Williams And Ramirez Propel The Guardians To The ALCS

We knew it was going to be tough, especially with Chicago going with Sean Burke, who has been very tough in his career against the Cleveland Guardians.

They needed a great pitching performance, and they got one from Gavin Williams, who pitched 5.2 one hit innings, striking out 12 White Sox hitters. It was utter dominance and filth from the American League leader in strikeouts.

We have believed all year that even though Parker Messick had a tremendous season, Williams is the Guardians’ ace and he showed it last night.

It was a disappointing regular season for the player who is perpetually in the mix for league MVP, Jose Ramirez, who broke his hamate box in June, and played in pain after he got back in the lineup.

But in games three and four, Ramirez started hitting. He put Cleveland on top in the penultimate game with a home run, and in the deciding game, he hit a two-run dinger in the fourth, off a pitch which was almost in the dirt and pulled it into the seats for the only runs Steven Vogt’s squad needed.

After Williams ran out of gas, the bullpen was excellent. Erik Sabrowski struck out Munetaka Murakami with the bases loaded and two out in the sixth.

We were a bit surprised the Vogt didn’t stay with Sabrowski to start the 7th, but we guess he wanted to avoid right-handed bats Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham, so he went with Hunter Gaddis, who struggled late in the year and earlier in the series.

Gaddis got four outs, all via the strikeout and got an extra out so Cade Smith didn’t have to go two full innings.

Then Cade Smith came on and got a huge out with two outs in the 8th, getting Miguel Vargas, the White Sox’ best hitter on a foul pop. Then he whiffed the side in the ninth to send the Guardians on to Tampa to take on the Rays in the League Championship Series for the second time in three seasons, and the 7th time in club history.

In total, Guardians’ pitchers struck out 21 Chicago hitters. You know there are only 27 outs in a game.

So, Cleveland is now four outs away from the World Series. They lost 5 of 6 against Tampa Bay in the regular season, scoring a grand total of 8 runs. The Rays only scored 20.

The Rays put the ball in play (unlike Chicago), they run, leading the league in stolen bases. The scores of the games during the regular season? 3-2, 1-0, 3-0, 1-0, with the outlier being an 11-3 Rays triumph. All of those game occurred before the trade deadline.

The Guardians will need to execute on offense, move runners, and maybe utilize the running game a bit more. And they will need Foster Griffin and Tanner Bibee, although the former did a great job in Game 3. It would not be a shock to see that pair start the first two games of the series.

The season continues for the Guardians. Baseball in mid-October. The only thing better is playing in late October.

How Can A 9-5 Game Be A Nail Biter? It’s Guards’ Ball!

After the Beatles broke up in 1970, one of the first singles produced by drummer Ringo Starr was a song called “It Don’t Come Easy” (written by George Harrison, by the way). That song perfectly describes Game 4 of the AL Division Series in Chicago last night.

The Guardians staved off elimination again with a seesaw 9-5 verdict to force a fifth and deciding game in Cleveland on Saturday night.

When pitchers show fatigue, it usually affects command and perhaps that’s why starter Parker Messick walked four hitters in his 2.1 innings, and that he couldn’t get through four or five innings set in motion in essence a bullpen game, and some questionable decisions by Steven Vogt.

Trailing 2-0, the Guardians bounced back on homers by Patrick Bailey and Jose Ramirez to take a 3-2 lead. So, Vogt brought in Tanner Bibee for the first relief appearance of his career. We understand the why, the skipper wanted length, but Bibee hasn’t had a good year, and didn’t pitch well in September.

He walked two of the three hitters he faced, including the leadoff man, and Vogt had to go to Tim Herrin, who gave up a hit to load the bases, and then hit a batter and gave up a sacrifice fly, and poof, the lead had disappeared and Cleveland trailed 4-3.

Eventually, Erik Sabrowski was summoned after another base on balls and got the third out.

Then, the Cleveland bats went to work. It started with Angel Martinez, who is 0 for 15 in the series getting hit by a pitch and then stealing second. Five hits and two walks later, the Guardians put six runs on the board to take a 9-4 lead. The big blows were the game tying double by Travis Bazzana, a single by Bailey to put them ahead, and a two run single by Jo Adell.

Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis, who has been shaky as of late, actually restored order.

