Guardians Rookie Starting Rotation Has Been One Of MLB's Best, Despite Injuries To Veterans
When the 2023 season is all said and done, the story for the Cleveland Guardians will undoubtedly be the number of injuries the starting rotation sustained dating back to before Opening Day.
Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, and Aaron Civale (when he was still with Cleveland) all faced time on the injured list. These injuries forced the Guardians to turn to their next wave of starting pitching earlier than anticipated.
However, this rotation has time and time again proven to be not only effective but one of the best in baseball.
Let's look at the season ranks first.
Cleveland's starters, which includes anyone who has made a start for the Guardians in 2023, have the eighth-best ERA in baseball and the seventh-best in the American League with a 3.90.
They've also given up the third-fewest home runs in baseball at 73. Only the San Francisco Giants (72) and Tampa Bay Rays (68) have given up less. Guardians starters have also done a tremendous job not giving up runs. They've only allowed 281 earned runs which is the fourth fewest in the AL.
The rotation has been fantastic. But these stats mean even more considering the staff has been composed of four rookies for almost half the year. Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Xzavion Curry weren't in the plans to have this big of an impact at the beginning of the season, but here they are.
Jul 22, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee (61) shouts to teammates after the end of the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Williams has an ERA of 2.80 and 47 strikeouts through his first 10 starts in the Big Leagues. Bibee's ERA sits are 2.90 and a WHIP of 1.21 as he makes a case for being Rookie of the Year. Allen has a sub-three ERA in his last seven starts while Curry has been the glue keeping the team from having full bullpen games every five days.
This cycle of starters has been in place for a few months now and they've been one of the best rotations in baseball too.
Since the All-Star Break, Cleveland's starting pitchers have the best ERA (2.73), the fewest hits per nine innings (7.29), the lowest BABIP (.260), the second-best WHIP (1.15), and third lowest opponent average (.223).
This is the resume you'd expect to see from a team paying their pitchers millions of dollars an arm while competing for a World Series. Yet, the Guardians are doing it with four rookies and virtually no veterans in the rotation.
Yes, I realize they have Noah Syndergaard. But he will make just his fourth start for the team on Wednesday evening.
The 2023 season has not gone as planned. However, Cleveland's farm system has stepped up amid all the injuries and proven they can be one of baseball's best rotations for years to come.
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Photo Credit © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
