The Cleveland Guardians entered the 2025 MLB season with major concerns about their starting rotation.
They had an elite bullpen and great defense, but pitching was a bit of an issue.
However, the potential was most definitely there, and it seems like it’s finally showing.
As pointed out by Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, Stephen Vogt’s team has gotten way more out of their rotation in the last six starts.
“In the last six games, the rotation has posted a 2.12 ERA (eight earned runs in 34 innings). The starters have struck out 28, walked 11 and allowed 28 hits,” Hoynes wrote. “It would appear, at least for now, that things are headed in the right direction for the rotation.”
While the starters have only won two of their last six contests, and they still haven’t been able to go the distance as often as one would want, the team is still 5-1 during that stretch.
Tanner Bibee held the Minnesota Twins to just one run over seven innings before Luis L. Ortiz and Ben Lively joined the party.
Ortiz tossed 6.2 scoreless innings before Lively shut the Twins down across 5.2 frames as well.
This is a major improvement from the previous six starts, in which the rotation never gave the bullpen a chance and went 1-4 with a 9.84 ERA while allowing more runs (27) than innings pitched (24.2).
We already know what this bullpen is capable of, and it’s up to the starters to make sure they don’t get overworked.
This team only needs six frames of quality work before their myriad of star relievers finish the job.
NEXT: Insider Has High Praise For 1 Guardians Pitcher