We also didn’t like trying to use Cade Smith for two innings. These guys aren’t Strat-O-Matic cards, fatigue is a factor. At the time, we would have left Gaddis in to get one or two more outs. Which brings up another question.

If you don’t think Matt Festa can get three outs without giving up four runs, then why is he on the post-season roster?

The point is we would have limited Smith to one inning. And Vogt had to use Gavin Williams to close it out.

So, now it’s a winner take all game Saturday night. No doubt the Guardians will see Sean Burke, who pitched 5.1 innings of one hit ball in Game 2 and has a 2.56 ERA in his career against Cleveland with 46 Ks in 36.2 innings.

That’s a tough task.

Gavin Williams will start for the Guardians, but likely with a shorter rope since he pitched yesterday. But it would not be a surprise if everyone pitches, but that’s a deciding game for you.

After losing the first two at home, the Guardians fought back, and need to get that first win in front of the home folks.

Thoughts On Game 2, Backs Against The Wall For The Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians haven’t done much easy all season long, so why should the playoffs be any different. Steven Vogt’s team has there back firmly against the wall after dropping Game 2 of the Division Series at Progressive Field by a score of 4-3.

They now have to win the rest of the games of the series, or they will watch the upstart White Sox celebrate in front of them, and then cleaning out their lockers.

The Guardians got off to a quick start with a hit by Steven Kwan, a walk to Jose Ramirez, and Chase DeLauter moved them over on a groundball. After they scored two runs on an error, they have runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. A chance to add on without getting a hit.

Instead, Angel Martinez and Travis Bazzana whiffed. Martinez HAS to put the ball in play there. If you aren’t going to hit the long ball, you have to take advantage and execute when opportunities are available. Time and time again this season, the Guardians have failed to move runners with outs.

In the last week of the season, Nathaniel Lowe had three sacrifice flies and was heralded for having a professional at bat. It’s called a “sacrifice” fly for a reason. The hitter is deliberately giving himself up to get the run home.

Another big play was Erik Sabrowski’s wild pitch in the sixth which moved two Chicago runners into scoring position, and they scored on Braden Montgomery’s double to right. Sabrowski threw a bad pitch, but it was a fastball, and Patrick Bailey didn’t/couldn’t block it.

We know Bailey has won multiple Gold Gloves, but frankly, we don’t see why? Is it because of his pitch framing? We see a lot of balls get past him. Perhaps we are spoiled by catchers like Sandy Alomar Jr., Yan Gomes, and Roberto Perez, but we don’t see that kind of defensive prowess.

Lastly, only three runs scored in the two games for Cleveland. The Guardians had the worst offense of any team qualifying for the post-season, and the second worst, Boston, was eliminated in the wild card round. Conversely, four of the top five teams in scoring runs made the playoffs, and although the Cubs (1st) were knocked out, the Brewers, White Sox, and Dodgers are still alive.

It is difficult to go far without being able to produce runs no matter how good your pitching and defense is.

As for the Guardians, it’s not impossible to win three straight in the Division Series after losing the first two, but to go on the road makes it more difficult. Cleveland did have a better record on the road (44-37) than they did at Progressive Field (41-40) this season.

Perhaps there is an omen there.

Bullpens Are Key In The Playoffs. Guardians Are No Exception.

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.

Guardians Need Bullpen To Get Back To Form Quickly.

Early in the season, Guardians’ starter Joey Cantillo was being brought along slowly. He made 91 pitches in his first start of the season on March 28th in Seattle and then didn’t hit the 90 mark again until May 11th.

There were games when he was doing quite well too. We are thinking particularly of a start against the Royals on May 6th when he allowed just one run in five innings and was removed despite throwing only 70 pitches. Cantillo has not thrown more than 98 pitches in a gane this season.

Slade Cecconi, just put on the injured list, but who has been in the rotation all year, has hit the century mark for a pitch count just once. Parker Messick has done it four times, once because Steven Vogt let him start the ninth inning (and rightly so) because he had a no-hitter. He threw 112 that night.

Tanner Bibee, now in his fourth year in the big leagues has hit 100 pitches, which by the way in an arbitrary mark set by organizations to supposedly limit injuries, only three times this year, and we pulled once while throwing a shutout for eight innings at just 83 tosses.

