3 big questions surrounding the Cleveland Guardians heading into Spring Training
By Chad Porto
![SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - AUGUST 28: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians looks on during the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August 28, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - AUGUST 28: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians looks on during the first inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on August 28, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/7efd1ec2c033872b5f7788c805e9c366cc4d1f43fc41dfd996135673da42e44c.jpg)
The Cleveland Guardians are all set to start the 2023 season but that doesn’t mean they don’t have lingering questions.
The Cleveland Guardians are a Top 10 team in baseball, at least when looking at last year’s success and this off-season’s additions. The team will have one of the best rotations in baseball, led by three pitchers who are either perennial Cy Young contenders or are likely to be contenders in the future. They have a top-flight hitter in Jose Ramirez, who was an MVP candidate during a season where he had a debilitating thumb injury that hindered his play.
He was still No. 4 in the voting despite playing more than three-fifths of the season with an injury that hindered his production. Think about that. Then factor in the team around him is just getting older, wiser, and better while surrounding him with two high-priced free-agent sluggers.
Ramirez put up a career-high in RBIs, just think what he can do when fully healthy and with a much-improved lineup around him. Not to mention the bullpen is likely to only be better heading into 2023 for the same reason the lineup will be; younger players coming into their own.
Yet, despite the fact the team is where it needs to be, having made offseason improvements, that doesn’t mean the club doesn’t have lingering questions heading into spring training for 2023. The club has some questions that need to be figured out but luckily for the Guardians, these aren’t questions that all 29 other teams aren’t also trying to figure out. So it’s not like the team has to find an Ace or a franchise hitter. But what is it the club have to figure out?