The Cleveland Guardians are a solid baseball team.
Maybe they haven’t reached last year’s heights yet, but they do have that potential.
They are, however, a flawed club and it all starts with the rotation.
Guardians’ starters ranked 27th in ERA with a 5.24 mark heading into Tuesday’s games.
For those keeping score at home, that’s the fourth-worst ERA in the league by ERA.
Analyst Jensen Lewis, who pitched for Cleveland in the 2000s, was asked if he was worried about the rotation.
He replied that the lack of length was a glaring issue.
“Are you worried about the Guardians’ rotation? #GuardsBall. “The rotation is going to have to come up big, probably sooner than later. You want length at this point in the season,” the BIGPLAY Cleveland Show posted on X.
Are you worried about the Guardians rotation? #GuardsBall
"The rotation is going to have to come up big, probably sooner than later. You want length at this point in the season."
Presented by @NEFDirect https://t.co/BV18tHozgJ pic.twitter.com/vH2263Wp1i
— BIGPLAY Cleveland Show (@BIGPLAYCLEshow) April 29, 2025
Cleveland has an elite bullpen, but if the starters can’t successfully complete five innings with any semblance of consistency, they are going to burn out their relief corps.
Gavin Williams lost on Monday and only covered two innings.
Tanner Bibee had a 5.19 ERA before taking the ball on Tuesday.
Williams has been a disappointment with his 5.14 mark, and newcomer Luis L. Ortiz is sporting a 5.96 mark.
Even the best pitchers in the unit, Logan Allen and Ben Lively, don’t have an ERA below 4.00.
The bullpen is magnificent, but the rotation is currently a real concern.
Shane Bieber can’t come back soon enough, and he still has several steps to clear in his rehab process.
At this point, one can’t help but think the Guards will need to make a trade for an impact starter before the deadline if they want to have a chance at repeating their AL Central crown.
NEXT: Guardians Make A Flurry Of Roster Moves On Tuesday