Only Gavin Williams, who is a large man at 6’6″ and 250 pounds has been given some rope by Vogt and pitching coach Carl Willis, going over the 100 mark six times.

This is probably one reason the Guardians have used only seven starting pitches this season, and went to the All-Star break using just five.

However, for every action there is a reaction. Cleveland has put a lot of burden on the bullpen to win games and right now, the relief corps is leaking a bit of oil.

For example, Hunter Gaddis, who has pitched in over 70 games each of the last two seasons and has been in 45 this year, has allowed six runs in eight innings over the last month.

Lefty Erik Sabrowski was dominant early on, pitching in 25 games by the end of May allowing just four runs in 21 innings (1.71 ERA). He then went on the IL with some elbow tenderness, and since he’s returned has allowed 9 runs in 10.2 innings, and prior to his stint on the IL had fanned 38 with 13 walks.

After coming back, it’s 14 Ks and 9 walks.

The ‘pen’s other southpaw, Tim Herrin has had problem throwing strikes in each of the last two years, Since his tremendous 2024 campaign, where he had a 1.92 ERA with 68 strikeouts and just 25 walks in 65 innings, Herrin has 76 Ks and has issued 53 free passes in 80.1 frames.

And even Cade Smith has shown a bit of wear. Although he hasn’t allowed an earned run in seven appearances since being in the Midsummer Classic, he has walked seven in those outings. Before that, he had walked just 11 hitters.

Only Colin Holderman (45 appearances, 2,22 ERA) has been reliable until last night’s debacle and if the Guardians want to make another playoff run, they need a solid relief group. The struggles made the front office go out and get Craig Yoho from Milwaukee, and he did a good job in two of his three appearances.

Perhaps they can get a boost down the stretch from Franco Aleman or Daniel Espino. The Guardians also just signed veteran lefty Ryan Borucki, who has held left-handed hitters to a 530 OPS in his career.

Maybe Vogt will give the starters a little longer leash over the next two months, but in reality, the Guardians are going to need the bullpen to start putting up some zeroes at the end of games if they want another playoff appearance.

Bullpen Hiccups Causing Guardians Concern

With the All-Star break starting tomorrow, hopefully the bullpen of the Cleveland Guardians can get plenty of rest because they seem to be running on fumes as of late and that gives Steven Vogt less options he can depend on.

First, two of our rules for relievers are don’t walk people and don’t give up home runs. In other words, make hitters earn their way on base, and in addition, make them score runs by bunching hits together, particularly tough in today’s game.

Right now, Vogt has three relievers who challenge the first of those rules–

Shawn Armstrong: 28.2 IP, 16 BB
Erik Sabrowski: 27.1 IP, 20 BB
Tim Herrin: 32.1 IP, 19 BB

The lowest point of the relief corps’ season came Wednesday night in Minnesota, when Armstrong entered the game with a 5-3 lead and walked two batters. He was relieved by Sabrowski, who walked the three batters he faced before Hunter Gaddis rescued him.

Minnesota tied the game without swinging the bat. The quintet of free passes allowed them to tie the game.

Right now, Vogt probably trusts three pitches when the Guardians have the lead. Obviously, one is All-Star Cade Smith, who leads the AL is saves with 28 and has fanned 61 hitters in 43.1 innings. He’s also allowed just three long balls, two of them coming in one game.

Hunter Gaddis started the year on the injured list and then struggled a bit when he joined the team, but has been solid for the most part. Since May 1st, he has a 1.85 ERA with 21 Ks in 24.1 frames, allowing just one HR in that span.

The third pitcher is the surprise, Colin Holderman, signed as a free agent over the winter. We always like Holderman when he was in Pittsburgh, where he had two solid years in 2023 and 2024 and struck out over a hitter per inning.

But last season, he had a 7.01 ERA with the Pirates and his walk numbers went up and the strikeouts went down.

He started with year with the big-league club but was sent back to AAA after allowing two runs in his first two games. Since returning in late April, he’s posted a 1.43 ERA with 36 punchouts in 32.1 innings and hasn’t allowed a round tripper.

Herrin is currently on the IL after taking a line drive off the elbow and Sabrowski had elbow problems earlier and they are the only lefties at Vogt’s disposal. And both have a tendency to put people on base. The latter was very good early on, but since his elbow started giving him a problem, it’s been dicey bringing him into games.

