The Cleveland Guardians head into a huge four-game series this weekend at Minnesota with the starting rotation still very much in flux. Steven Vogt and his staff have done a masterful job working around this issue, and it will be interesting to see how he handles this upcoming series.
The latest starter to miss a start is Tanner Bibee, who didn’t pitch yesterday against Arizona, as Logan Allen was recalled taking his turn. The club is still hopeful Bibee will not have to be placed on the injured list.
Newcomer Alex Cobb pitched for Columbus on Saturday and should make his debut this week vs. the Twins, so hopefully that’s a big help. We know some are optimistic about Matthew Boyd too, but you have to remember he has a 4.94 lifetime ERA.
Perhaps the best news for the Guards this weekend was Triston McKenzie’s outing at AAA Saturday night when he pitched six shutout innings fanning 11. Having McKenzie find his command will also be a huge factor down the stretch.
Ben Lively continues to be consistent, beating Philadelphia and Baltimore in his last two starts, and for the most part, Vogt and Carl Willis are probably very confident he will give them five or six solid innings and Cleveland will be in the game when he leaves the game.
Because of these issues with the starting rotation, Vogt and Willis seem to have taken something from the way Terry Francona handled a similar problem during the 2016 playoffs. That is, if you don’t have a lot of confidence in your starter, see if you can get them two times through the batting order and then go to the bullpen.
It is fairly obvious to everyone that the bullpen is the strength of this team. Fox analyst John Smoltz pointed out in Saturday night’s broadcast that when you are playing Cleveland right now, there is pressure to have a lead after five innings. That’s how good the relief corps is.
It looks like the role of Andrew Miller is being played right now by rookie Cade Smith, who has struck out 75 hitters in 54 innings and has a 2.17 ERA. If the starter gets Vogt into the fourth inning, when Smith is available, he comes in and gets the Guardians through the fifth or sixth, depending on when he is brought in.
And Vogt is trying to save his primary relievers right now, so if they are trailing after five, fans should get used to seeing pitchers like Pedro Avila, who has done a real solid job in this role, Xzavion Curry, Eli Morgan, and even Connor Gillispie, who got called up prior to Sunday’s game and pitched three innings in his MLB debut.
That is totally a sound strategy. Do everything you can to win games when we have the lead. If you are trailing and Avila (or another long reliever) does a great job and shuts the opposition out, it gives the offense a chance to get a lead, but these guys can’t pitch every night.
People can’t be mad that the bullpen is overused and then be angry when Vogt pitches Curry when the Guards are losing 4-1 in the 7th inning. The manager is doing his best to protect his pitchers while still trying to win games in a post-season race.
And right now, he is threading a needle. Until Bibee’s shoulder is healthy, Cobb can make effective starts, and McKenzie is back to his normal pitching, the coaching staff is trying to squeeze out wins anyway they can.
They should get enormous credit for that.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 