And Now, The Guards’ Bullpen Is Leaking Oil

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. That’s the story of the Cleveland Guardians this season.

The offensive troubles are well documented. The Guards have fallen to 13th in the American League in runs scored. They don’t get on base, now 13th in the league in on base percentage, and they have no pop, ranking 14th in slugging percentage.

They are particularly awful against left-handed pitchers, and there isn’t any help on the horizon from the minor leagues perhaps the best hitters in Columbus, Chase DeLauter and C.J. Kayfus, both swing from the left side of the plate.

Again, by now every fan of the team is aware of that.

However, over the past few weeks the mainstay of last year’s squad, the relief pitching has started to spring a leak. It’s not surprising because of the workload put on the bullpen a year ago, but it seems to have happened.

We know Emmanuel Clase struggled early in the year, but since Steven Vogt gave him a little break and used Cade Smith to close at the end of April, he’s been pretty much back to being that guy.

Since May 1st, Clase has pitched 22.1 innings and has put up a 1.21 ERA. He has allowed 18 hits, a little high for him in that span, but has fanned 24 and one of Clase’s biggest strengths, hasn’t allowed a home run.

Smith has been solid as well, appearing in 36 games with 53 Ks in 34.1 innings and a 2.36 ERA. But he’s been down over the last few days with a back injury.

The rest of the relievers seem to be sucking wind at this point. Hunter Gaddis was so good last season, but over his last three appearances has allowed eight runs in 2.2 innings. And even before that, he allowed 10 of his 17 inherited runners to cross the plate.

Last season, Tim Herrin allowed just 39 hits and 25 walks in 65.2 innings. To date this season, he’s walked 17 and allowed 22 hits in 27.2 frames.

Because of these struggles, and an injury to free agent signee Paul Sewald, Vogt has been using journeyman Matt Festa in higher leverage situations. He has a 5.48 ERA in his 25 appearances.

Jakob Junis is another free agent signed this winter, and although his numbers are decent (3.96 ERA in 33 games), he’s allowed 42 hits and 12 walks in 36.1 innings. It seems like every time he comes in, he allows a hit or two and/or a walk, and is immediately in trouble.

Erik Sabrowski has been activated from the injured list and should be able to help Herrin against left-handed hitters. Koby Allard is another lefty, but he seems best suited to giving the Guardians some length if the starter gets knocked out early.

The point is this team doesn’t get leads often because of the hitting, but unlike last year, when Vogt goes to the bullpen, it’s no longer automatic.

The front office tried to get some help for the bullpen in Sewald and Junis, with the former having closer experience. He should be back soon and hopefully can take some of the responsibility from Gaddis until he gets back to form.

If it’s not one thing, it’s something else for the 2025 Guardians.

…As For The Guardians’ Pitching Staff

Over the last two weeks, we have written a lot about the Cleveland Guardians’ lack of offense, but the pitching staff hasn’t done very well either.

The Guardians, much renowned for their pitching factory, currently rank 10th in the American League in ERA at 3.99, and Carl Willis’ philosophy of throwing strikes has also fallen on deaf ears, with Cleveland ranking fourth in the league, issuing 3.7 walks per game.

Last season, they ranked 8th in the AL.

The bullpen, the dominating unit of last year’s division champions, has also sprung leaks. Emmanuel Clase struggled to open the year, but has righted himself as of late, Saturday’s blown save notwithstanding.

The closer has allowed just 12 hits in 16.1 innings since the beginning of May, allowing just five runs (2.76 ERA) with 18 punchouts.

But outside of Cade Smith, the balance of the bullpen has not performed up to last year’s standards, and pretty much anyone with a brain would have expected that. Hunter Gaddis has a 1.93 ERA, but is allowing inherited runners to score at an above 60% rate.

Tim Herrin is another reliever whose numbers are way off compared to last season, he’s allowed 20 hits and 16 walks in 23.2 innings.

But the real issue has been the starting pitching, which for the most part has not been able to soak up innings to keep the bullpen fresh.

This was highlighted over the weekend against Seattle when Gavin Williams went just four innings, Tanner Bibee went five, and although Luis Ortiz pitched six frames, he allowed a grand slam homer in the second and allowed six runs.

