Guardians Prioritizing Pitching as Roster Moves Made Ahead of ALCS

After this one specific move was made by the Guardians prior to the start of the ALCS, it's clear that they know how important their pitching will be in this series.

Sep 7, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Slade Cecconi (44) pitches in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Cleveland Guardians are preparing for the start of their ALCS date with the Tampa Bay Rays.

After battling till the very end in the ALDS, the Guardians held off the Chicago White Sox in Game 5 to advance to the championship series. Now, they’ll have their hands full as they take on the number one seed in the American League.

The first step to preparing for the next round is setting their roster, which definitely needed another arm out of the bullpen added. That way, their group of pitchers isn’t as heavily utilized as they were against Chicago. 

The Guardians set their 26-man roster for the ALCS.

Only change: Slade Cecconi on, Daniel Schneemann off pic.twitter.com/xxgYCApKt9

— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) October 12, 2026

The addition of Slade Cecconi to their roster is a big step in the right direction, as it allows for another name to be called on in the middle innings to help reserve their typical bullpen guys down the stretch.

Cecconi has the experience in the bullpen to help this team out against a difficult Rays offense. It will be critical that the Guardians manage and utilize their bullpen better if they hope to reach the World Series.

Here’s why adding Cecconi to the roster over Daniel Schneemann was the right decision:

Cleveland’s bullpen was used heavily to overcome the White Sox

It was clear that the Guardians could have used another arm in their bullpen throughout the five-game series against Chicago. It was so overused that starting pitcher Gavin Williams saw time as their closer in Game 4 after the rest of their pitchers had already made appearances.

Yes, it would have been a different outcome had Cleveland been up a comfortable number of runs, as well as not giving up untimely errors to allow Chicago’s runners to threaten scoring.

But now, the Guardians made a very smart decision by adding Cecconi to the bullpen, which will give them more flexibility in high leverage situations. Even if Cecconi is good for an inning or two, that’s better than overusing their typical rotation.

The only other bullpen player that wasn’t used as much as some of their other pitchers was veteran Shawn Armstrong. Even then, each of their other five relievers saw everyday appearances in some relief role.

The Guardians would be smart to also use Matt Festa more in relief appearances, especially to give the Rays a new look after they’ve likely been watching Cleveland’s pitching tape from the ALDS. If they use Festa and Cecconi in the ALCS, they’ll be better off if this series goes to five or more games.

Cleveland will face off against Tampa Bay starting Monday night in Game 1 with Foster Griffin on the mound for the Guardians. First pitch scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EST. from Tropicana Field.