This story was excerpted from Tim Stebbins’ Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CLEVELAND -- After the Guardians’ 10-game winning streak ended Sunday with a 6-2 loss to the Twins, Stephen Vogt made his way into the visitors’ clubhouse at Target Field postgame to share a message with the team.
“He came in after a loss and just basically said, ‘Hey, that's a hell of a freaking road trip,’” starter Slade Cecconi said. “‘We're going to bump music. We're going to play cards, even though we lost, and we're gonna get ready for this [next] series. Treat it like we're still hot.’”
The Guardians have been as hot as any team in the Majors this month. Their 6-1 trip against the Tigers and Twins last week continued a 16-5 burst to start September that put Cleveland in a position entering the final week of the regular season to do what once felt improbable.
Cleveland has a shot at securing a once-unfathomable division title, and Vogt deserves his flowers for guiding the team to this point. Whether the Guardians win the American League Central, make it to the postseason as a Wild Card team or come up just short, that they have come back from the brink is a testament to the skipper.
“He sets the tone,” catcher Austin Hedges said. “He’s the jefe.”
The Guardians were 15 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central standings entering July 9. Should they secure the division title this week, it would set an MLB record for the greatest deficit overcome to win a division (since 1969) or league pennant (pre-1969).
This torrid run is only the latest emotional swing Cleveland and its fans have felt this season. The Guardians suffered a 10-game losing streak from June 26-July 6, but they bounced back by posting a 23-9 record from July 7-Aug. 14. A 1-9 stretch from Aug. 15-25 that followed seemingly put a dent in the Guardians’ postseason hopes.
But through it all, Vogt has remained a steady presence. When the Guardians were scuffling, he continued to preach taking things one day at a time. That same mentality has shined through this month, as they have come back from the brink.
“We treat every single day the same, and that's his doing,” Hedges said. “He's the same every day. [Associate manager Craig Albernaz] is the same every day. When we're going at our best, each player is the same every single day.
“[Vogt is] leading more than just the players. He's leading the coaches, staff. Everybody is here contributing every single day to help us win today, and it all starts with Stephen Vogt.”
Just consider what Vogt and the Guardians have navigated this season. Ben Lively (their most consistent starter in 2024) underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery in May. Ace Shane Bieber did not throw a pitch for Cleveland this season; the Guardians traded him to Toronto before the Trade Deadline on July 31.
Offseason rotation addition Luis Ortiz went on non-disciplinary paid leave on July 3, and closer Emmanuel Clase followed on July 28. The club has persevered.
Vogt credited the clubhouse for the Guardians getting to this point.
“[The players] did a great job showing up every day ready to win, despite what got thrown at them, despite what we went through,” Vogt said. “They just continued to show up and work and expect to win every single day. I couldn't be more proud of that group of players and coaches and staff for keeping the energy.
“We had every reason in the world to just turn our heads down and just finish the season, and not one person in that room allowed that to happen. Everybody has showed up and given everything they have every day. That's who we are. We're never going to be anything different.”
Cecconi noted that Vogt has “a great way of knowing what to say and when to say it,” and that the skipper brings key perspective amid the highs and lows of a season, as a former catcher who played 10 years in the big leagues.
It has perhaps been exactly what this team has needed this season.
“How he presents himself on a daily basis,” Hedges said, “whether it's the words he says to the team, his presence in the dugout -- even away from the field, his conversations with you in the clubhouse, in the hotel -- everything he does is just creating positivity and belief in each individual player and in this group that we have, that we can go do exactly what we set out to do at the beginning of Spring Training.
“Boy, is he just an amazing leader.”