2024 Guardians Regular Season Thread

[Damage]

Gimenez is currently tied for 6th in MLB for WAR

 

[petes999]

They can’t send down Curry unless there are enough off days coming up that we don’t need 5 starters.

Edit: well I guess they can if Lively is the 5th started going forward, but I would assume Curry is ahead of Lively in the pecking order.

They telegraphed this by putting Curry before Lively (to call up lively and option Curry). Yes, they did it a while ago in their rehab appearances (which was just timing on how they progressed). But, they had the ability to flip flop them. But, with Lively going 2nd, he looks to be the 5th starter as he can't be optioned back down without being granted FA/DFA.

But, they can skip the next #5 starting spot (as an off day after this 9 game stretch). And, Hopefully, Williams is ready soon so Lively would only have 1 or so more starts after Wed. But, don't worry, this sport maybe more long-man role in pen with Curry staying stretched to get the first call as 6th starter which will be needed.

 

[PocketMonger]

Gimenez is currently tied for 6th in MLB for WAR

The team looks so different with star Gimenez than all glove no stick Gimenez. Crazy difference.

Also could the top four of the order be set in stone as Kwan/Gimenez/Jose/Josh Naylor. Tired of seeing Ramon and others hitting second.

 

[TxBuckeye]

The team looks so different with star Gimenez than all glove no stick Gimenez. Crazy difference.

Also could the top four of the order be set in stone as Kwan/Gimenez/Jose/Josh Naylor. Tired of seeing Ramon and others hitting second.

Has anybody other than Gimi or Jose hit 2nd?

 

[Criznit]

Has anybody other than Gimi or Jose hit 2nd?

Freeman has at least once.

 

[TxBuckeye]

Freeman has at least once.

You are right. One game. Pretty sure that is the only game somebody other than those two have hit 2nd.

 

[MattyFos.]

They telegraphed this by putting Curry before Lively (to call up lively and option Curry). Yes, they did it a while ago in their rehab appearances (which was just timing on how they progressed). But, they had the ability to flip flop them. But, with Lively going 2nd, he looks to be the 5th starter as he can't be optioned back down without being granted FA/DFA.

But, they can skip the next #5 starting spot (as an off day after this 9 game stretch). And, Hopefully, Williams is ready soon so Lively would only have 1 or so more starts after Wed. But, don't worry, this sport maybe more long-man role in pen with Curry staying stretched to get the first call as 6th starter which will be needed.

It'll be a shame to send Curry down after his outing today and how well he stepped into that 5th spot last season. He has earned a chance in the rotation.

 

[CDAV45]

How does the rotation shake itself out when Williams returns? McKenzie(assuming healthy), Bibee, Williams and Allen are the "knowns". Who of Carrasco, Curry and Lively get the 5th spot? What about a 6 man rotation?

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

How does the rotation shake itself out when Williams returns? McKenzie(assuming healthy), Bibee, Williams and Allen are the "knowns". Who of Carrasco, Curry and Lively get the 5th spot? What about a 6 man rotation?

Carrasco has a 3.55 ERA and each of his three starts were better than the last. If he keeps getting a little better each time out and gets to the point where he can consistently go five innings he should keep the job.

Curry will stay ready for whenever the next starter goes down.

 

[CDAV45]

Carrasco has a 3.55 ERA and each of his three starts were better than the last. If he keeps getting a little better each time out and gets to the point where he can consistently go five innings he should keep the job.

Curry will stay ready for whenever the next starter goes down.

I have no problem with that Wham, but if Curry continues to pitch like he did against the Red Sox then they'll have a decision to make.

I view Carrasco, Curry and maybe even Lively as BOR options. How do they make that choice?

I'd like to deal one of Clase or Kwan for a talented, ready SP prospect or 2. Get me a guys like River Ryan and Kyle Hurt and I'd be super excited for this team.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I'd like to deal one of Clase or Kwan for a talented, ready SP prospect or 2. Get me a guys like River Ryan and Kyle Hurt and I'd be super excited for this team.

If Gaddis and Smith continue to throw like they have so far, I think either of them could be closer material. And the way Sandlin, Herrin, and Beede have been throwing and with Barlow on hand and Hentges coming back, we might be able to afford to let Clase go. I'm not even counting Morgan and Karinchak.

However, if Williams, Bibee, Allen, McKenzie, Carraso, and Curry are all healthy we won't need another starter. Cantillo should be available in the second half.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Fangraphs took notice of the Guardians' bullpen.

...And as a unit, I don’t think any group has seen more players come out of nowhere with greater success this season than the Guardians bullpen.

