Rest vs. rust: Guardians managing playoff preparation
Clinching a division with nine games remaining, as the Cleveland Guardians did this season, comes with a number of considerations.
The Guardians clinched the American League Central on Sept. 25, their first division title since 2018. Game 1 of the best-of-three series will take place on Friday, though game times have not yet been announced. The Guardians will likely welcome either the Seattle Mariners or Tampa Bay Rays.
It means there will be nearly a twoweek gap between games that truly matter, but it does afford Cleveland the chance to align the pitching staff and balance workloads.
Manager Terry Francona wants to balance those two elements. It means the team is being careful with how workloads are divided up through Wednesday's regular season finale. But when a pitcher is in a game, the idea is to not take the foot off the gas. It's a balance of rest vs. rust that the Guardians feel comfortable they can navigate. They don't feel it'll be an issue.
"The best way is to compete like you always do, but just know that as a staff we're going to put some guardrails on some guys," Francona said. "But when you play, or pitch, you do it the way you're supposed to."
Shane Bieber starting Sunday's game
puts him in line on his normal routine to take the mound Friday. Triston Mckenzie is in line to start Game 2. Cal Quantrill, if needed, will start Game 3 on Sunday. And Aaron Civale will be ready, if that happens, to start Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees if the Guardians advance and need all three games to do so.
Zach Plesac is expected to move to a relief role. If the Guardians end up carrying 12 pitchers for the wild card series, they'd need three starters (Bieber, Mckenzie, Quantrill) and a nine-man bullpen. The first seven spots would be set with Emmanuel Clase, James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, Sam Hentges, Eli Morgan, Nick Sandlin and Enyel De Los Santos. The final two spots would be between Plesac, Cody Morris and Kirk Mccarty.