The Cleveland Guardians rotation has a myriad of quality options.
In fact, they are one of the few teams in MLB with the potential luxury of choosing their five starting pitchers among a multitude of great alternatives.
They have 2020 AL Cy Young award winner Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, 2023 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen, Hunter Gaddis, Xzavion Curry, Ben Lively, and Carlos Carrasco, among others.
Scouting and player development analyst Matt Collier wanted to know which of the top right-handers were preferred by fans when it comes to run avoidance.
Surprisingly, Williams was the most frequently voted pitcher.
“33 voters prefer Gavin Williams to Tanner Bibee for the bigger year in expected run avoidance, but slightly so. Waters were cold on Shane Bieber, who endured very down out-gen fundamentals in ’23 beyond a forearm scare (won’t fetch much at trade deadline if either sticks),” he tweeted.
33 voters prefer Gavin Williams to Tanner Bibee for the bigger year in expected run avoidance, but slightly so. Waters were cold on Shane Bieber, who endured very down out-gen fundamentals in '23 beyond a forearm scare (won't fetch much at trade deadline if either sticks). https://t.co/Pl6jnMLOZL
— Matt Collier (@reillocity) January 31, 2024
Williams just posted a very solid 3.29 ERA in 82 innings as a rookie in 2023.
Granted, Bibee had a 2.98 ERA over a longer workload, but Williams is very talented in his own right and could easily have the better year in 2024.
People appear to be down on Bieber, who missed multiple months last year with a forearm issue.
He did pitch well in two September starts upon returning, so he could very well be better than the 3.80 ERA he finished at in 2023.
McKenzie, however, could be a dark-horse Cy Young candidate now that he is back to full health.
The Guardians rotation and pitching staff as a whole are definitely a strength heading into spring training.
NEXT: Steven Kwan Shares Huge Projection For Young Guardians Pitcher
