Adding Pitching Wouldn’t Be Bad For Guards Either

The Cleveland Guardians have made a reputation over the past 10 years or so as a pitching factory. They’ve pretty much always have had solid pitching.

Since 2007, Cleveland has had five Cy Young Award winners: C.C. Sabathia (’07), Cliff Lee (’08), Corey Kluber (’14 and ’17), and Shane Bieber (’20). This list doesn’t include some guys who had excellent seasons, like Carlos Carrasco, Roberto Hernandez (Fausto Carmona), and Trevor Bauer.

For most of the 2025 season, the pitching was floundering. Tanner Bibee was inconsistent for much of the first five months of the season. Ben Lively had to have Tommy John surgery in May. Luis Ortiz was suspended.

Slade Cecconi was a pleasant surprise, making 23 starts but still had a 4.30 ERA.

Only Gavin Williams, who finished the season 12-5 with a 3.06 ERA, could be counted on to provide solid starts, and he too, had some problems, leading the American League in walks, which led to game where he could only go five innings.

In September, everything gelled. The Guardians went to a six-man rotation with Joey Cantillo, who started the season in relief joining the rotation along with rookie Parker Messick, who compiled a 2.72 ERA in seven starts.

And Bibee started to pitch like we’ve seen him in the past.

So, what about 2025. We know the Guardians’ optimists will think everything is fine, but we (like a lot of baseball people) look at track records. We feel comfortable with Williams and Bibee right now, but we think the front office should still be in the market for pitching this winter.

Cantillo was a solid prospect for a long time, but he’s made just 21 big league starts and he also has issues with the strike zone. When he throws strikes consistently, he’s tough to beat, but he doesn’t do it enough.

We had some snide comments about Cecconi when he was traded to the Guardians (after all he was the return for a guy who hit 30 HRs the year before) and when he was activated, because of a 6.66 ERA in 77 innings for the Diamondbacks in 2024, but he’s kind of an old school pitcher. He induces weak contact and doesn’t have a high K rate.

He pitched a game in Sacramento where he went seven innings of two-hit ball and people on social media were incensed because he only had two strikeouts.

As we said Messick has seven big league starts. Lively likely won’t be back until middle of the year. And although we like Cecconi, he looks like a solid middle to back of the rotation guy.

Among the top prospects, Khal Stephen, the return for Shane Bieber, pitched in AA, and Doug Nikhazy, who made a couple of token appearances with the big club, and had a 5.02 ERA in AAA, are the closest to being ready.

We would like to see the front office add another proven veteran to the mix heading into 2026.

It doesn’t need to be a front of the rotation guy, more like a veteran who can provide innings to keep the bullpen fresh early in the season. That would serve Steven Vogt very well.

And it wouldn’t hurt to have Carl Willis work with him.

Guardians’ Starting Pitching With Surprises

The strength of the Cleveland Guardians’ organization is developing pitchers and even in a up and down 2025 season, that has still been the case.

They are hovering around the .500 mark with an offense that ranks near the bottom of the American League in most statistical categories, but the pitching staff still has an above average ERA at 3.87, compared to the league average of 4.04.

However, how they have got there is a different story. We all know that one of the starters, Luis Ortiz, acquired from the Pirates over the winter has been out for about two months now under an MLB investigation.

If not for a case of food poisoning, Tanner Bibee would have been the Guardians’ Opening Day starter, but because he couldn’t go, Ben Lively took the mound. Unfortunately, Lively went down with an elbow injury that needed Tommy John surgery following his start on May 12th.

You can make the argument that Bibee has been the most disappointing pitcher on the team, non-suspension related. His hits/innings pitched has increased by a hit per game from a year ago, and his walk rate is also up while his strikeout rate is down, and his ERA is up over a run per game from last season.

He’s also giving up a ton more homers. Last year, for the entire season, he allowed 22 long balls. This year, he ranks 6th in the AL allowing 21 of them, and 13 of those have been with men on base.

We aren’t giving up on Bibee, but he needs to get back to throwing more strikes, getting ahead in the count more often and keeping the ball in the park.

Gavin Williams was the #2 starter, and by and large, he has been solid this year with a 3.33 ERA, a number which drops to 2.92 since May 1st. He’s only allowed 95 hits in 116.1 innings with 117 strikeouts.

His problem? Walks. He leads the AL in that negative category. Besides putting men on base, it limits how long he can stay in games. We have always thought Williams has the look of a #1 starter, and we still think that. If he can command the strike zone better, the Guardians have an anchor for their rotation.

