The Cleveland Guardians are turning to one of the unlikeliest heroes of their postseason run to open the American League Championship Series. After a wild American League Division Series that required Cleveland to use nearly every arm on its staff, the Guardians needed someone fresh to take the ball against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night. Gavin Williams just threw 5 2/3 innings in Saturday’s Game 5 clincher, and Parker Messick started Game 4 on Thursday, so the top of the rotation was not lined up for the opener. That left Stephen Vogt with a decision to make, and he has gone with the left hander who saved Cleveland’s season in Chicago.
Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com shared the news on Sunday evening.
“Foster Griffin will start Game 1 of ALCS on Monday night vs Rays,” Hoynes posted.
Foster Griffin will start Game 1 of ALCS on Monday night vs Rays.
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) October 11, 2026
It is a well earned opportunity. Griffin was the unsung hero of Game 3 against the White Sox, coming out of the bullpen in the first inning after opener Daniel Espino ran into trouble. With the Guardians facing elimination, Griffin retired seven of the first eight batters he faced, and six of those outs came by strikeout. He finished with seven strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings, setting a franchise postseason record for a reliever and earning the win as Cleveland stayed alive with a 9-3 victory.
That outing came on Wednesday, so Griffin will be pitching on normal rest when he takes the mound at Tropicana Field. He is also one of the few pitchers on the staff who has not been stretched thin over the last week. The Guardians leaned heavily on their bullpen during the comeback against Chicago, with Cade Smith throwing in Games 3, 4 and 5 and Williams even making a relief appearance in Game 4 before starting the clincher.
Griffin’s path to this moment has been anything but ordinary. Kansas City made him a first round pick in 2014, and he spent years bouncing between the minors and the majors before taking his career to Japan. He returned to the big leagues this season with Washington, and Cleveland acquired him at the trade deadline in August. After his Game 3 performance, Griffin said all the ups and downs of his career, from the minor leagues to Japan to the majors, helped prepare him for a moment like that one.
His regular season numbers with Cleveland were not overwhelming, as he posted a 5.19 ERA over nine starts after the trade. But his teammates have raved about how tough he is to pick up when he is on. Steven Kwan pointed to the way Griffin changes his arm angles and his timing to keep hitters off balance, and Vogt credited him for getting nine huge outs when the Guardians needed them most.
He will face a tough test against a Rays team that just swept the Yankees in the division series. Tampa Bay won the American League East and owns home field advantage in the best of seven series. The Rays do not rely on the home run, but they pressure opponents with aggressive baserunning and timely hitting, as they showed in New York.
Game 1 is set for Monday at 8 p.m. at Tropicana Field. The Guardians enter the series as underdogs, but that has never seemed to bother this team. If Griffin can come anywhere close to what he did in Chicago, Cleveland will have a great chance to steal the opener on the road.
NEXT: Guardians Have A Message For Everyone Who Counted Them Out
