The Cleveland Guardians’ true strength is in the quality and depth of their starting pitching.
It’s looking more and more likely that they won’t trade Shane Bieber, at least not before the start of the season.
Besides a proven performer like Bieber, they will get the uber-talented Triston McKenzie back to 100-percent health and three young studs: Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, and Logan Allen.
They also have offseason signing Ben Lively and other depth options such as Hunter Gaddis, Xzavion Curry, and more.
Williams, in particular, turned heads in his debut season last year.
In 16 starts, he posted a rock-solid 3.29 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 82 innings of work.
The Guardians made sure not to give him too much work.
Slow and steady worked for him, and he is now a legitimate option for the Guardians to deploy in the rotation.
Left fielder Steven Kwan had high praise for the young Williams.
He even said he could potentially be a lite version of the reigning AL Cy Young winnter.
“‘Gavin Williams could be a baby Gerrit Cole coming up.’ @SKwanzaa on the possibly ‘underrated’ @CleGuardians rotation this year,” MLB Network Radio tweeted with a segment of the interview with Kwan.
"Gavin Williams could be a baby Gerrit Cole coming up."@SKwanzaa on the possibly "underrated" @CleGuardians rotation this year:#FortheLand | #PlayersWeek pic.twitter.com/peJUQr4fAL
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) February 1, 2024
Of course, when you have Kwan and Myles Straw patrolling the outfield, and Andres Gimenez and Jose Ramirez playing in the infield, Williams has a great support system.
But the kid is really talented and his ceiling is much better than what he showed last year, and Kwan knows it.
He knows him and he sees him day in and day out.
The Guardians have a few holes still as we head to spring training, but starting pitching is not one of them.
NEXT: Stat Highlights Guardians' Consistent Play For A Full Decade