And then we have Slade Cecconi. We made fun of Cecconi’s numbers in Arizona, where he compiled a 6.06 ERA, and because he was the return for Josh Naylor, who of course hit 30 HR and knocked in 100 for the Guards last year.

But to date, we were wrong. First, Cecconi is kind of a throwback in that he doesn’t strike out batters, but lately just keep inducing weak contact. That has allowed him to pitch at least six innings in his last five starts, allowing three runs or less in four of them.

He’s only fanned more than five in one of his last seven starts. We understand that irritates the new age fans who only value strikeouts, but if he keeps doing what he’s been doing over the last six weeks, he will be quite fine.

The great Bill James said a good pitcher allows less hits than innings pitched and strikes out twice as many hitters as he walks. Cecconi has done that. You know who else has? Logan Allen.

Allen seems to still have people irritated by his poor season a year ago (5.73 ERA), but that number is down to 4.06 this year and he has given Steven Vogt six innings per start since the beginning of June. He’s been solid and for a 4th starter, that’s not bad.

The starting pitching has still been good even though the guy who was supposed to be the anchor, Bibee, hasn’t pitched up to his standards. At the worst, these guys keep the Guardians in the game, which isn’t easy considering the offense output of the team.

A Good Homestand Buoys Some Concerns For The Guardians

When the Cleveland Guardians came home after their season opening nine game trip, it seemed like the team was running in quicksand a bit.

The defense was shaky, the offense only had four players (Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez, Carlos Santana, and Kyle Manzardo) hitting, and the pitching, usually the hallmark of any Cleveland team was not very good.

Then they came back to Progressive Field, and the pitching found itself, allowing only 10 runs in a six-game span, although to be fair, the horrible Chicago White Sox were the first three games, and they only tallied three times in the trio of games.

This is not to say everything is fine and there are no worries, but the Guardians sit at 8-7 now after 15 games, sitting a game behind Detroit in the AL Central standings.

The starting pitching was much better, but the number of innings the rotation is providing is a problem. The farthest any starter went on the homestand was the six innings provided by Ben Lively on Sunday. Luis Ortiz went 5.2 on Saturday and was outstanding, striking out 10 Kansas City hitters.

The biggest issue is that the starters are throwing a lot of pitches to get through five innings. Friday night, Tanner Bibee held the Royals scoreless for 4.2 frames but had to come out after tossing almost 100 pitches.

The same was true with Gavin Williams last start. The opposition isn’t scoring, but the pitchers aren’t being economical about it.

Bibee has walked seven in 14.1 innings this year. Williams has six in 13 frames, and Logan Allen seven in 10 innings.

Of course, this puts an enormous load on the bullpen. Paul Sewald, Jakob Junis, and Cade Smith have already been in 8 of Cleveland’s 15 games to date, and Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis, and Tim Herrin have been in seven. We know the Guardians are very protective of these relievers, but they had to carry a huge load a year ago.

Something to keep an eye on as the season goes on.

We also think at times; Steven Vogt creates this issue. Allen was pulled after 83 pitches and two out in the fifth with a 3-1 lead. Yes, there were runners on second and third, but why not give the young pitcher a chance to get out of it?

The offense is still struggling, hitting just .222 as a team, but they received a boost this week from Angel Martinez, who was called up because Lane Thomas has a bruised wrist after getting hit by a pitch.

The switch-hitter went 5 for 10 in three starts, with a pair of doubles and three runs knocked in. Gabriel Arias had a solid week as well, getting 5 hits in 17 at-bats with a pair of home runs.

There are still too many players who are simply not contributing at the plate. Daniel Schneemann has started 2 for 22. Nolan Jones has drawn six walks, tied for third on the team, but is 5 for 35 with 16 Ks. Jhonkensy Noel is 6 for 32 and has only fanned six times but doesn’t have an extra base hit.

Still, Ramirez has not gotten hot, outside of his three dinger game against the Angels.

But the length of the lineup was a concern coming into the season, and it doesn’t look like it has gotten any longer. Cleveland still has a below average offense. The league is scoring 4.12 runs per game, the Guardians are at 3.93.

It’s a good sign the Guards have started out 7-2 vs. the Central, but they haven’t played Detroit or Minnesota. The Orioles should be a good test for the pitching over the next three days.

Hopefully, the starters can start going at least six innings on a regular basis.

Where Will The Innings Come From For Guardians’ Rotation?