Bibee leads the staff averaging 5.8 innings per start, followed by Ortiz at 5.4, Logan Allen (5.1), Slade Cecconi (5.0) and the inconsistent Gavin Williams at 4.95.

The latter continues to be maddening, although to be fair, this is his first full season in the big leagues. He has pitched well in games, but his longest start in 6.2 (twice). He went five scoreless against the Phillies but threw 98 pitches in doing so. He pitched six allowing one run against the Twins, 6.2 vs. the Angels allowing no earned runs.

He also has given up five runs in 6.2 frames against the Orioles, four runs in two innings against the Twins.

Again, he’s a young pitcher and has good stuff, but is still figuring how to pitch.

As we said earlier, walks are plaguing the starters. Williams is walking 5.1 hitters per nine innings, last year he was at 3.8; Ortiz is at 4.6 (2.8 last season) and Allen is at 4.1. Besides putting runners on base, it is also raising the pitch counts.

Bibee is also up in walk rate, 2.9 this season vs. 2.3 a year ago.

Last season, the starting pitching wasn’t up to Cleveland standards either, but the bullpen made up for it. The weakness did show up in the post-season though.

Perhaps Shane Bieber is back by the All-Star break to shore up the rotation a bit, and maybe Cecconi will be trusted to go deep into games. And maybe Williams figures it out and starts giving Steven Vogt six innings on a regular basis.

The offense has been the weak spot of the team, but the pitching hasn’t been up to standard either. If the season is going to be salvageable, this is another area that has to improve.

Looking At Guardians’ Pitching, Especially The Rotation

That the Cleveland Guardians finished third in the American League in ERA this season was impressive considering the state of their starting rotation for much of the year.

At the start of the year, the rotation consisted of Shane Bieber, Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee, Carlos Carrasco, and Triston McKenzie. And Carrasco was in there because Gavin Williams was out with a sore elbow.

Because of injury and/or ineffectiveness, only Bibee was still there by the beginning of July, although Williams was coming back soon.

In the playoffs, Cleveland had games started by two pitchers who hadn’t thrown a pitch in the major leagues at the time of the July 31st trading deadline in Matthew Boyd and Alex Cobb.

The strength of the pitching staff was the bullpen, led by what TBS’ Brian Anderson was calling the “Fearsome Foursome” during the playoffs: Tim Herrin, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and closer Emmanuel Clase.

Unfortunately, as we look ahead to 2025, the bullpen is usually the most volatile part of any baseball team. There is certainly no guarantee the relief corps will be as good as they were this season, particularly with the workload put on them.

All four of the pitchers mentioned were in the top ten in the AL in appearances.

It goes without saying that Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff need to improve the starting rotation going into next season.

We understand that Allen and McKenzie could rebound from very tough ’24 campaigns, but the organization needs to rebuild the depth they had for many seasons.

Bibee and Williams will be starters going into spring training. And they are probably the only sure things, and for a contending team, that’s simply not good enough.

Bieber is a free agent and will likely be out until June or July after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Will he sign a backloaded two-year deal with Cleveland like many pitchers in his situation do, or will he cast his lot with another team?

Boyd and Cobb are also free agents. Boyd could go for perhaps a big pay day this winter, and Cobb would be a back of the rotation arm if he comes back.

So, what can the front office do?

The closest minor league arm to the bigs is 25-year-old lefty Doug Nikhazy, who went 7-4 with a 2.98 ERA between Akron and Columbus, striking out a batter per inning.

We’ve also thought about moving Gaddis back to the rotation. Remember, he went to camp this past spring as a starter and was a starter in the minors before compiling a 1.59 ERA in ’24.

Why Gaddis? First, he’s 6’6″ and 260 pounds. But more importantly, he has a three-pitch mix, a very good fastball, slider and changeup. He wouldn’t be the first pitcher to do well out of the bullpen and become a solid starter either.

The only other alternative would be a trade. There have been several Josh Naylor rumors out there, and although the Guardians’ offense needs to improve, we could see moving him if the return is a proven starter.

Remember, the Guards do have Kyle Manzardo, who should be ready to play every day, so it would be a good, old fashioned baseball trade, not a salary dump.

