The Cleveland Guardians bullpen received its fair share of criticism this month, often losing leads late in games and putting more pressure on the offense. The unit, however, has behaved very well during the team’s current seven-game winning streak.
In the seven games, the pitching staff as a whole has been brilliant. The bullpen came up big on Wednesday’s victory, tossing three scoreless innings to keep the team in the game and give the offense a chance to come back, but the most impressive performance came on Tuesday’s 8-6 win.
Gavin Williams had his shortest outing in ages, covering just 1.1 frames while allowing five runs. Incredibly, Cleveland won that game, in large part because of the 8.2 phenomenal innings of just one run that the bullpen covered.
The guy who relieved Williams, Matt Festa, was heavily criticized all year leading up to August. He was seen as the weak link in Cleveland’s bullpen, and for good reason. The right-hander, however, has effectively turned around his season, and his ERA is now down to a really solid 3.70, in part because of the 1.2 scoreless innings he tossed on Tuesday.
Festa has pitched 56 innings this year and has a 3.44 FIP in addition to that solid ERA. He has struck out 62 batters, as opposed to just 16 walks.
His stat line has been fueled by an incredible August, in which he has a minuscule 0.79 ERA in 11.1 frames. He has given away three walks and struck out 13 batters this month, and has been nearly flawless.
He went from being on the roster bubble, continually flirting with being designated for assignment, to becoming a key component of the Guardians’ bullpen these days. He often gives Cleveland more than three outs, and his ability to do that is pure gold for manager Stephen Vogt.
Festa won’t light up the radar gun, but he knows how to pitch and loves competing. As long as he is pitching like this, it’s hard to see him leaving this bullpen anytime soon. Vogt absolutely adores him, and fans are now starting to see why.
NEXT: Guardians Complete Another Stunning Comeback, Extend Winning Streak To Seven
