CLEVELAND — If someone had told you back in March that the Cleveland Guardians would go on to win their fifth division title in the past nine seasons, you might’ve reasonably assumed they’d do so on the back of yet another standout rotation.
Homegrown starting pitching has been a hallmark of the organization for years now, and another promising wave of young arms appeared to be coalescing entering 2024. Mainstays Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie both battled injuries for much of last season but reported to camp feeling good and eager to bounce back in a big way, with Bieber looking especially sharp in the early going.
Beyond that familiar duo, three young arms were entering their sophomore seasons after promising rookie campaigns: crafty left-hander Logan Allen (3.81 ERA in 125.1 IP), hard-throwing righty Gavin Williams (3.29 ERA in 82 IP) and Tanner Bibee, whose excellence across 25 starts in 2023 earned him a second-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting. While health and inexperience loomed as potential pitfalls, there was substantial optimism that the upside of the starting staff could fuel a return to the postseason.
Instead, things unraveled rather quickly. Williams was shut down before Opening Day due to elbow soreness, missed the first three months of the regular season and has battled inconsistency since he returned. Allen and McKenzie were both demoted to Triple-A midsummer after their ERAs ballooned above 5.00, and neither has since reemerged as a viable option. And the most crushing blow, of course, was losing Bieber.
After a winter of speculation about the possibility that he would be traded entering the final year of his contract, Cleveland’s decision to hold on to the former Cy Young Award winner initially appeared prudent: Bieber was dominant in his first two starts of the season, striking out 20 batters over 12 scoreless innings. But amid the early success, he reported elbow pain that eventually became too much to overcome, resulting in Tommy John surgery on April 12.
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And so, with 80% of the projected rotation either injured or drastically underperforming, Cleveland turned to a quartet of veteran arms to fill the gaps. The signing of 32-year-old journeyman Ben Lively didn’t feel especially significant in December, yet he has made a career-high 28 starts for the Guardians out of…