We aren’t writing off pitchers like Allen and McKenzie, but the Guardians can’t really depend on them either. A team that has made it to the post-season two of the last three years and wants to get back in 2025, can’t afford a lot of questions in their rotation.

Guardians Survive And Advance

It had been since 1997 that the Cleveland baseball team won an elimination game when they beat the Florida Marlins in Game 6 of the World Series.

But they won two this week. Trailing the Detroit Tigers, two game to one Thursday night, they won 5-4 to force a deciding game five, and then won at home yesterday, 7-3 to advance to the League Championship Series for a sixth time, the third time against the New York Yankees.

They have lost the previous two matchups against the Bronx Bombers, but defeated Seattle in 1995, Baltimore in 1997, and Toronto in 2016.

So many heroes in this series, primarily their big acquisition at the trade deadline, Lane Thomas, who went 6 for 19 in the series, driving in nine runs. His three-run shot in Game 1 got the Guards off on the right foot, and the grand slam in the deciding game was ultimately the deciding blow.

Steven Kwan went back to first half Kwan, going 11 for 21 with two walks. He had a trio of three hit games in the series.

David Fry sent the series back home in game four, with a go ahead two run homer and a squeeze bunt to score an important insurance run.

And of course, as it has been all season long, the bullpen was unbelievable. We said before the series it was likely Cleveland only needed four innings from the starters, and out of 132 outs recorded by the pitching staff, 60 of them came from Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, and of course, Emmanuel Clase.

But there were unsung heroes as well.

Brayan Rocchio had a tremendous series, going 6 for 16, and was sparking with the glove. So much for those wanting others to handle the position in the playoffs.

Andres Gimenez was having a terrible series but started the five-run rally yesterday with a single and then scored an insurance run in the ninth inning.

And what about Eli Morgan. Because Steven Vogt went to the bullpen after two innings, he was running out of relievers. Gaddis was gassed after throwing 32 pitches Thursday and 30 more in the fifth game, so Morgan, who didn’t pitch in high leverage situations often, came in the 7th and got two big strikeouts.

The other three teams in the championship series are Major League Baseball’s dream, coming from the mega-markets of New York and Los Angeles. And then there are the Guardians, whose payroll is less than half of each of the other three franchises in baseball’s final four.

The Yankees are the American League’s highest scoring team at 5.03 runs per contest, over a half a run over the Guardians’ 4.4 figure. Pitching wise, New York is fourth, behind Seattle, Detroit, and Cleveland.

The key for Cleveland pitching will be to handle the dynamic duo of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. If you can control them, you have a fighting chance. It’s a bit complicated because Giancarlo Stanton got hot in the Division Series, going 6 for 16 with a big home run.

And can the Guardians defeat Gerrit Cole, who looks like he is back to his Cy Young form in the KC series.

But remember, the Yanks won only two more regular season games than the Guardians, and although we are sure at least in the beginning of the series he will limit the usage of his four main relievers to just one inning, that of course means, the starters still only have to give the skipper about 15 outs.

As usual, where will the runs come for the Guards? Can Kwan, Thomas, and Rocchio continue their hot hitting? Can the Naylors provide some pop? And what to do with rightfield?

In a seven-game series, there is a little less pressure in game one. All the Guardians have to do is win four out of seven. If they do, a seventh American League pennant will be flying over Progressive Field.

A 1-0 Lead And More Thoughts On The Guardians/Tigers Series

We were concerned about the Cleveland Guardians’ offense coming into the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, but they showed us at least in the first inning yesterday.

The first five Guards reached base and all scored as a result of an error, Josh Naylor’s single and Lane Thomas’ three run homer. A 5-0 lead in the first? How sweet was that.

We felt going into the series that Steven Vogt might only need four innings out of his starters, and indeed, Tanner Bibee gave him 4-2/3 frames before giving up a single to Parker Meadows with two out, and the skipper went to the bullpen.

And at least in game one, the relievers were as dominant as they were in the regular season, covering 4.1 innings without allowing a hit.

Cade Smith looked like he did in his big-league debut, striking out all four hitters he faced and Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, and of course, Emmanuel Clase each threw an inning to give the Guardians a 1-0 lead in the series.

