How To Fix The Guardians' Bullpen Trouble

The Cleveland Guardians need to get more relievers with a high strikeout rate for their bullpen.

The Cleveland Guardians went from having one of the best bullpens in baseball in 2022 to having a shaky and inconsistent group just a year later. 

Cleveland didn't necessarily have a bad group of relievers, especially when compared to some of the other bullpens in the Big Leagues. However, their weaknesses were clear and were exposed by their opponent.

This reliever core struggled to get outs in tight games and the Guardians definitely played in their fair share of close contests. 

Of course, one way to fix these problems could be adding one or two arms via trade or free agency. But what exactly should the organization be looking for in these pitchers and what should players already on the roster be working on during the off-season?

It all comes down to strikeouts. 

The Guardians, as solid as they were with preventing runs from being scored, had trouble punching batters out. This came back to bite them late in games and was one of the reasons the team was tied for an MLB-leading 34-blown saves.

Cleveland's relievers had a collective ERA of 3.79 during the season which was top-10 in baseball but their SO/9 was just a 9.02. They allowed teams to put the ball into play which set the stage for disaster with the game left in the hands of their opponents.

Eli Morgan was arguably Cleveland's best strikeout pitcher, but even he only had a SO/9 of 10.0. But his K% ranks in the 62nd percentile and his Whiff% is in the 66th, per Baseball Savant.

Sep 3, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Eli Morgan (49) walks off the field during the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports / © Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

One of the most shocking pitchers to look at is Emmanuel Clase who had a rollercoaster season. He's never been known as a strikeout pitcher but he only recorded 64 punch outs in 2023. 

For reference, Nick Sandlin finished the year with 6 in 12.2 lesson innings pitched.

The Guardians being down a number of starting pitchers and needing to turn to bullpen games more often in the second half of the season certainly didn't help any of this. However, if Cleveland hopes to play meaningful October baseball in 2024 they need to address this glaring weakness.