The 2024 Cleveland Guardians are the definition of a top team.

Yes, they have a few legitimate stars in different positions, but they are a team because each member trusts others to pull through and do their job to achieve a common goal.

The organization has full confidence that Tanner Bibee will level the American League Championship Series with the New York Yankees on Tuesday evening in the Bronx.

Bibee, in turn, knows what to do and has confidence in himself and his teammates because he trusts them.

“We’ve had a historic bullpen and my job is to get the ball off to them.” Tanner Bibee will make his third start of the playoffs tonight. He knows what his job is and he is ready to do whatever it takes to help the team win,” Guardians wrote on SI on X.

“We’ve had a historic bullpen and my job is to get the ball off to them.”

Tanner Bibee will make his third start of the playoffs tonight. He knows what his job is and he is ready to do whatever it takes to help the team win. #GuardiansBall | #Postseason pic.twitter.com/KrSoZdw1j3

— Cleveland Guardians on SI (@GuardiansOnSI) October 15, 2024

Top teams like the Guardians know how to deal with success and failure.

Yes, they won the AL Central with 92 wins, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t face some tough stretches in 2024.

This is a club that at one point lost seven games in a row and was heavily questioned and criticized for that.

But here they are, one of the four best teams in baseball and four wins away from reaching the World Series.

Bibee posted a brilliant 3.47 ERA in the regular season and has an even better 2.08 mark in 8.2 playoff innings.

In Shane Bieber’s absence, he has turned into Cleveland’s ace and embraced his role.

However, he knows his job on Tuesday is to pitch a good game and hand it off to the Guardians’ incredible bullpen, hopefully with a lead.

That’s right there, their recipe for success.

NEXT:
Guards shoot themselves in the foot, dropping Game 1 amid serious control issues