Another thought we had about this series is it reminds us of when the Indians took on Boston in the late 90’s, and the Red Sox’ pitching staff was led by Pedro Martinez. Martinez would pitch twice in the series, and you had the feeling Cleveland had to win any game the Hall of Famer would pitch.

Of course, we are referring to the likely Cy Young Award winner this year in the AL, Tarik Skubal. The left-hander will pitch in game two and game five if the series goes on that long.

Skubal isn’t quite Martinez, but he did go 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts in 192 frames. He hasn’t allowed more than a run in a start since September 6th against Oakland when he allowed two runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings.

Cleveland hitters will have their work carved out for them tomorrow at Progressive Field, particularly if the sun is shining and the late afternoon shadows will descend on the diamond.

The announcement of the roster for this series also caused some eyebrow raising. Although it wasn’t a surprise Nick Sandlin was left off the roster because of his propensity to give up home runs, and Ben Lively didn’t make it because the Guards only need three starters, it is a bit of shock that Alex Cobb will start game three.

Cobb hasn’t pitched in a game since September 1st due to fingernail and blister issues, and if Cleveland loses game two, you are giving him the ball in a pivotal game. Again, we know the Guardians only need three or four innings from a starter, and they will have Gavin Williams and/or Joey Cantillo to back him up, but it’s a bit head scratching.

We have always thought the even numbered games in a short series were most important until you get to the last contest, and tomorrow’s game is no different. If the Guardians can beat Skubal, they have command of the series. We aren’t saying it is won because we remember what happened in 2017.

The pressure will be on starter Matthew Boyd, a former Tiger, to keep the Detroit offense in check and either give the Guardians’ bats a chance to scrape out a run or two or get Skubal out of the game early by making him throw a lot of pitches.

With the off day again on Tuesday, no doubt Vogt will go to his bullpen early again.

All yesterday’s win means is the Guardians will not get swept and there will be two games in Detroit. We would be surprised if the Cleveland bats had another outburst like in game one.

The Continued Struggles Of The Guardians’ Starters

Last night was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Cleveland Guardians in terms of starting pitching. Tanner Bibee gave Steven Vogt six scoreless innings, great effectiveness and some decent length.

We know the rotation has been the weakness of the 2024 Guardians thus far. It is the only position on the squad where Cleveland ranks last in the American League in WAR (wins above replacement).

The last pitcher who went six frames in a game was Logan Allen on June 7th vs. Miami. Previous to Allen, it was Bibee, who went 6.1 innings on May 31st.

So, in the month of June, the Guardians have had exactly two outings where the starting pitcher completed six innings. Now, we understand the game has changed recently, but having your bullpen have to cover more than 12 outs on a nightly basis is not something usually equated with success throughout a six month season.

There were a few outings where Vogt yanked his starter in the sixth and perhaps, he didn’t have to. The starter could have got the last out of the inning.

We get it. When your bullpen has been as great as the Guardians’ have this season, it is tempting to get them in the game and have a guy like Sam Hentges, Tim Herrin, or Cade Smith overmatch the next hitter to end the inning.

We know the front office is aware of the problem, and we are also it is difficult to make a deal for a starter at this point. We also know there are a lot of teams looking for starting pitching, so it won’t be easy for Cleveland to pull off a deal.

Everyone is waiting for Gavin Williams to be back, but in his last outing in AAA, he threw 53 pitches, making over 30 in the second inning where he only recorded two outs before being removed.

So, it appears it will be a while before he can join the rotation.

Meanwhile, Carlos Carrasco and Triston McKenzie have to be a concern. Carrasco missed a couple of starts with a spasm in his neck, and since his return, his longest outing was five innings last Saturday, and he only went five because the Guards were trailing 5-0 and Vogt didn’t want to overexpose his relief corps.

He’s made just two starts where he went at least six innings, one against the Angels and the other vs. the White Sox. He has a 5.80 ERA for the year, and last year, it was 6.80 for the Mets.

McKenzie has had issues with the two things pitchers cannot do and still be effective, and that is walk people and give up home runs. When we were young, we used to hear about guys who gave up the long ball, but since they didn’t walk people, most of the dingers were solo shots.

