Cleveland Guardians rotation coming together at right time

If you had told a Cleveland Guardians fan that his or her favorite team would make it through July in the thick of the race for the AL Central lead and a wild card berth, they would have considered that a positive development. If you had said that would happen with the starting pitching failing to maintain even a league-average performance, they would have questioned your sanity.

With a lineup lacking both experience and power, Cleveland seemed hard-pressed to match last year’s output, when they finished 18th in MLB in runs scored. They were also 18th in ERA, but that was with the expected starting rotation of Shane Bieber, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac, Cal Quantrill, and Tristan McKenzie making just 108 starts combined, and the guys who filled in combined for an ERA of 6.46. The best hope for 2022 was for the rotation to regain its dominance of 2020, when Bieber won the Cy Young and the rotation ranked first in MLB.

Cleveland Guardians rotation starting to gel when needed

At the All-Star break this year, Cleveland’s pitching ranked 14th, but the bullpen was carrying the load. Plesac and Civale were struggling mightily, while Bieber had lost some velocity and McKenzie had several strong performances wrecked by home runs. The Guardians were still afloat, though, thanks to that bullpen, an MVP-caliber start from Jose Ramirez and some surprising output from relative unknowns such as Steven Kwan and Andres Gimenez.

In August, however, the rotation has taken center stage. Over a recent eight-game stretch that saw Cleveland take over the division lead, the starting pitching gave up eight earned runs in 58 innings, an ERA of 1.24. Bieber has won his last four starts, Quantrill has not been scored on in fifteen innings, and Civale has returned from the injured list looking decidedly more like the pitcher who won ten games by the end of June last year.

Perhaps most importantly, the rotation has weathered a brutal stretch with six double headers since June 28 and seems in top form for the final few weeks. The schedule eases over the final seven weeks, with only one more twinbill scheduled and 27 of the last 45 games at home. The run of quality starts has allowed the bullpen to remain fresh, and the re-emergence of James Karinchak in the set-up slot has solidified roles.

None of which is to imply that this will be a cakewalk. The White Sox still have the most talent, and the Twins did the best job of filling needs at the trade deadline. With a total of 23 head-to-head matchups involving these three teams before the end of the season, the race can change dramatically more than once.

But, like he seems to every year, Terry Francona has gotten the Cleveland Guardians to the stretch in better shape than anyone anticipated.