CLEVELAND — In the center of the bedlam, in flip-flops squeaking on a sticky plastic floor, in a sea of discarded corks and pools of beer, stood a pitcher who waited 8 1/2 years to strap on goggles, guzzle champagne, pose for photos, puff cigars and toast to a playoff berth.
Jakob Junis earned his MLB gold card this summer for reaching eight years of service time. He’s seen it all. He has started games and pitched out of the bullpen. He’s been traded, signed as a free agent, played for teams destined for 100 losses and played for teams eyeing the ultimate trophy.
However, he had never popped bottles in a big-league clubhouse. He has never pitched for a team that reached the postseason.
He has imagined the moment, but the vision never looked like this. It never included a walk-off hit-by-pitch.
The moment fellow reliever Kolby Allard ripped open the bullpen door and the Cleveland Guardians’ relievers stampeded toward the home dugout at Progressive Field, everything became a blissful blur. Junis has waited for this. And he wants his teammates — many of them younger — to savor this moment.
“It’s hard to do this,” Junis said, right before reliever Erik Sabrowski poured a cup of beer on his head.
Sabrowski has been a major leaguer for two seasons. “Not even!” he’s quick to clarify, since he didn’t debut until September 2024. He has already celebrated a pair of playoff clinches in this fashion.
“I’ll let him know how sweet this is and how lucky he is,” Junis said.
It’s even sweeter because of what the Guardians (87-74) persevered through to arrive at this point. They discovered new ways to redefine the phrase rock bottom in July. They were left to rot in August. Then they blitzed through their September schedule, and now they’re bound for October, an unprecedented revival for a team that stood 11 games out of first place in the American League Central a mere three weeks ago.
With a win or a Detroit Tigers loss Sunday, they’ll wrap up another division title.
Hard to beat this.#GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/hZTaXPgdnM
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) September 28, 2025
Yeah, that’s worth savoring. That’s why Guardians president Chris Antonetti, donning a red playoff cap and a drenched navy playoff T-shirt, backpedaled a few steps into the far corner of the clubhouse. Clutching a champagne bottle in his left hand, he stared at the scene unfolding before him. It would have seemed too far-fetched to sketch a couple of months ago mentally. As he admired the scene, he struggled to keep a smile from spreading across his face.
“It was a really hard mountain to climb to make this a reality,” Antonetti said. “There were obviously times during the season where this looked really far away, and our group was never daunted by that.”
This team he and his front office assembled, this group that manager Stephen Vogt and his staff kept motivated throughout a summer of adversity, this collection of players that refused to wilt is headed for the playoffs.
It took a village to make it happen.
Clinch day began on the west side of Cleveland, where the team’s perennial MVP candidate and heartbeat had a street named after him: José Ramírez Way. Ramírez is likely headed for his sixth top-five MVP finish. His hustle and skills on the diamond have regularly rescued the Guardians this season, and his humor and leadership in the clubhouse have steered the team out of the darkness.
However, the story of this Guardians team has a deep supporting cast, even if many of the names are largely anonymous outside of Cleveland. This tale can’t be told through the lens of just one superstar. To pull off a historic surge has required contributions from both headliners and those lacking fame.
“Let me show you something,” George Valera said one afternoon this week, as he scrolled through his phone.
A day earlier, he swatted a two-run homer that fueled a critical victory that vaulted the Guardians ahead of the Tigers. And one year to the day of that blast, he was lying down in an Arizona hotel room watching the Guardians, his right leg immobilized and propped up after surgery to repair a ruptured patellar tendon.
He smiles as he peers at the picture of that scene and thinks about the journey he’s traveled since. He’s never experienced pain like that when he flew from Cleveland to Phoenix — with a layover in between — after his procedure. He couldn’t walk for two months. His parents brought him groceries, drove him to appointments and even helped him shower. He was designated for assignment in November and then re-signed on a minor-league deal. He kept faith that his moment would materialize, even when it seemed futile.
Now he bats second and supplies power. His locker borders Ramírez’s locker. And instead of texting his close friends, Brayan Rocchio and Jhonkensy Noel, about their postseason exploits from three time zones away, he’ll experience his own October alongside them.
“It’s been worth it,” Valera said. “Every single moment.”
Catcher Austin Hedges, with belt, and shortstop Brayan Rocchio (right) along with the team and staff, celebrate after the Guardians clinched a playoff berth. (Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)
Clinch day continued with a birthday party for David Fry’s 2-year-old daughter, Evelyn. Fry’s family traveled to Cleveland to be with him after he suffered facial and nasal fractures from absorbing a 99-mph fastball from Tarik Skubal. Fry has visited his teammates in the clubhouse this week, and during the celebration Saturday night, his white No. 6 jersey hung in the middle of the fray.
Johnathan Rodriguez occupied Fry’s spot in the lineup against a left-handed starter Saturday. He entered the game with a .155 average and one home run in 110 plate appearances as a big leaguer. Naturally, he delivered a pivotal, two-run homer. His walk spurred a ninth-inning rally. Austin Hedges, the team’s backup catcher, motivational speaker and presenter of the championship belt awarded to the standout of each win, bestowed the hardware on the right fielder who was making his first major-league start in exactly two months.
Rodriguez might have been the unlikeliest candidate to propel the Guardians to their 18th win in 22 games, but overlooked options have sprouted into heroes regularly in September.
“I’ve never been more proud in my life, that’s honest,” Hedges said. “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.”
Clinch day ended when Petey Halpin stepped on home plate after C.J. Kayfus wore a 95-mph heater (a goofy result that Slade Cecconi forecast, though he predicted Kayfus would be plunked in the ribs). Halpin has been a big-leaguer for a week.
He received the call late one night when Nolan Jones suffered an oblique injury. His family hopped on red-eye flights from Arizona and northern California. They arrived at the Minneapolis airport about 6 a.m. and surprised Halpin at his gate when his flight from Columbus landed about a half-hour later.
When Halpin scored a run earlier in the week, he tore through the dugout like a tornado. Bench coach Craig Albernaz, blown away by the rookie’s energy, stopped him and asked whether he was having fun. As Halpin responded emphatically, he resembled a kid downing the first ice cream cone of summer.
There might not be a player on the roster enjoying this run more. Well, except for the guy who waited a big-league lifetime for a run like this.
“People go their whole careers,” Junis said. “Look at me. I’ve never done it. Definitely can’t take it for granted. Hopefully, I can relay that message to these young guys. They just don’t know any different.”
(Top photo: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
