Fans, analysts, and even scouts lauded the Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen last year, the best in baseball with a 2.57 ERA.
Many people, however, didn’t think that the Guards could repeat such a fantastic bullpen performance, not after their top four guys (Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, Hunter Gaddis, and Emmanuel Clase) were severely overused if we include the playoffs.
However, despite their heavy workload, the unit as a whole leads the American League with a 2.25 ERA and is fourth in MLB entering play on Tuesday.
How have they done it?
Well, three of the ‘four horsemen’ are still performing at an elite level (except for Clase and his 7.71 ERA entering Tuesday) and they have found steady veterans in Jakob Junis and Paul Sewald.
“They’ve done a great job,” manager Stephen Vogt told Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. “They have allowed us not to go to the other guys every day.”
Of course, the top four guys remain the backbone of the Guardians’ bullpen.
They have managed to stay at the top because of a strong offseason, according to pitching coach Carl Willis.
“Those guys did a good job in the offseason of getting themselves ready, by not jumping the gun,” he said. “We tried to help them with that in spring training … I think they’ve come into the season in a spot where they’re ready to go.”
Of course, we can’t forget about the contributions of an unsung relief hero: Joey Cantillo.
The talented lefty has taken his game to another level with the move to the bullpen and is sporting a 0.96 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.
Erik Sabrowski, Andrew Walters, and Trevor Stephan should all be back at some point, too, and the same can be said about Nick Enright and Franco Aleman.
The pieces are there for this unit to dominate from start to finish once again.
NEXT: Guardians Executive Shows Support For Struggling Closer