With spring training underway and exhibition games starting this Saturday, we have spent a lot of time discussing the Cleveland Guardians.

Today, we look at the pitching staff, primarily the starting rotation. The bullpen was outstanding last season and remember that might be the most volatile spot of any team, but Cleveland seems to have built up some depth if the primary late inning relievers (Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis, and Cade Smith) take a step back.

And one of them probably will.

That’s where names like Andrew Walters, Erik Sabrowski, who we saw at the end of the season in ’24, and veterans Paul Sewald and newly signed Jakob Junis figure in.

The question is where will the innings come at the beginning of games? Do the Guardians have enough depth among the starters?

Tanner Bibee is the clear ace right now. He’s made 56 starts over the past two seasons and threw 173 regular season innings in 2024. But he’s the only hurler with anything close to a track record.

Luis Ortiz was acquired from the Pirates this winter, and he should have a spot in the rotation. However, his high in innings pitched was last season and he still only reached 135 frames. He had a 3.22 ERA in his 15 starts in ’24, but has still started only 34 big league games.

Gavin Williams in the wild card. Almost everyone agrees he should be a top of the rotation starter, but last year missed the beginning of the year with an elbow issue and finished with a 4.86 ERA in his 16 starts. Overall, he’s made only just 32 big league starts and has fanned 160 in 158 innings.

But what Williams will Steven Vogt get this year? A microcosm of Williams’ season was at the beginning of September. On September 2nd, he threw seven one-hit innings against the Royals. His next start? Couldn’t get out of the first inning against the Dodgers.

Ben Lively made 29 starts last year with a 3.81 ERA, pitching 151 innings. That total almost doubles the next most innings he pitched in the big leagues. Other pitchers have figured it out later in their career, would we bet on Lively being one of those guys? Not sure we can say that.

The questions continue for the rest of the candidates.

Can Triston McKenzie find the strike zone? He walked 49 hitters in 75 innings last season, after pitching just 16 innings the year before. His control was worse at AAA, where he issued 33 free passes in 53 frames. Tough to count on him to make 25-30 starts.

Logan Allen was solid as a rookie (3.81 ERA), but last year allowed 113 hits and 41 bases on balls in 117 innings, compiling a 5.73 ERA. Which Allen pitches this season?

Slade Cecconi came over from Arizona in the Josh Naylor deal, and we have read a lot about how good his stuff is. So far, it hasn’t translated to success because he had a 6.66 ERA in 77 innings a year ago.

Then you have the rookies. Joey Cantillo has less than 40 big league innings and had problems with control (15 walks) and giving up home runs (6). He has a good arm but is far from being someone to count on.

Another lefty, Doug Nikhazy is a long shot to break camp with the team but could be an option later in the season.

Yes, reinforcements will come in the middle of the season with Shane Bieber due back from elbow surgery and it appears John Means will be inked to a deal soon, and he is in the same boat as Bieber.

Both are solid pitchers if healthy, especially Bieber, who of course has won a Cy Young Award.

But what happens until they are ready? There are several veterans who can soak up innings still out there on the market and we bet they could be had on one-year deals.

Perhaps Vogt and the brass are going to lean heavily on the bullpen until the reinforcements are ready. Don’t know if that strategy will work again.

Despite Baseball’s System, Guardians Need To Spend More

The first defection from the Cleveland Guardians occurred early Monday morning when it was announced that Matthew Boyd signed a two-year contract with the Chicago Cubs.

Since there are still two and a half months until spring training starts, we aren’t going to start hammering the front office and ownership about not improving a roster that got to the American League Championship Series in 2024.

Look, we get the playing field isn’t level for all teams in Major League Baseball. Bigger markets get more local broadcast revenue, and unlike the National Football League, these incomes aren’t pooled together and distributed evenly to all 30 teams.

And we still don’t understand how the Dodgers can use deferred money in some huge contracts in order to avoid the total deal counting towards the Competitive Balance tax.

It’s also true that every ownership of an MLB team is unbelievably rich and can probably afford to pay players more than they do. According to Baseballreference.com, the Guardians’ payroll is $20 million less than Milwaukee, $28 million less than Kansas City, and $44 million under what Tampa Bay pays.

No doubt, the Dolan family can spend more than they have.

Remember, they spent a significant amount of money on a campaign to get someone in the family in the US Senate. So, it’s not as though they will be visiting soup kitchens during the holidays.

While there are defenders of the Guardians’ ownership throughout the fandom, the reason for the critics is the lack of effort to go “all in” to win a title when the opportunity is there.

