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.

Guardians Rotation Becoming A Concern

We have discussed the bullpen issues with the Cleveland Guardians recently, and the club did make a move the other day, calling up Franco Aleman, who had allowed just three hits and four walks at AAA Columbus while striking out 18 in 12 innings.

He replaces Connor Brogdon, who gave up five homers in 15.1 innings with the Guardians after allowing 11 in 47 IP with the Angels a year ago, posting a 5.55 ERA with the Halos. If you have visited this site before, you know we believe there are two things a reliever can’t do: Give up homers and walk people.

There is another concern about the Guards’ pitching that isn’t getting a lot of attention, mostly because the team is still winning. But the starting pitching has to start eating up some innings.

Currently, Steven Vogt gets that from one starter, his ace Gavin Williams. In Williams’ eight starts, he has pitched seven innings three times and six frames twice. That latter figure should be the requirement for a starter, that way, the bullpen, which we have pointed out isn’t very good, only have to cover nine outs.

Rookie Parker Messick threw eight innings, the most by any starter this year, in his near no hitter against Baltimore, and prior to that did go six in two of his starts. But since the Orioles’ game, in which he made 112 pitches (and we would have let him go that long too, not a second guess), the longest he’s went in a game is 5.2 innings and frankly, has looked like he ran out of gas in the sixth of his last three starts.

Opening Day starter Tanner Bibee’s longest outing was throwing six innings three times, and in half of his starts, he has gone less than five innings.

Besides Slade Cecconi’s ineffectiveness so far, he has a 6.15 ERA, he’s another starter who hasn’t supplied a lot of length. He’s completed six innings just once, while getting knocked out before the fifth twice.

Then we have the curious case of Joey Cantillo, who the organization has been very conservative with. It makes us wonder if he’s having a bit of an arm problem. The southpaw has one start where he went six innings, the last of three starts where he pitched into the sixth.

Since that start, he’s been on a very short leash.

In his last two starts, he has been pulled despite throwing 69 and 70 pitches in a game, and in the latter, he had allowed just one run in five innings against the Royals. He has great stuff, but one reason he generally doesn’t go deep into games is because he has some control issues. He’s walked at least two in all but one start in 2026.

It will be interesting to see how he is handled in his next outing.

Again, the lack of length from the starter’s taxes an already ineffective bullpen. Really, Vogt has only two reliable arms out there in Erik Sabrowski and Cade Smith. Hopefully, Aleman can provide a third, and Colin Holderman looks good since coming back from AAA.

Does anyone really want to see Matt Festa and/or Tim Herrin in a close game in the 6th or 7th innings?

The rotation has to get more outs or the bullpen will be on fumes as the season goes on. And it’s not like there is depth in the high minors.

Guards Have Some Holes, But Generally Things Are Trending Well

Former Cleveland baseball broadcaster, the late Mike Hegan, used to say a baseball team wants to win three out of five games. If you do that, he said, you wind up with 96 wins and that gets you in the playoffs.

With 1/6th of the 2026 Major League Baseball season played, the Guardians aren’t too far off that pace, sitting at 15-12 and on pace to win 90 games this season. Considering they’ve played the defending champion Dodgers, a team that played in the ALCS a year ago in Seattle and are currently playing the American League champion Blue Jays, that’s not bad.

Last season, Steven Vogt’s crew had the worst offense in the AL and thus far, they have greatly improved, moving up to 10th. There is still a way to go, but it is a good sign that the hitting has improved.

Ranking last in the league in getting on base in 2025, they are 9th in the AL this year. And they are doing it with two of the best hitters on the team last season, Steven Kwan and Kyle Manzardo, getting off to terrible starts.

Rookie Chase DeLauter started out like a house afire, but even though he hasn’t homered since April 3rd, he puts up professional at bats each night. For a rookie to walk more than he has struck out (13 to 11) is quite impressive, and he is tied for the club lead in extra base hits with Jose Ramirez too.

We liked the potential of Angel Martinez because he was lethal against lefties last year and he is still a young player at 24 years old. This year, he’s hammering righties. Although we would like to see him improve his strikeout to walk ratio, he may have played himself into a guy who should be in the lineup more often than not.

