Cleveland Guardians reveal starting rotation changes ahead of critical playoff push

The Cleveland Guardians have announced their starting pitchers for their big weekend set with the Minnesota Twins.

Sep 10, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) and pitching coach Carl Willis (51) look on from the dugout in the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians have mapped out most of their starting pitching plans for their four game set with the Minnesota Twins this weekend at Target Field, including a double-header on Saturday. 

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt confirmed Wednesday that rookie southpaw Parker Messick will get the start in Friday’s series opener. Messick has looked great since his call-up on August 20th. 

Sep 13, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Parker Messick (77) throws a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Messick’s last start was against the White Sox on September 13th and he looked great again, throwing six innings, only giving up one run and he struck out six. 

Stephen Vogt noted Parker Messick will start Friday against the Twins and Joey Cantillo will go Sunday.

Logan Allen and Slade Cecconi are set to start in Saturday's doubleheader, but the Guardians are still determining who goes which game.

— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) September 17, 2025

Vogt said Logan Allen and Slade Cecconi are set to start in Saturday's doubleheader, he also noted that the club has yet to decide which pitcher will start Game 1 and which will take Game 2, but both are expected to be part of the rotation for the twin bill. 

Allen will be making one of his most important starts of 2025, and Cecconi, who was acquired this past winter in the Josh Naylor trade, will need to put together a strong outing as we have seen him do multiple times this year. 

Joey Cantillo will throw on Sunday in the series finale. Cantillo has had his ups and downs, but he needs to put together another good outing as Cleveland looks to stay alive in the American League playoff picture. 

With every game essentially being a playoff game the rest of the way, the Guardians have to put their best out there every night. 

The Guardians will also need to be strategic with bullpen usage, especially with four games packed into three days. This doubleheader can end up turning into guys needing to eat some innings, as we saw last season with Pedro Avilia. Guys like Matt Festa, Zak Kent and Kolby Allard may be called into that same role if need be.

Cleveland’s pitching staff has been tested all year by injuries, inconsistency, and gambling investigations, but this weekend represents a chance to prove the depth can hold up under pressure. 

With just a few weeks left in the regular season, the Guardians’ path to October may be narrow, but it is still open. The rotation choices for this weekend underline how important every inning will be. Vogt and his staff are trusting their young arms to rise to the moment against a divisional rival that will be trying to play a little bit of spoiler this weekend. 

Strong starts from all of these guys are crucial, and they need to keep this bullpen as fresh as they can heading into this series and beyond.