Scrappy Cleveland Guardians Have Their Hands Full With Tampa Bay Rays

CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 10: José Ramírez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates after hitting a two run home run during the fourth inning in game five of the American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field on October 10, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)Getty ImagesAll World Jose Ramirez and the scrappy Cleveland Guardians survived a five game American League Division Series with the Chicago White Sox.Ramirez put his team on his back and carried them over the finish line.The Guardians, fresh from having to win three consecutive Division Series games, enter the American League Championship Series against one of the best teams in baseball.The Guardians are taking on the well balanced, and dangerous Tampa Bay Rays in a best-of seven ALCS.The Rays have home field advantage at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.The Rays 98 regular season wins were the most in the American League. Only the Brewers (103) and the Dodgers (100 ) had more.The Guardians won the Central Division with a record of 85-77, one game better than Chicago.nypost.comhas called the Rays a “savvy small-market team.” Indeed they are!ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 05: A general view of Tropicana Field prior to Game Two of the American League Division Series presented by Booking.com between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, October 5, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via Getty Images)MLB Photos via Getty ImagesCleveland Guardians Have Challenges At Tropicana Field:The Rays were incredible at home in 2026fangraphs.com notes the Rays finished with a home record of 55-26. Their .679 winning percentage was tied with the Brewers for the best in baseball. The Rays won five of the six games between Cleveland and Tampa Bay this season.espn.comlisted the Rays home attendance at 1,414,975, or 28th out of 30 Major League Baseball teams.Only the Miami Marlins at 1,221,018, and the Athletics, who played their games at a minor league park in Sacramento, were worse, The Athletics drew 799,240 fans while they await their new venue to open in Las Vegas, Nevada.The Rays have announced plans to build a new stadium in Tampa, Florida, which will be in the same area as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football stadium, and the New York Yankees spring training facility.Here is the Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays Playoff Schedule: 1 Monday, October 12-at Tampa Bay (won by Cleveland, 7-3)2 Tuesday, October 13-at Tampa BayWednesday, October 14-OFF DAY3 Thursday, October 15-at Cleveland4 Friday, October 16- at Cleveland5 Saturday, October 17-at Cleveland #Sunday, October 18-OFF DAY6- Sunday, October 19 at Tampa#7- Tuesday, October 20-at Tampa##if necessaryThe World Series begins Friday, October 23.By virtue of their winning records, the National League World Series entry of either the Brewers or Dodgers will have World Series home field advantage.CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 05: Gavin Williams #32 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates after a double play during the third inning against the Chicago White Sox in game two of the American League Division Series at Progressive Field on October 05, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)Getty Images-The Guardians have an excellent duo of two starting pitchers in Parker Messick, and Gavin Williams. Beyond those two, risks increase. Options beyond Messick and Williams include Tanner Bibee, Foster Griffin and Joey Cantillo.Left hander Messick, a rookie, has already thrown 193.1 innings this year. He is 26-years-old, but he has never faced a pitching workload like he has in 2026.-The Guardians bullpen is running on fumes.Relievers Shawn Armstrong, Tim Herrin (LHP) Erik Sabrowski (LHP) and Hunter Gaddis were summoned early and often to put out fires in the Division Series.Closer Cade Smith was called upon to work in both the 8th and 9th innings in the Division Series, in an effort to preserve victories.While Smith has been outstanding, there could be some arm fatigue.-Even though they won three consecutive games from Chicago, the offense still showed some signs of difficulty scoring runs against quality pitching.In fact, had Cleveland’s All World third baseman, Jose Ramirez not had a couple of huge Division games, the team may have been eliminated. Ramirez was consequential.Jo Adell has been prone to swinging at sweeping breaking balls out of the strike zone, and is vulnerable to that trait against right-handed pitching.Nathaniel Lowe and Chase DeLauter have been very quiet at the plate, and a resurgence of their bats would help.-Steven Kwan has been outstanding as the leadoff hitter, and Cleveland will need him to step up.NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 07: Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after defeating the New York Yankees in game three of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on October 07, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images)Getty Imagesbaseballreference.com shows Former Cleveland Indians prospect Junior Caminero hit 42 home runs and drove in 101 runs this season. He leads the Rays offense.The Rays are very well rested. They last played October 7, when they swept the Yankees in their Division Series.The Rays pitching is of the quality that gives Cleveland Guardians hitters trouble.The Rays have tremendous balance between outstanding starting pitching, a very solid bullpen, tremendous defense, and an offense that scores runs.The Guardians won the first game of the series, but there is a long way to go.The Cleveland Guardians will have their hands full with the well balanced Tampa Bay Rays in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.This article was originally published on Forbes.com