McKenzie leads the AL in walks and is second in the Junior Circuit in giving up homers with 15. Thankfully, he doesn’t give up a lot of hits besides the home runs.

Perhaps Pedro Avila should get a shot. He started in San Diego last year and has been okay so far for the Guardians (2.60 ERA, 31 K’s in 26.2 innings). Or why not see what Connor Gillispie can do?

He has a 4.55 ERA at AAA, allowing 62 hits in 63.1 innings with 64 strikeouts. His last few outings have been much better than that. Maybe he can get into or complete six innings of a Major League game?

McKenzie and Carrasco’s struggles put more pressure on Bibee, Allen, and Ben Lively to pitch deeper into games.

The Guardians have a great thing going, sitting at 45-26 on the season. That doesn’t mean they are complacent. However, the more that duo struggles, the more of a burden they put on the relievers.

Inconsistent Guardians’ Bullpen Makes Everyone Worried

Show me a bad bullpen and I’ll show you a bad team. That’s the old baseball adage. We would guess the corollary to that would be, show me an inconsistent bullpen and I’ll show you an inconsistent team.

Which brings us to the Cleveland Guardians.

The other day, Terry Francona said his bullpen had gone through a rough patch over the last week. We hope that manager speak, because the truth is the Guardians’ relievers have been hit or miss for about the last month.

The organization will tell you the bullpen ERA ranks second in all of baseball, and it does, ranking behind only the Yankees with a 3.48 ERA.

Detractors will tell you the relief corps is gassed, but they rank 18th in the majors in innings pitched.

They do have the 4th best batting average against at .223.

There are two issues at work here. The first is because the Guardians are currently leaning on four rookie starters, Francona and pitching coach Carl Willis are leaning on the relievers quite a bit. Having the cover sometimes four or even five innings, not only put a great burden on the crew, but also the more relievers used, the greater chance one of them doesn’t have it that night.

The second thing is Francona, like most managers, likes to have a pecking order with his relievers, so they know when they can expect to get into a game.

We know Emmanuel Clase has the ninth, but he would like to have one or two pitchers who know they will go in the 8th, and so on down the line.

It hasn’t worked that way lately.

Trevor Stephan is the preferred guy to pitch the 8th, but since June 1st, he’s been in 19 games, and allowed runs in six of them. He also has pitched just six innings where he has retired the side in order.

Last Sunday, he came into a game with a three-run lead, and after retiring the first hitter, he walked the next two. That led to a four-run inning, and an eventual loss for Cleveland.

By the way, we have (and most people have) two rules for relief pitchers: Don’t walk hitters and don’t allow the long ball.

Friday night was the kind of thing that makes you wonder how you can figure this game out.

After Gavin Williams had to leave after four innings, Eli Morgan pitched the fifth and faced two batters in the 6th, allowing a single to one of them.

The Guards went to Tim Herrin, a lefty, because Sam Hentges has been scuffling lately, and Herrin over the last month had pitched 8.2 innings, allowing just two runs, striking out 10 and walking just two.

The rookie walked the next three hitters, forcing in a run.

So, Francona went to Nick Sandlin, who got out of the inning. Sandlin over the last month had fired 9.1 frames allowing just one run, and fanning 13, walking just three.

He gave up two homers in the 7th. They were the first he’d allowed since June 17th.

Stephan relieved and you could feel fans wincing at the move.

He put down all five batters he faced.

The point is right now, the Guardians really need the bullpen crew to step up because of the inning restrictions put on the rookie starters, but Francona can’t feel too confident in bringing anyone in, because he just doesn’t know what will happen.

If this is a slump, eventually everyone will return to form and Cleveland’s bullpen will be one of the best in the game. If they continue to fail, then the season could go south in a hurry.

It’s not easy at times to manage a major league baseball team.

More On Guardians’ Bullpen And Arias

The good news for the Cleveland Guardians last week was when they played one game in a day, they were undefeated, going 2-0.

However, because of our beautiful springtime weather, the Guards were forced to play two doubleheaders and were swept in Detroit by the Tigers and at home by the Marlins.

The offense was the main culprit as in the five games played prior to Sunday’s 7-4 win over Miami, Cleveland scored a total of nine runs. It’s hard to win averaging less than two runs per contest, but the Guardians did it once, winning the series finale in Motown, 3-2.

