It used to be that starting pitching dominated in the post-season. We think about Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Mickey Lolich in the 60’s, Catfish Hunter in the 70’s, and even as late as 1988, Orel Hershiser was dominating in the playoffs and pitched the Dodgers to a World Championship.
In the 90’s, starting pitching was still very important, but Joe Torre kind of revolutionized the use of the bullpen when he basically asked his relievers to get one more out than normal. For example, he wanted Mariano Rivera to get four outs instead of three, and asked the same of his set up guys, trying to make it a six-inning game.
And Cleveland fans certainly remember Terry Francona’s masterful usage of the bullpen during the 2016 post-season, using Andrew Miller in a variety of roles, and he was so effective he was the MVP of the League Championship Series.
We bring this up because it will be interesting to see how Steven Vogt will use the bullpen in these playoffs. Of course, the anchor for the Guardians will be Cade Smith, who tied for the league lead in saves, and in several occurrences, was counted on to get four outs.
That will probably be the case in the upcoming Division Series as well.
But who else does Vogt count on heavily?
Hunter Gaddis has carried a big load for this team over the past three seasons, but he’s been in a bit of a slump over the last couple of weeks, allowing 12 hits and two home runs over his last 7.1 innings. Perhaps the rest before Saturday’s Game 1 rejuvenates him. On the other hand, maybe the 230 appearances (including the playoffs) over the past three years have taken its toll.
Right now, the reliever that gives us the most confidence behind Smith is left-hander Erik Sabrowski, who has allowed just 26 hits in 48.1 innings this season with 76 strikeouts. During the last two months of the regular season, the southpaw has given up just 5 hits in 17.1 innings and just one run with 24 Ks.
However, the one concern is his control. He walked 26 hitters this year and nine of them over the last two months. And he had one appearance where he came in and walked four hitters in a row. He pitched decently in the ’24 playoffs and last year had a poor outing in his one appearance against the Tigers.
We assume we will see a lot of Tim Herrin, and we admit that makes us nervous because of his proclivity to walk hitters. Over the past two seasons, he’s issued 58 free passes in 99.1 innings. We will repeat our mantra: Relief pitchers cannot walk people and cannot give up home runs.
We wonder if the wild card might just be Daniel Espino. Espino was used as an opener in September and for the year fanned 25 hitters (with 7 walks) in 15.1 innings. Vogt may use him in combination with Joey Cantillo again, or in the 6th or 7th innings.
Shawn Armstrong might get some opportunities as well. Armstrong had two different stints on the injured list during the season but returned to make three scoreless outings in the season’s last week.
Even though the relief corps is key, getting innings from the starters is still important. In Vogt’s first year, we thought he took starters out perhaps too early even if they were pitching well. We understand the concept of replacing a starter too early rather than too late, but eating innings is important too.