Matt Festa has a rubber arm and Vogt likes him, but the problem is he doesn’t have dominant stuff, allowing six dingers in 38 innings. As noted, Armstrong has problems locating the strike zone.

Maybe the answer is Franco Aleman, a rookie, but the manager doesn’t trust him yet. He’s pitched in four games since his recall but hasn’t been put into any high leverage situations until yesterday when he pitched the 8th in a 4-1 Guardians’ win.

Vogt needs more options he can trust as the season goes on or he risks exhausting his three best options and perhaps watching them falter in late August and September. So, either a pitcher like Armstrong has to rediscover throwing strikes or the lefties start pitching better or the front office is going to have to find more options.

And if the Guardians get to the post-season, no doubt a good relief corps is a must.

Is Depth Becoming An Issue For Guardians?

The Major League Baseball season ebbs and flows as the marathon progresses. The Cleveland Guardians were riding high after a trip to Detroit and Philadelphia where they won six or seven. They had a 4.5 game lead in the AL Central Division.

Since then, Steven Vogt’s club has dropped 10 of 15 and have fallen out of first place for the first time since the end of April. It’s still way early, but the larger the advantage, the better. Injuries have hurt the team and since the Guards depend so much on rookies, players in their premier season in the big leagues tend to be inconsistent.

Of course, one of the things we wanted the front office to do in the off-season was to build some depth, but they didn’t and some weaknesses are starting to show.

One area we would have liked to see an addition is in the starting rotation. The Guardians have only used five starters all season, the only team in the big to do so. But recently, Joey Cantillo has not pitched well. In his last three starts, he went two innings (throwing 69 pitches), four innings, and five frames, and in the latter, he only went that far was because Vogt was saving his bullpen.

In those 11 innings, he’s allowed 15 earned runs, walking nine hitters in that span. Not only does it make it very difficult to win games that way, it also puts a lot of stress on the bullpen.

However, the only alternative the Guardians have is lefty Logan Allen who had a 4.25 ERA last season but struggled to throw strikes at times. And Cantillo does not have any options remaining, so the best the organization can do is move him to the bullpen temporarily.

Speaking of the bullpen, the elbow injury to Erik Sabrowski is also an issue. Sabrowski has been excellent, striking out 39 hitters in 21 innings and pitching to a 1.71 ERA. His absence puts Tim Herrin in that role, and he has problems throwing strikes (15 walks in 24 innings).

Will Dion is the other southpaw in the bullpen, and he is used more often than not by the skipper in a mop up role.

Offensively, as we said rookies can tend to be streaky, particularly early in their careers. Chase DeLauter is hitting just .208 over the last 28 days and has just two extra base hits, with only two walks in the last two weeks. DeLauter doesn’t have a lot of games where he doesn’t contribute to the offense though and we expect him to get hot again soon.

Travis Bazzana is also in a funk, going 9 for 49 in the last two weeks and drawing just three walks. He has seven extra base hits during that time,so again, we think he will start hitting again soon.

Thank goodness for Kyle Manzardo and Brayan Rocchio who have got hot, and for all of the talk of Jose Ramirez struggling, he has an 874 OPS over the last month and 878 OPS over the last two weeks.

What no one had in the cards was Steven Kwan’s struggles. It has to be difficult for someone who has been a centerpiece of the Cleveland offense for several years to be struggling. He has walked more than he has fanned, but his pop has disappeared, He slugged .374 last season is a somewhat down year, but this season that figure is down to .262.

We realize he has been struggling for close to a calendar year, but we don’t think sending him down would work. But perhaps he shouldn’t be a given to be written in the lineup everyday.

Hopefully, these issues will work themselves out quickly. A good place to start is with division rival Detroit coming to town tomorrow night.

Don’t Discount The Guardians’ Pitching Either

Our concerns about the pitching staff of the Cleveland Guardians were based on a lack of depth. And it could be a problem down the road.

Right now, the Guardians are the only Major League team to have used just five starters, so having pitchers at the AAA level to pick up the slack hasn’t been needed.

The front office should be looking to improve in that area though. Cleveland just called up Logan Allen, who would seem to be the primary depth piece, from Columbus, but Allen hasn’t pitched well at AAA, he sported a 5.45 ERA when he was sent to Cleveland in a weird move on Sunday, and after throwing four innings last night, he will likely be sent back today.