Yes, they did it in 2017 after the painful World Series loss to the Cubs, signing free agent Edwin Encarnacion, but that’s been the exception rather than the rule. After the surprising run to the playoffs in 2022 with the youngest team in baseball, they did sign Josh Bell as a free agent, but that wasn’t a huge splash.

There is no question the current Guardians need starting pitching and that’s why the news about Boyd going elsewhere was disappointing. Fans have to be wondering if Shane Bieber, who won’t be available until the middle of the season, is the next to go. We are guessing he will be in demand even though he won’t be ready on Opening Day 2025.

But going into next season with a rotation of Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Ben Lively, and Triston McKenzie doesn’t scream contender. Especially when you can make a very good case the latter three are big question marks.

The organization is either going to have to spend some money or make some good old fashioned baseball trades in order to have a solid rotation heading into the season.

Nobody is saying the Guardians should be in the market for Juan Soto or even Blake Snell for that matter. They don’t have the same revenue stream (again, local broadcast revenue) as Los Angeles or New York.

However, the fans have showed up. The Guardians’ teams of the last three years are very fun groups and also likeable. Now, the ownership needs to step up and thank those fans.

There is still time, but let’s hope it’s not another off-season where nothing is done.

Another Injury Causes Vogt, Willis To Use A Tito Model

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.

McKenzie Is First Shoe To Fall In Guardians’ Rotation

The first shoe dropped for the Cleveland Guardians’ starting rotation when they sent struggling right-hander Triston McKenzie to Columbus in order to active Gavin Williams from the injured list, where he has been all season.

McKenzie hasn’t seen the fourth inning in any of his last three starts and leads the American League in two dubious categories: Walks allowed, and home runs allowed. If you want to be an effective starting pitcher, you can’t do both of those things.

Williams has been out with an elbow issue suffered in training camp and will finally make his season debut this week. He threw 82 pitches in a rehab start last week, and hopefully he picks up where he left off in his rookie season.

The former first round draft pick pitched to a 3.29 ERA last season, striking out 81 hitters in 82 innings. If he can get to around that form this year, it will be a big boost to a rotation that has been mediocre even though the Guardians have a six-game lead in the AL Central Division.

We say this because the rotation seemingly keeps springing leaks. Logan Allen has been one of the guys who has been in the rotation all year long, but in June he made five starts totaling 24.1 innings (less than five per start for the non-math majors) and had a 5.55 ERA.

Unfortunately, Allen has had three of the worst starts by a Cleveland pitcher this year. He went 2.1 giving up seven runs vs. Detroit, an inning and 2/3rds allowing seven runs against the Rockies and three frames allowing six runs vs. Baltimore.

The confidence in him is low enough that Steven Vogt took him out of Sunday’s game against the Royals after allowing two runs in 4.1 innings because three right-handed hitters were coming up for Kansas City.

That leaves only two starters that Vogt can rely on right now. Tanner Bibee has pitched wonderfully, and it was fun to see him struggling a bit in his last start, but as soon as his teammates got him the lead, he locked it in and wound up with a solid outing.

And Ben Lively has been a godsend. He had a 5.38 ERA with the Reds a year ago, and we pooh-poohed the signing as a roster filler. But he’s given the Guardians at least five innings in all but two of his 13 starts and has a 3.03 ERA to boot. Who knows where the rotation would be without him.

Carlos Carrasco has been a little better his last two starts, but still has a 5.27 ERA and has allowed more hits than innings pitched. Right now, we don’t have any more confidence on days he pitches than we did a month ago.

The front office is obviously trying everything to get a starter and to prove it, they signed Matthew Boyd, a 33-year-old lefty to a free agent contract. Boyd is coming off Tommy John surgery and the hope is he will be able to pitch for the big club in August.

He started 15 games for Detroit last season, compiling a 5.45 ERA, but striking out 73 hitters in 71 innings with 25 walks. His career ERA is 4.94. Could he help down the stretch? Possibly, but we wouldn’t bank on it.

As we said, we know the front office is aware and is working to get some help for the rotation, if only to ease the burden on the bullpen, which continues to be amazing.

As for McKenzie, we figured his issue would have been staying healthy rather than being sent down for ineffectiveness.

Remembering When Starting Pitching Brought Confidence To Guardians’ Fans

As recently as 2018, fans of the Cleveland baseball team were spoiled by their starting pitching. The rotation consisted of Corey Kluber (who won 20 games that year), Carlos Carrasco, Mike Clevinger, Trevor Bauer, and a rookie fifth starter named Shane Bieber.

