The Cleveland Guardians have Tanner Bibee, Luis L. Ortiz and Gavin Williams as virtual locks to make the 2025 rotation by Opening Day.
Then you have the candidates for the last two spots: Triston McKenzie, Slade Cecconi, Logan Allen, Ben Lively, Jakob Junis, Vince Velazquez, Kolby Allard and others.
After that, you have prospects with an outside chance of fighting for a spot on the MLB staff.
Left-hander Doug Nikhazy is a member of that last group.
To say he has an uphill battle would be an understatement.
However, the southpaw had another solid outing and won’t give up until the manager cuts him or he makes the talented Cleveland roster.
“2.0 IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2K, 1BB, and a Spring Training win for Doug Nikhazy,” GuardsInsider wrote on X.
2.0 IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2K, 1BB, and a Spring Training win for Doug Nikhazy 🔥#GuardsSpring pic.twitter.com/M8ZdP447cG
— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) February 28, 2025
Nikhazy also threw two scoreless innings in his spring debut against the Los Angeles Angels, with no walks and two strikeouts.
As a result, he is now up to four scoreless, hitless innings in which he has allowed a single walk and accumulated four strikeouts.
The 25-year-old continues to impress, and even though the competition is fierce, he wants a spot on the Guardians staff.
He proved last year that he can succeed at Double-A (3.17 ERA) and Triple-A (2.87 ERA).
Yes, he could use a few more strikeouts.
And yes, he stands to improve that walk rate a little bit (10.8 percent for Columbus).
However, Nikhazy is probably MLB-ready right now, even if his upside isn’t that of an ace.
He could be a solid mid-rotation or back-end option right now if given the chance.
Will the Guardians give one to him?
NEXT: Analyst Says Guardians Pitcher Is A 'Big Question Mark' This Season
