The Cleveland Guardians are taking a cautious approach to the final stretch of the season.
They will play a lot of games in a short span, and as such, they want to put their pitchers in a position to succeed.
More than that, they want to keep them fresh and avoid injury after such a taxing season.
With that in mind, manager Stephen Vogt revealed his plan to do so.
“We’re going to go with a six-man rotation for a little while,” Vogt said. “With the starters where they are innings-wise, and in their careers, we thought it was a good opportunity for us to get them through this long process (17 games in 17 days).”
The Guardians are still alive in the race for an AL Wild Card and will turn to young pitchers in the most crucial stretch of the season.
They just recalled Joey Cantillo and will give him the ball to start the series finale against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
He will join Taner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Slade Cecconi, Logan Allen and Parker Messick in the starting rotation.
Cecconi and Williams have already thrown career-highs in innings this season, with Bibee and Allen not far behind.
Vogt didn’t talk about setting an innings cap for any of the pitchers, as perhaps that’s a luxury the Guardians can’t afford with everything that’s at stake.
But they will have to get creative while demanding a little more from a rotation that has been through a lot during this season.
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