Early in the season, it seemed like the “pitching factory” had a bit of a malfunction. Tanner Bibee had a few bad starts, including last night, and Slade Cecconi was getting hit hard, but as usual, Carl Willis and his staff righted the ship and since May 11th, the Guards have allowed more than four runs in a game just once.

Cecconi is the only starter with an ERA over 5 (5.15), but in his last three starts, he’s allowed just five runs in 16.1 innings and in his last five starts, he has a 4.00 ERA.

Steven Vogt’s team apparently refuses to score with Bibee is on the hill and that’s why he is 0-6 on the season, but with a respectable 3.75 ERA.

Gavin Williams and Parker Messick have emerged as aces. Williams, after his phenomenal performance Friday night vs. the Phillies, is 7-3 with a 3.25 ERA and leads the AL in innings with 69.1 and is second in strikeouts with 84. Better yet, in his last eight starts, he was walked two or fewer hitters. That’s been the issue with him, throwing strikes, and he seems to have taken care of that.

Messick, still a rookie, came close to a no-hitter early in the season against the Orioles, and is 6-1 and his 2.24 ERA ranks 4th in the American League. He has fanned 70 hitters, good for 6th in the AL.

And the fifth member of the rotation, Joey Cantillo ranks 10th in punching hitters out with 51 Ks in 56 innings.

Don’t forget the bullpen, which took a little while to sort out. Cade Smith has a couple of shaky outings to begin the season but has been dominant recently and leads the league in saves with 18 and has whiffed 37 in 25.1 innings.

Hunter Gaddis began the year on the IL, but over the last couple of weeks, he’s looked like the pitcher fans are accustomed to seeing. Eric Sabrowski has allowed just seven hits in 21 innings, striking out an incredible 39 batters. Unfortunately, he had to go on the IL with elbow inflammation. Colin Holderman, a free agent signee in the off-season, is being used more and succeeding in high-leverage situations.

As for the rotation depth, keep your eye on Rorik Maltrud in Columbus. Maltrud is a 26-year-old right-hander and has a 2.82 ERA in eight starts with the Clippers. He’s never been an innings eater though, his high in innings in any season has been 104.

We aren’t saying he’s the next guy, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see him making a couple of spot starts with the big club.

As the summer starts, it looks like the Cleveland Guardians’ pitching is in a good spot. We still worry about the depth in the rotation, but the strength of the organization is still just that.

Watching The Guardians’ Bullpen

A potential problem for the Cleveland Guardians raised its ugly head last week when the bullpen had a couple of meltdowns, blowing a three-run lead against St. Louis, and then losing a four-run lead against the Orioles on Friday night.

The last two seasons, the relief corps was perhaps the strength of the team, and even with the loss of Emmanuel Clase, it was great down the stretch a year ago, led by Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Erik Sabrowski.

But the bullpen is always the most volatile part of any baseball team, and even if you think you have it covered, it can always go the other way. That’s just baseball.

In the off-season, the Cleveland front office tried to add to the group, signing Shawn Armstrong, who had a solid year with Texas last season, finishing with a 2.31 ERA and fanning 74 hitters in 74 innings.

They also added Connor Brogdon (5.55 ERA for the Angels), Colin Holderman (7.01 ERA for Pittsburgh), and Codi Heuer, last effective in the majors with the Cubs in 2021. Obviously, they saw something they could work with that trio, and to be fair, they had poor seasons a year ago.

We always say the worst things a relief pitcher can do is walk people and give up home runs. And that’s exactly been the problem lately for the Cleveland firemen.

In the loss to the Cardinals, Sabrowski, who has been great all year, allowed a two-run homer to cut a three-run lead to just one. Then, in the ninth, an error opened the order, but a wild pitch by Smith moved the runner to second and he scored on a hit.

In the Baltimore game, Armstrong came in with a four-run lead and walked two hitters and hit another. After a sacrifice fly and a double to make it 4-3, Brogdon gave up a long ball and turned the game into a loss.

Look, every team has some games when they blow late leads, and maybe Steven Vogt’s squad got them out of the way in April. However, there are other warning signs.

