The Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen has been its biggest strength all season, but the relievers haven’t lived up to expectations in the ALCS against the New York Yankees and are a reason why the team is now one game away from elimination.
Manager Stephen Vogt had to field some tough questions after the Game 4 loss on Friday night, and he got honest about his bullpen with reporters.
When asked if he thinks the bullpen is tired, Vogt responded “Everybody’s tired. We’ve used them a lot. We’ve had to. It’s who we are.”
Stephen Vogt was asked if he thinks the Guardians' bullpen is "tired"
"Everybody's tired. We've used them a lot. We've had to. It's who we are." pic.twitter.com/n5iLmNhdQj
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 19, 2024
Gavin Williams started Game 4 and went just 2.1 innings, leaving Vogt to use seven relievers for the second consecutive night.
Everyone in the bullpen pitched well in Game 4 except for Cade Smith and Emmanuel Clase, both of who had incredible regular seasons.
Smith had been lights out in the playoffs, so one rough outing won’t raise much concern, but Clase has been a shell of himself in the playoffs and is going to shoulder most of the blame for this bullpen’s shortcomings in the postseason.
Clase gave up five runs all season and had a minuscule 0.61 ERA, but he has now surrendered eight runs in the playoffs including five in the last two days.
Hunter Gaddis has had his share of rough outings in the playoffs as well, so overall, there is a case to be made that the bullpen is running out of gas.
Matthew Boyd pitched five innings in Game 3 against the Yankees, and that was the only time this postseason a Guardians pitcher has completed five frames.
In five of the team’s nine playoff games, the team’s starter has gone three innings or fewer.
NEXT: Guardians Drop Game 4 In Another Emmanuel Clase Collapse And Are On The Brink Of Elimination
