BOSTON — September can be a lot of things for a baseball player: a springboard, a mirage, a merciless slog to the end. As the Cleveland Guardians approach the finish line, their roster is full of players who could use a strong September.

Can Slade Cecconi cement himself as someone to build around in the rotation? Can George Valera assert himself as the front-runner for the right field job next spring? (He notched his first career hit on Wednesday.) Can Triston McKenzie right the ship? (He has issued 10 walks in 3 2/3 innings since returning to Columbus last month. Yikes.) Can Joey Cantillo or Parker Messick get a head start on landing a rotation spot for 2026?

Those are all nice storylines, but here are 10 players in need of a late-season surge.

10. John Means

The Guardians hold a $6 million option on him for next season, and if he’s healthy, it’s hard to see them declining that after they spent the year guiding his rehab from elbow surgery. Means will throw about 75 pitches Friday for Triple-A Columbus, and then he could be ready to join the active roster. That would give him about three starts for the Guardians and, more than anything, allow him to enter the offseason with a sense of normalcy. For a guy who has totaled 52 big-league innings since the start of the 2022 season, that’s important.

9. C.J. Kayfus

It’d be great for the Guardians to have one more spot in the lineup that they’re confident in, because at the moment it’s José Ramírez, Steven Kwan, Kyle Manzardo and… uh… that’s it. Kayfus is one month into his big-league tenure. As Terry Francona used to say, a sample size like that “isn’t going to define” him. Neither would a torrid last few weeks. But maybe Kayfus, who recorded a pair of doubles Wednesday, can gain some confidence the way Manzardo did last September, when he went from wide-eyed rookie to middle-of-the-order threat.

8. Lane Thomas

This is more for Thomas than for the Guardians, since he’s headed for free agency this winter. He started a rehab assignment this week, and it’s not as though he can parlay a healthy week or two in late September into a massive payday. But every day of this season has been a nightmare for Thomas. Can the poor guy get a metaphorical win? A banner season could have landed him a lucrative, multi-year deal somewhere. Instead, he might have to settle for a modest, one-year arrangement with a team needing a fourth outfielder or a platoon partner. Heck, maybe that happens in Cleveland, where there’s no obvious answer looming in center field. Either way, there’s still a chance a wasted season ends on a more promising note.

“For Lane, it’s just been such a tough year,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “Any kind of luck that could be found, the bad luck found him. He’s pushing himself through it right now and hopefully he can get himself going and hopefully get to a place where he feels like he could play. We’d love to have him back.”

7. Bo Naylor

Naylor is no stranger to stellar Septembers. In 2023, he posted a .327/.471/.654 slash line in the final month, with four homers, four stolen bases and 14 walks to eight strikeouts. Unfortunately for the Guardians, his bat has been frigid ever since, so it’s difficult to envision that he’ll flip a switch. Next year, he could have David Fry and Cooper Ingle bidding to steal at-bats away from him, so the clock’s ticking for him to figure it out at the plate.

6. Gavin Williams

Can Williams stamp his arrival as an ace? The easy-going pitcher gets irked by one thing: early exits from starts. They’ve become rarer for him as the year has worn on, as he’s become more comfortable with some tweaks to his delivery and his arsenal, which has led to a more consistent attacking of the strike zone. If he can keep it up for his final handful of starts, the Guardians would feel good about the anchor of their rotation for 2026.

5. Steven Kwan

Kwan has insisted his right wrist, injured in late May on an awkward slide into second base, isn’t causing him pain. Maybe that’s just an athlete unwilling to make an excuse. Or, maybe, he’s simply buried in a funk. Kwan had a pair of three-hit games against the Boston Red Sox this week, his first games with three-plus hits since July 6. That’s a good sign, and if he can keep it up, it won’t leave everyone wondering all winter what percentage of his struggles can be attributed to a wrist that may or may not be barking.

Brayan Rocchio is looking for another hot streak, while Steven Kwan needs a return to form. (Jason Miller / Getty Images)

4. Travis Bazzana

It’s been a slow start for Bazzana at Triple-A Columbus. Should that continue, the guess here would be he starts next season in Columbus and breaks through to the majors in June or thereabouts. But what if he torments pitchers for the final two and a half weeks? Could he parlay that into an impressive spring and have the Guardians considering whether to anoint him their Opening Day second baseman? Nah, probably not, though if he were to break camp with the club and then win AL Rookie of the Year, the Guardians would net an extra early draft pick. Either way, a strong finish would be beneficial for last year’s top overall pick, who lost two months of action this summer to an oblique injury.

3. Brayan Rocchio

If the Guardians get their way, they’ll have Bazzana at second base for a long time beginning sometime next year. That would leave shortstop open for either Rocchio or Gabriel Arias in a competition that will seemingly never die.

We’ll stick Rocchio in this spot, though, because he’s demonstrated improvement in the second half. (He entered the series finale in Boston with a .287 average and .743 OPS over his previous 34 games.) In 2024, Rocchio conquered October. In 2025, he enjoyed a productive July and had an OK August. How about September? Can he enter the offseason on a high for the second straight year and, more importantly, can he actually carry it over this time?

Arias, meanwhile, has been tantalizing evaluators with his glove and his power for years. And yet, the results look the same.

2023: .210/.275/.352
2024: .222/.255/.353
2025: .222/.281/.362

Perhaps he’ll tear through September and have the Guardians daydreaming again next spring.

2. David Fry

Fry joked earlier this summer that he was on a similar regimen as Shohei Ohtani — just a couple of All-Stars recovering from elbow surgery and pushing through throwing programs while also serving as designated hitter. OK, so Fry’s situation is quite different. He’s not a global icon. He’s not a pitcher. He’s not a historically productive power hitter. He’s simply trying to return to a versatile defensive role for next season.

He’s been throwing out to 120 feet, and he made throws to second base from behind the plate before batting practice this week.

And, so, September, for Fry? Well…

“It can mean a lot,” Vogt said. “He’s getting closer and closer to more baseball activity. … It hasn’t been the offensive year I’m sure he’s wanted, but we still see a lot of good things with David.”

1. Tanner Bibee

It’s been a maddening season for Bibee, and he’s the first to admit it. Everything has trended in the wrong direction: his hit rate, his home run rate, his walk rate, his strikeout rate. His expected metrics (based on quality of contact allowed) haven’t strayed too far from where they sat last season, and that offers hope that he can stop the bleeding. The solution might start with an adjustment made his last time out, when he prioritized his sinker and changeup ahead of his fastball, which has been walloped this season.

(Top photo of Tanner Bibee: Justin Berl / Getty Images)