At the time, we thought going into every game, the Indians had a legitimate chance to win because they had the edge between the two starting pitchers.

Even into the pandemic season of 2020, Terry Francona’s starters were at the top of the sport. Bieber emerged as a Cy Young winner that season, and he was backed up by Carrasco, Clevinger (before he was traded), Aaron Civale, and rookie Triston McKenzie.

Baseball people started to refer to the “Cleveland Pitching Factory”, with the organization seemingly able to crank out starter after starter. Heck, it happened last season when McKenzie went down in spring training, Zach Plesac proved ineffective, and Cal Quantrill was hurt, the Guardians simply went to the farm and called up Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, and Gavin Williams.

Apparently, this season the factory has been shut down for repairs or something, because the organization is scrambling to put an effective starting pitcher on the mound each and every night.

It was certainly curious when the organization released Quantrill after the season rather than pay him through arbitration, where he figured to make about $6 million, not a lot of money for a guy who can give you innings.

The right-hander has pitched to a 3.58 ERA in Colorado this season logging a staff high 73 innings. By the way, those innings would also lead the Guardians’ staff.

The only pitcher signed over the winter was Reds’ castoff Ben Lively, who has been a savior for this year’s staff.

Bieber was lost to elbow surgery after two starts, leaving a huge void in the rotation, which coming into the season consisted of him, the three rookies, and McKenzie, who missed most of last year with an elbow issue.

Of the trio of first year arms called up last year and thought to provide the backbone of the rotation going forward, only Bibee has been close to his ’23 form, with a 3.73 ERA in 70 innings with 76 strikeouts and 19 walks.

Williams has missed all year with an elbow issue, but hopefully can return soon. Allen has made his 13 starts but has a 5.57 ERA.

McKenzie has not pitched like the guy who put up a 2.96 ERA in 2022. He has allowed a league leading 14 dingers (tied with his teammate Logan Allen) and also leads the league in walks with 36 in 62.2 innings of work.

Right now, the rotation has more holes than an old guy’s socks. And there were no solutions at hand.

Xzavion Curry has made three spot starts, one very good, the other two being “meh”. The ERA of the pitching staff at Columbus is 5.46 and the best starter down there is journeyman Connor Gillispie, who has a 5.02 ERA, although he has 60 strikeouts in 57.1 innings. He’s 26 years old.

The bullpen has taken on a heavy burden for the big club to get off to this 42-22 start. How long can they sustain the success pitching all of these innings? Could they do it all year? Sure, but based on the past, eventually it is going to catch up with them unless the starters start carrying their weight.

As we said, Lively has been a savior and Bibee has been solid. Carlos Carrasco has been a nice story in his return to the franchise, but he can’t be trusted to get through a lineup a third time.

McKenzie needs to throw strikes and he and Allen need to keep the ball in the yard.

More likely is the front office is going to have to overpay to bring in an arm. With the Cleveland bullpen, they may be able to get a guy who can soak up innings and keep the team in the game.

The rest of the team is doing too well for the rotation to be a burden.

Do Guardians Really Need A Shortstop? Not So Fast

As the calendar turns to June, the Major League Baseball trading deadline is now less than two months away. And with the Cleveland Guardians off to a tremendous start, speculation has started as to what the front office will be targeting at the July 30th deadline.

It doesn’t take in depth analysis to realize the Guardians need starting rotation help, although you could say that with most contending teams.

Obviously, losing Shane Bieber after two starts was a huge blow, and not having Gavin Williams to date, has really wiped out 40% of the rotation. Williams is making progress, making a rehab start last week, and perhaps he can be back before July 1st.

Still, although Tanner Bibee has been very good (4-1, 3.74 ERA) he is averaging less than 6 innings per start. The same is true of the other rotation pieces, Triston McKenzie and Ben Lively.

This is put a heavy toll on the bullpen, which has been the strength of the team. The list of the top ten in the American League in appearances features four pitchers wearing Cleveland uniforms: Emmanuel Clase is tied for the league lead with 30. Hunter Gaddis and Nick Sandlin are tied for fourth at 29, and Scott Barlow is tied for 7th at 28.

Add in Tim Herrin with 27 games and rookie Cade Smith with 25. So far, no one has lost effectiveness, but you would hate to get into August and have the relief corps suffer a downturn.

