Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell is a big fan of the New York Mets, but he’s also clearly all in on the Cleveland Guardians train. The Cavs star is even given an assignment before a Guardians game in the 2026 MLB Playoffs.
“Donovan Mitchell will throw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the ALCS at Progressive Field,” Zack Meisel of The Athletic shared via a social media post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
The Guardians are one of the four teams left standing in the MLB postseason, and are now just three wins away from clinching a spot in the 2026 World Series. They looked as though they were on the way out of the playoffs after losing the first two games of their American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox. But the Guardians channeled their innner 2016 Cavs and won the next three games to advance to the AL Championship Series.
Jose Ramirez and company kept it going with a Game 1 stunner against AL top seed Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, as the Guardians came away with a 7-3 victory at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
The job is far from over for the Guardians, however, and Mitchell hopes his presence will turn into some sort of a good luck charm for the Stephen Vogt-managed club.
Hopefully for Mitchell and Guardians fans, the team will have a 2-0 series lead by Thursday.
The Guardians and the Rays will play Game 2 of the series Tuesday night, with Cleveland looking to dig Tampa Bay a deeper hole.