And we wonder if Brayan Rocchio has Wally Pipp’d Gabriel Arias. Rocchio is second on the team in RBIs (although we don’t expect that to continue), but is getting on base at a .372 clip.

With DeLauter, Martinez, and Rocchio performing as they are, the lineup suddenly has a little more depth.

Pitching wise, the Guards rank 7th in the AL in ERA, not great, but not terrible. Gavin Williams continues to show signs of being the ace of the staff and is tied for the league lead in strikeouts but is third in walks. If he can get that aspect under control, Cleveland will have one of the best starters in the league.

Rookie Parker Messick has been a revelation too, sitting at 3-0 with a 1.76 ERA. But the other three starters have struggled in certain areas. Tanner Bibee is showing signs of getting back to his usual results, but still seems to have that one bad inning.

Joey Cantillo has great stuff, but control is an issue for him, with 12 walks in 25.1 innings, so it is tough for him to pitch deep into games. And Slade Cecconi has been a big disappointment thus far, with really only one good start on the year.

The bullpen has to perform better if the Guards are to be a contending team all year long. Right now, Cade Smith hasn’t been his dominant self. Free agent signee Shawn Armstrong has had difficulties finding the strike zone. Connor Brogdon seems prone to the long ball.

Overall, the relievers aren’t throwing strikes and are giving up too many homers. Hunter Gaddis has come off the IL and has given Vogt some stability, which is a good sign.

All in all, a good start for the Guardians and some good signs from a maturing team. Can these trends continue?

Guardians Looking Pretty Set To Start The Season

It is hard to believe the Cleveland Guardians will open the 2026 baseball season a week from Thursday in Seattle. And there doesn’t seem to be much drama about who will make up the roster when they hook up with the Mariners next week.

We know that Daniel Schneemann has a sprained ankle and George Valera has a calf issue (is this the NBA?), but if both players are ready to play next week, the everyday players appear to be set for skipper Steven Vogt.

The catchers will be Bo Naylor, fresh off his bomb against the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), David Fry and Austin Hedges. We do wonder how much Vogt will use Fry behind the plate when the regular season starts.

Fry has struggled with a bat in his hand, but he’s always been able to hit lefties, and he has drawn five walks this spring. He’s always had a pretty good eye at the plate.

The infielders will be Jose Ramirez, Kyle Manzardo, Brayan Rocchio, Gabriel Arias, Schneemann, and Rhys Hoskins, and if Schneeman isn’t ready to go, we would guess rookie Juan Brito gets the nod.

And the outfield make up will be Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter, Valera, and Angel Martirez. Valera’s injury could put Petey Halpin in the mix, and although we hate to say it, DeLauter’s health is always a question mark.

That said, DeLauter has looked good in camp, going 10 for 25 with three doubles and a home run, and just two strikeouts. It would be a shock if he’s healthy and didn’t break camp with the big club, especially since they played him in a playoff game.

The bullpen seems to be set up well. Figuring that Hunter Gaddis’ elbow will keep him off the roster to start, the relief corps figures to be heading by Cade Smith, with Shawn Armstrong and Erik Sabrowski as the set-up men, with Tim Herrin, Connor Brogdon, Colin Holderman, Matt Festa, and rule 5 draftee Peyton Pallette completing the group.

We are sure Kolby Allard could replace one of this group if the Guardians decide to make a small trade to ease roster issues.

To us, the last real battle is in the rotation where Vogt has to choose between Parker Messick, who was outstanding in September last year, or Logan Allen. Allen was 8-11 with a 4.25 ERA last season, but he’s very inconsistent and has struggled in spring training and in his one start for Panama in the WBC. He’s allowed 11 hits and six walks in his 7-2/3 innings of work in Arizona.

Our guess is Allen will make the team and Messick will go to AAA, but the former will be on a short leash. The division figures to be close this season and Vogt and the Guardians can’t afford to start a pitcher who is going to struggle to throw strikes and give up lots of hits.

So, it appears we all have a pretty good idea of who will be on the Opening Night roster in Seattle. For all of the talk about giving young hitters opportunities, it looks like just DeLauter and Valera will get looks.

We wonder how much better the offense can be with just those changes.