The other position that comes up is shortstop. However, if you look at WAR, the Guardians’ weakest positions have been RF and catcher. The rightfield issue may sort itself out as we wouldn’t be surprised if David Fry starts getting more playing time there now that Stephan Kwan has returned.

We have written about Fry before, and when you are hitting .355 with an OPS of 1128, your manager is going to figure out how to get you in the lineup.

Brayan Rocchio doesn’t have a lot of pop, and we are sure people look at his .203 batting average and say he has to be replaced. But looking inside the numbers, you see that Rocchio is tied for second on the team in walks with 23, behind only Fry with 24.

So is on base percentage is .308, which is the American League average. And Rocchio has been more than adequate defensively, which is important because first and foremost, shortstop is a defensive position.

Let’s not overlook the Guardians’ excellent start and the way the hitting has produced runs certainly buys Rocchio more time.

And we have always said this. If Cleveland was having problems producing offense, then Rocchio would certainly be under more scrutiny. But they are winning and scoring.

We have also always felt that good lineups need seven solid bats in the batting order to be productive. The league average OPS is 699 right now, and the Guards have five hitters over that figure, but over the last month, Tyler Freeman is close at 694.

We are willing to give Rocchio more time, especially because he has an acceptable strikeout/walk ratio, meaning he is not getting dominated by opposing pitchers.

If you are asking, we would add pitching first and foremost, because we agree with former skipper Terry Francona, when you think you have enough pitching, you go out and get some more.

We would rank the trade targets this way: 1). Starter 2). Reliever 3). Starter…….4). shortstop.

Six weeks from now, we may sing a different tune.

An Early Tough Gut Punch For Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians are off to a very good start this season, but it didn’t make them exempt from getting bad news. Saturday, it was announced that Shane Bieber would have to undergo elbow surgery and miss the rest of the season.

It’s a blow for sure as the right-hander looked like he did in his Cy Young Award season in his first two starts, throwing 12 shutout innings with 20 strikeouts and just one walk.

Immediately, some fans raised the white flag on the season, but the players and Steven Vogt don’t and won’t feel that way. Since Bieber is a starting pitcher, they really only have to replace him once every fifth day.

Not to say we told you so, but the availability of Bieber as well as Triston McKenzie were two reasons we didn’t understand the organization’s decision not to add any pitching over the winter. McKenzie missed most of the 2023 season with an elbow issue, and hopefully he will make 30 starts, but it will be a pleasant surprise.

So, where does the organization go from here. First, many people have said the Guardians need to make a trade, but it’s so early in the season, it would seem to be difficult to find a trade partner.

Gavin Williams is down in Arizona right now building up his arm due to a tweak in his elbow (there’s that joint again), and if all goes well, he could be back by the end of April, and could take Bieber’s spot in the rotation.

Williams, if he can remain healthy, has the look of a stud starting pitcher and did well last season with a 3-5 record and 3.29 ERA and almost a strikeout per inning.

Until Williams is back, it could be Xzavion Curry or Ben Lively, the one free agent pitcher the Guardians did sign in the off-season, getting the ball.

Both pitchers are on rehab assignments after catching the flu/virus bug that traveled around the clubhouse in Arizona but were being stretched out as starters before they became ill.

Curry made nine starts a year ago and went 2.2 innings in his first outing at Columbus, while Lively, a 32-year-old veteran, made 12 starts last season for Cincinnati after spending the 2020-22 seasons in Korea as a starter.

Lively was 4-7 with a 5.38 ERA with the Reds in ’23, striking out 79 and walking 25 in 88.2 innings. He did allow 20 dingers with the Reds, and before you blame the bandbox stadium in the Queen City, the homers were divided equally home and road.

He went three in his first rehab outing.

With Sunday’s rainout and Thursday’s off day, the Guardians can get to next Tuesday’s game at Fenway Park before needing a fifth starter, so either Curry or Lively should be ready to give Steven Vogt at least five innings by then.

The way Bieber looked in his first two starts was so encouraging though. Through nine games, only three starters have completed six innings and Bieber’s starts were two of those.

Vogt is going to need Tanner Bibee and Carlos Carrasco to give him more innings in order to keep the bullpen, which has been excellent so far, fresh.

That duo hasn’t pitched poorly, but through their four combined starts, only Bibee has seen the sixth inning and that was just for one out.

The Guardians will continue to proceed with their “win today’s game” attitude, which is how it is supposed to be.

Losing Bieber for the rest of the year is a blow, but it happened early enough for the organization to adjust.