The pitching hasn’t been bad, allowing 20 runs in the six games, just a shade over three per game. So, as has been the case in pretty much every game in 2023 thus far, the result of the game was in doubt all the way to the bitter end. Only the 6-1 loss in game one Saturday was not in doubt when the ninth inning started.

Home runs continue to be a problem for the bullpen crew, as both Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak gave up solo shots in the win over the Tigers and the latter served up a three-run bomb on Sunday to make what was a commanding 6-1 advantage into a close game.

Cleveland pitchers have allowed 21 homers this year, and a dozen of those have been served up by the relievers. The only bullpen members who have been unscathed by the long ball are Eli Morgan and Enyel De La Santos.

There was some good news as southpaw Sam Hentges made two rehab appearances in Akron last week and is getting closer to returning to the big league roster. That’s needed as rookie Tim Herrin hasn’t been effective, allowing two dingers and four walks in his eight innings of work. He has a 7.45 ERA.

Karinchak has allowed four bombs in 12 innings of work, and probably will not be used in the eighth inning until he cures that issue.

Here’s our current bullpen confidence rankings–

Clase
Stephan
De Los Santos
Morgan
Karinchak
Sandlin
Curry
Herrin

Sandlin gets ranked lower because he still has control issues, walking five in 9-2/3 innings and he seems to fall behind in the count an awful lot.

Hopefully, the offense will continue to come out of the doldrums, but one player who worries us right now is infielder Gabriel Arias.

Arias has always had strike zone judgment issues in the minors, his career numbers in 494 minor league games are 539 strikeouts vs. 145 walks, and he wasn’t outstanding at AAA, a 768 OPS.

However, thus far this season, he’s made 40 plate appearances and has struck out in 18 of them, drawing four walks. He’s batting .167 (6 for 36) with a home run and a double.

We understand it is difficult for a young player to adjust to not getting regular playing time, but that’s the lot he drew with the Guardians. Terry Francona has tried to spot him vs. lefties, but he is just 4 for 24 with 13 Ks against them.

If he was hammering southpaws, we are sure Francona would be more anxious to put him in there against left-handers, particularly because Josh Naylor is a career .202 hitter (544 OPS) against them.

It will be interesting to see if Tyler Freeman, who was up for a handful of games last week (2 for 7 with a walk), starts getting some time at 1B in Columbus to see if he can take Arias’ spot on the roster.

A tough gauntlet is coming up for the Guards, a weekend series in Boston and then a trip to Yankee Stadium before coming home for a clash with the division contending Twins.

We will learn a lot about this year’s group in those nine games.

Impressions Of A Great Opening Weekend For Guardians

We were very impressed that the Cleveland Guardians went into Seattle, a playoff team a year ago, and took three of four in their opening series.

Especially because the Guards had all kinds of problems scoring runs vs. the Mariners last season. They scored just 11 runs in the seven contests against Seattle last season.

There were several positive things that caught our eye in baseball’s first weekend of the season, and yes, we know it’s just four games.

Guardians’ fans have to be impressed with Aaron Civale’s debut, throwing seven, two-hit innings at the Mariners. The right-hander was on a track for an all-star berth in 2021, when he was leading the AL in wins at the time of his injury (he was 10-2 with a 3.44 ERA).

He made just 20 starts a year ago with a variety of injuries and threw just 97 innings. Getting back to his ’21 form would be a big boost to the starting rotation, particularly since Triston McKenzie could miss as much as two months.

What about Tim Herrin’s major league debut on Sunday? The 26-year-old southpaw faced four batters and struck them all out. It’s the ultimate small sample size, but if he can give Terry Francona and Carl Willis another left-handed option when Sam Hentges returns, that would be outstanding.

One of the things Cleveland lacked the past few years is any offense at all from the catching position. Mike Zunino isn’t a great offensive player either, but what he does more frequently than Austin Hedges or Luke Maile, is run into a pitch every once in a while, and sends it over the fence. He has 147 career homers.

Sunday, his three-run dinger gave the Guards a temporary lead. His lifetime batting average is just .201 and he strikes out, a lot. But the power does play.

