The Cleveland Guardians had to act quickly to re-arrange their rotation and have a starter ready to go on Opening Day on short notice on Thursday.
Tanner Bibee, their designated starter for the opening matchup against the Kansas City Royals, suffered from acute gastroenteritis and had to miss the game.
Ben Lively traveled from Arizona to Kansas City to make the start in his place and was solid with five innings of three runs.
As you can imagine, using Lively on Thursday changed the way manager Stephen Vogt had planned his staff.
Now, as the adrenaline of the extra-innings win wears off, Cleveland has announced the rotation for the upcoming games.
“Guardians rotation update. Saturday vs. Royals: Gavin Williams, Sunday vs. Royals: Tanner Bibee, Monday vs. Padres: Luis Ortiz, Tuesday vs. Padres: Logan Allen, Wednesday vs. Padres: Ben Lively,” Zack Meisel posted on X.
Guardians rotation update
Saturday vs Royals: Gavin Williams
Sunday vs Royals: Tanner BibeeMonday vs Padres: Luis Ortiz
Tuesday vs Padres: Logan Allen
Wednesday vs Padres: Ben Lively— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) March 28, 2025
The main takeaway from this piece of news is that Bibee is improving and feels healthy enough to pitch on Sunday.
That’s huge for the Guardians, who couldn’t afford to place him on the injured list with fellow ace Shane Bieber already on the shelf.
Spring training standout and breakout candidate Williams will make his 2025 regular season debut on Saturday against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, with Bibee taking the ball on Sunday.
Ortiz will be making his Guardians debut on Monday against San Diego, with Logan Allen toeing the rubber on Tuesday and Lively making his second start on Wednesday.
The idea is to win as many road games as possible ahead of the April 8 home opener at Progressive Field.
NEXT: Ben Lively Shares Mentality Of Surprising Opening Day Assignment
