Young Guardians pushing for final spot in rotation
Guardians adapting to rules changes
CLEVELAND — For the Cleveland Guardians, whose pitchers and catchers reported to camp in Goodyear, Arizona this week, there's little mystery regarding the starting rotation.
After Shane Bieber, Triston Mckenzie, Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac, likely in that order, the Guardians have a number of youthful arms to sort through, including Xzavion Curry, Cody Morris, Konnor Pilkington, Logan Allen, Joey Cantillo, Peyton Battenfield, Hunter Gaddis and the newly claimed Jason Bilous.
That's before considering Daniel Espino, Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee behind them as top-100 prospects making their way up the ladder to the majors.
In addition to starting pitching depth in Triple-a and Double-a (and the logjam that has been created), there's also the question of whether one of those players opens the season in the Guardians bullpen. As it stands, Emmanuel Clase, James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, Eli Morgan, Enyel De Los Santos, Nick Sandlin and Sam Hentges should have the first seven spots locked down, potentially leaving room for one more.
Three major rule changes will be implemented this season, which means for many players, this spring will be an adjustment period. Defensive infield shifts are banned, bases are now larger, and there will now be a pitch clock to speed up the game.
The pitch clock might especially impact Karinchak, who tosses the ball, rubs his hair and adjusts his cap repeatedly before putting the ball in play.
The larger bases could benefit the Guardians, who last year had the third-most stolen bases in the majors, led by Myles Straw, Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez, all of whom had at least 20.
Baserunners and catchers know that every fraction of a second counts, and the larger bases could tilt many of the bang-bang plays to the runner.
Hitters like Josh Bell believe outlawing defensive shifts could benefit them, as many hard-hit balls to the right side might fall for hits instead of being a routine out. Teams might potentially get around the rule change with a severe alteration of their outfield alignment, but it remains to be seen how daring teams get this season.