Oh, and by the way, Bo Naylor went 5 for 13 over the weekend with two homers at Columbus.

The bullpen was also very impressive over the weekend, with James Karinchak’s hiccup on Opening Night the only blemish. In total, the relievers soaked up 14-2/3 innings, allowing just three earned runs.

That heavy toll can’t continue, but again, it’s only four games.

As for Karinchak, we don’t think it was a pitch clock issue to blame for his first outing, it was more that he couldn’t throw his curveball for a strike, and the Mariners took advantage.

Newcomer Josh Bell didn’t have a big weekend at the plate, going just 1 for 12, but he did walk six times, and avoiding making outs is a very good thing. We are sure the hits will start coming.

The only issues to keep an eye on are Zunino’s ability to block pitches, Cleveland had six wild pitches in the series (they had just 49 all last year). That’s something Hedges was outstanding at and it is easy to overlook.

We are sure Sandy Alomar Jr. will work with him on that.

Hunter Gaddis kept the ball in the park Friday night (he gave up 7 homers last year in 7 innings), but he also only gave Francona 3-2/3 innings, and Cal Quantrill couldn’t get out of the fifth.

We aren’t concerned about the latter because of his track record, but the Guards need some length out of Gaddis, if he’s going to stick around for a while.

It was a great opening weekend to be sure, but it’s a long, long season ahead of the Guardians. We are sure everyone prefers to be 3-1 rather than 1-3.

If Guards Have A Bullpen Opening, Who Takes It?

Every year, Terry Francona gives a talk in spring training to the entire roster, the 40 man and the non-roster invitees. It has been reported (we say that only because we aren’t present) that he always discusses how everyone in the room will be counted on to have a successful season.

As we know, stuff happens every year. At the beginning of camp last year, could we have seen Oscar Gonzalez, Enyel De Los Santos, or Will Brennan being contributors?

Some of us thought Gonzalez could get a shot and that Steven Kwan deserved a shot, but enough of that.

Slumps happen, some players don’t put up the numbers they did in the past, and certainly, injuries always play a role.

Right now, the Guardians’ bullpen is in that state of flux because of injuries.

It was reported earlier in the week that southpaw Sam Hentges has some shoulder inflammation and is “week to week”, which doesn’t sound like he will be ready for Opening Day. That’s a big blow because the big lefty is the only proven piece that throws from the left side.

And De Los Santos and Nick Sandlin, both of whom figured to be in Seattle on March 30th, have not pitched in an exhibition game.

Now, bullpen guys can get ready faster than starting pitchers because they usually work just one inning at a time, so conceivably if they are ready to go by the middle of March, there is a good chance they will not miss any time.

To be fair, closer Emmanuel Clase hasn’t pitched in a game either.

Many people had another left-hander, Tim Herrin, making the 26 man roster to open the year, but with Hentges’ shoulder barking, he seems to be a lock to make the team.

Francona and pitching coach Carl Willis like to use their big-league relievers early in games to get a look at better hitters. On Friday, Herrin pitched the fourth inning.

If Herrin becomes a lock, and the Guards bring 13 pitchers north (or northwest since they open in Seattle), who gets the last spot?

If the staff wants someone who could pitch multiple innings, they could go with someone like Xzavion Curry or Hunter Gattis, both of whom were starters in the minors last season, and by the way, also made some big league starts, each getting a pair with Cleveland.

Both have faced high quality hitters in Arizona (visit Baseballreference.com) and have fared well. Gattis has fanned six in 4-1/3 frames, allowing just one hit, but three walks. Curry has a pair of two inning outings, allowing five hits, but just one run.

Or they could go with Konnor Pilkington who did make 11 starts with the Guards last season, going 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA. His problem was throwing strikes, walking 32 batters in 58 frames.

Another 40-man roster option is recently acquired Jason Bilous, who fanned 131 batters in 105.2 innings in the White Sox’ system last year. He did have a 6.30 ERA between AA and AAA though, as his control has been an issue.

The Guardians seem to view him as a reliever, as he has made two one inning appearances thus far, striking out four and walking a pair.

There is still time for De Los Santos and Sandlin to be ready, but Hentges may not have enough time to get back by the end of the month.

So, Francona and Willis have to sort out some candidates to take his place.