With the AL Central title already wrapped up, the Cleveland Guardians can now focus on aligning their starting rotation for the Wild Card Series, when the postseason officially begins on Friday, October 7.
Based on where things stand now, the Guardians could end up playing the Seattle Mariners in the first round.
But if they’re thinking about setting up their rotation, it’s the perfect time to do it, and they have a ton of options.
Each of their starters is hot and could easily slot in as the Game 1 starter.
The tweet below features some recent stats courtesy of their likely playoff starters, All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, and reliever James Karinchak.
Shane Bieber: 2.05 ERA in last 12 starts
Triston McKenzie: 2.21 ERA in last 16 starts
Cal Quantrill: 2.32 ERA in last 10 starts
James Karinchak: 0.76 ERA in last 34 games
Emmanuel Clase: 0.97 ERA in last 68 gamesYou don't want to face the @CleGuardians right now. https://t.co/B9TrQoF64y
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 29, 2022
Guards Pitching Lined Up For October
This is just one reason to be excited right now if you’re a fan of the Guardians.
On top of outperforming all expectations, their pitching is red-hot and in great shape as the postseason nears.
One would figure that Shane Bieber would get the Game 1 start and Triston McKenzie Game 2, with Cal Quantrill potentially set up for Game 3 if necessary.
And if anything goes wrong with one of the starters, the Guardians have a deep and talented bullpen that can be put to work at any moment to try and stop the bleeding.
People may have overlooked the Guardians this year, but the Guardians have proven why doing that is a huge mistake.
They may not be the overwhelming favorites to win a title, let alone make it out of the Wild Card round, but this team’s pitching could be what carries them deep into October and it could take them as far as the World Series.
NEXT: The Guardians Own Several Shocking Records In 2022