The Cleveland Guardians had the best bullpen in baseball last season.
That’s a fact proven by many stats and metrics.
The unit led the league with a 2.57 ERA, well ahead of the second-best team at 3.11.
That’s a sizable gap that proves the dominance of the Guardians’ relievers.
Most projection systems expect more of the same in 2025.
After all, Cleveland’s most prominent relievers are returning, and there could be major contributions from Franco Aleman, Andrew Walters and others.
ATC projections by Ariel Choen have the Guardians leading the league in ERA+ in the upcoming campaign, via Thomas Nestico.
2025 Projected Bullpen ERA+
Projections: ATC by Ariel Cohen (@ATCNY) pic.twitter.com/Tdi4TnuM0T
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) January 21, 2025
ERA+ measures ERA relative to the league average (100).
Anything higher than 100 is considered desirable, or above-average.
Numbers lower than 100 indicate below-average bullpen performance.
The Guardians are projected by ATC to pace MLB in ERA+ with a solid 110.
Projections are often conservative, so with the depth and quality of Cleveland’s staff, the number will probably be even better.
It’s not bad for a projection, though.
It helps when your closer, Emmanuel Clase, can post sub-2.00 ERA seasons, or when you have a rookie who leads the league in WAR among bullpen arms (Cade Smith).
Those two will lead the charge, supported by Hunter Gaddis and Tim Herrin.
Erik Sabrowski, Pedro Avila and several others will also be ready to contribute in high-leverage roles.
In addition, whoever doesn’t win a rotation spot among Ben Lively, Triston McKenzie and Joey Cantillo could be part of the bullpen too.
The Guardians have many weapons in relief, and the hope is that they again form an imposing bullpen.
NEXT: Analyst Believes Young Guardians Pitcher Will Take Step Forward In 2025
