massively important, two-run home run in the first inning and then drew the walk that put the potential winning run on base in the ninth. Pinch runner Petey Halpin scored the winning run. Kayfus took one for the team to win it.
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"That's how we've had to win," Antonetti said. "We need the whole roster to contribute, and I think that's been a theme of our season, is you never know where the contributions are going to come from."
They were never going to care how it happened, as long as it did, because for most of the 160 games they had played up to that point, it seemed to be a distant dream sailing further and further away.
Saturday night, in front of a sellout crowd that gave them more than two million fans for the second consecutive season, several months of stress were turned into an outburst of exhilaration. The job was finally done.
"It was more than an exhale," Antonetti said of the moment the Guardians completed what was virtually a year-long comeback. "It was a loud scream."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Guardians reflect on road to 2025 postseason berth