Trevor Stephan (UCL reconstruction) and James Karinchak (shoulder inflammation) are both on the 60-day IL, while Sam Hentges (finger inflammation) is on the 15-day IL; all three played key roles last year ahead of closer Emmanuel Clase. Despite those absences, the Guardians are in a virtual tie for first place in reliever WAR, helping propel the team to a 9-3 start.

Clase has been great even with velocity that continues to trend slightly downward, but the only other pitcher with significant closing experience on the team is Scott Barlow, and he’s come out of the gates slowly. Rather, it’s the ragtag bunch of inexperienced arms who have kept the Guardians afloat despite all of the IL time.

Hunter Gaddis was disastrous in his first big league action in 2022, improved to decent last year, and is now pumping 98-99 mph heat. Sidearmer Nick Sandlin has given up just one hit to 26 batters. Rookie Cade Smith has a strikeout rate above 40% thanks to a nasty fastball/splitter combo. Fellow rookie Tim Herrin is holding things down as the bullpen’s sole lefty until Hentges returns. And former top prospect Tyler Beede (!!!) — who pitched in Japan last year and came into 2024 with a 5.34 ERA across 187 innings in the majors — appears to have reinvented himself, with a strikeout rate nearly as high as Smith’s and, like Sandlin, just one hit allowed so far.

The bullpen is the place where pitchers rise from the ashes of unheralded, underwhelming, or all-but-dead careers, allowing teams to cobble together largely anonymous groups that help them make the playoffs. And until you get to Clase, one of the truly elite closers in the game, it might be relative unknown after relative unknown who’s shutting you down in Cleveland — for now, at least.

Bullpens are, of course, notoriously fickle, but the Guardians have depth that I didn’t think they possessed when Stephan, Karinchak, and Hentges all went down. They’ve got some tough decisions to make when Hentges and perhaps Karinchak come back (Stephan is out for the year), but they’ve also got flexibility: only Barlow and Beede can’t be optioned to the minors. And in a league where the best pitching staffs are often determined by a war of attrition, the Guardians are doing quite the job on the front lines, and having more men to send into battle is always extremely valuable.

 

[CDAV45]

If Gaddis and Smith continue to throw like they have so far, I think either of them could be closer material. And the way Sandlin, Herrin, and Beede have been throwing and with Barlow on hand and Hentges coming back, we might be able to afford to let Clase go. I'm not even counting Morgan and Karinchak.

However, if Williams, Bibee, Allen, McKenzie, Carraso, and Curry are all healthy we won't need another starter. Cantillo should be available in the second half.

I know BPs can be fickle, but I wasn't concerned coming into this season and I think the near future looks even brighter. Hentges will be back before too long. Stephan will be back next season. We have Aleman, Walters and a few others who look like quick ascenders. I'd imagine Espino's return will be as a reliever. Yeah, I'm not concerned with the BP and I think dealing Clase now is the smart move. That's assuming there is a good deal to be had.

If they believe they have the SP depth or can acquire it, I think dealing McKenzie is also the smart thing to do and I don't enjoy saying that because I love that kid.

I'm a huge fan of Cookie too, but he's not a part of this team's playoff push starting in 25.

There is going to be some difficult decisions and I'm not confident that this organization is shrewd enough to make them. That's probably why those that play for them are loyal.

I have to say that for whatever reason my gut is telling me Bieber will be signed to a 3-4 yr extension. There is some certainty now that he has had TJS and most guys come back with regained velocity. Then again he may feel no loyalty toward Cleveland at all and take the opportunity to go home to California.

 

[KluberSociety]

Holy hell, dealing starters is NOT the way to go with the way this team goes. Basically everything has to perfectly align with a bunch of filler pieces in order for that to work. Murphy's Law is the first fundamental law of pitching.

Dealing Clase on the other hand can make a lot of sense, though I'd wait to make sure that we actually have extra pieces before we do it, and may make more sense next offseason. I think we have a lot of good bullpen arms, but the rotation is hanging by threads. As far as starters go I think we can think of Bibee and Allen as fairly reliable but beyond that it's all a guess. We need as many starting arms as possible.

It's weird how Curry looked a lot more like a reliever but now seems more like a 5th/6th starter because he didn't really gain that extra bump in velo out of the pen like Gaddis and Morgan did but he got more comfortable with his secondary pitches. That is not the usual trajectory of pitchers though.

 

[33Y0]

Anyone know what’s going on with Sandy Alomar? Haven’t seen him at first the last few games.