The Cleveland Guardians are clearly ready for spring training to start and get back to work.
Even though temperatures in Cleveland, Ohio, may be barely 20 degrees and inches of snow are covered across the city, baseball is coming; it’s so close.
Spring Training games will start next month, and the Cleveland Guardians could be ready to return to Goodyear and begin the 2026 season.
Stephen Vogt recently called right now the “best time of year.”
The Guardians manager loves that he still has one foot at home, with the other ready to step through the door into the excitement of the new season.
Cleveland’s veteran leader, Austin Hedges, doubled down on Vogt’s enthusiasm for spring training and getting back to being around his teammates.
“Once New Year's hits, it's always like, okay, here we go,” explained Hedges. “Really, before it was like, I really want to get Christmas, I want to spend time with the family, do the new year, and then ease into the next few days. It was like January 4th or 5th. I was like, I need to get back with the boys. It's time. I'm tired of practicing. It's time to go do it.”
Mar 11, 2024; Goodyear, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesThe Guardians will have plenty of position battles all throughout the diamond this spring. There is more than one spot in the outfield up for grabs; second base will again be another position a player could grab as their own.
That said, Vogt loves how, with spring training, everyone starts in the same position: players and teams.
“[I’m] already looking forward to Goodyear, but the thing I love about spring training is everybody's 0 and 0. Everybody's in the same position in the standings, and you never know what's going to happen over the next 162 games. As we all lived through, you never know what's going to happen. And, you know, there's always that excitement because if you don't show up to spring training, expecting to win a World Series, then don't even come.
From the player’s perspective, Hedges noted how you spend all winter working on an adjustment of trying something new, and spring training is the first time to see whether it works or not.
“We have a nice long offseason, and it's great to get working and try and work on this or that. But there's only so much you can do to know if it actually worked. You need to go face a pitcher, square that ball up, and be like, okay, there it is,” said the veteran hitter.
It won’t be too long before Vogt, Hedges, and the rest of the team can channel this excitement out in Goodyear, Arizona.