Two relievers, Matt Festa and Armstrong have already allowed two home runs in less than 10 innings pitched for each pitcher, and Brogdon has given up three gopher balls. Overall, not counting Koby Allard, the bullpen has allowed 12 dingers in the team’s 24 games played. That’s way too many.

In terms of walks, Armstrong is the chief culprit to date with seven in 9.2 innings, but as effective as Sabrowski has generally been, he’s issued five free passes in 10.2 frames. In total, the ‘pen has walked 27 hitters this season.

Vogt already seems hesitant to use Tim Herrin in high leverage situations because of his inability to throw strikes. After a great ’24 season in which he fanned 68 and walked just 25 in 65.2 innings, last year, he walked 30 with 45 Ks in 42.2 innings and this year has walked four in five innings of work.

The skipper used Rule 5 pick Peyton Pallette on Sunday for two innings, and he did a good job. Maybe he gets bumped up in the food chain going forward.

Fortunately, there is some depth at AAA. Heuer has thrown seven scoreless innings in Columbus, and Holderman is there as well, albeit with a 10.80 ERA.

Franco Aleman has eight punchouts (three walks though) in 5.2 innings and Andrew Walters, who pitched with the Guardians in ’24 and briefly in ’25 before a lat injury should be close to being ready. And maybe the big club with take a look at Will Dion, a 26-year-old southpaw, who has thrown 11 innings in seven relief appearances, with 13 Ks and just four walks.

Hopefully, last week is a blip on the radar, but a contending team can’t let bullpen issues fester too long. Something to watch for Vogt and how the bullpen is used.

With A Tough Stretch Coming Up, Guardians Need These Players To Keep It Going.

There are just 45 games remaining in the Major League Baseball season for the Cleveland Guardians, and the schedule is going to ramp up one more time starting a week from Friday.

Starting with three on the road against Texas, Steven Vogt’s crew will have 20 games in a row against solid opponents. After coming home from the Lone Star state, the Guardians have a six game homestand against Tampa (57-62) and Seattle (66-53 and currently in a playoff spot).

That is followed by a trip to Boston (65-54 and a playoff team) and four in Tampa, before coming home for four more with the Royals (58-60).

Continued success against those teams will bode well for the Guardians heading into the homestretch.

But the team is going to need some contributions from players who either haven’t had an opportunity or haven’t performed up to standards to date. We would like to see these guys step up.

First and foremost, they need Tanner Bibee to start pitching like he did in his first two seasons with Cleveland. His ERA is those two seasons were 2.98 and 3.47. This year, he is a full run worse at 4.60. His strikeouts are down, and his walks are up. He’s already tied his career high of 22 home runs allowed.

Gavin Williams, Slade Cecconi, and even Logan Allen have been pretty consistent for Vogt, but right now, Bibee seems to have that one inning he can’t reel in. If he can give the Guardians four solid starters down the stretch, it would be huge for the rotation and for the bullpen, as he would provide someone else who can get deeper into games.

Erik Sabrowski and Nic Enright are two guys who must continue to pitch well out of the bullpen. Sabrowski got a late start to the season, but since being activated has a 1.15 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 15.2 innings, allowing just eight hits. With Tim Herrin struggling in 2025, Sabrowski has become the left-hander Vogt leans on late in games.

The only other lefty, Kolby Allard is more of a long man, an innings eater. He’s been very effective (2.63 ERA in 48 innings), but we would guess the skipper doesn’t want him in a high leverage situation against the opponents’ best left-handed hitter.

Enright, a righty, has a 1.96 ERA over 23 innings, and is gaining the manager’s trust in late innings.

With Hunter Gaddis not pitching at the level he did a year ago, and Emmanuel Clase under suspension, these two guys have to continue to do well out of the Cleveland bullpen.

We saved the most difficult thing for last, another bat to step up. C.J. Kayfus has made an impact in his brief time here but needs to keep it going. He already has five RBI, one less than Johnathan Rodriguez (in 42 less plate appearances) and the same number as Austin Hedges.

He also has four extra base hits, the same number as Will Wilson and Jhonkensy Noel had with the team.

But they could use someone else to contribute regularly. Vogt has been platooning Daniel Schneemann and Angel Martinez in CF and having success, and Brayan Rocchio is hitting .293 (737 OPS) over the last 28 days.

Having those trends continue could pay big dividends in this upcoming stretch.