Cleveland Baseball Insider

Guardians Starting Pitching Is Getting Back On Track

After a difficult start to the season, the Guardians' starters are beginning to get on track.
Tommy Wild|
Guardians Starting Pitching Is Getting Back On Track
Guardians Starting Pitching Is Getting Back On Track

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Cleveland Guardians

Last night, Shane Bieber had a fantastic start! At the beginning of the season, fans were worried about the starting pitchers. However, starts like Bieber's are an example of how this staff is starting to turn it around and be the Cleveland pitching fans and the league expect to see. Each of the starters has some momentum to build on and it seems that they are starting to get back on track. 

Shane Bieber

Including last night, Bieber has gone at least seven innings in his last three starts. In those starts, he also had a total of 26 strikeouts and only four walks only allowing six runs. 

The start of the season for Bieber did not go as expected, but it is important to remember how much time he missed last season. It would make sense that it would take a little bit of time for him to feel comfortable again, and now that he is we are getting to see the Shane Bieber that is so important to this team's success. 

Triston McKenzie

So far this season, Triston McKenzie has been the team’s ace. He has been the best and most consistent pitcher throughout the whole season. In the month of May, McKenzie has a 2.17 ERA with 28 strikeouts and only seven walks. He also had a WHIP of 0.735.

These are numbers are impressive on their own, but when looking at the lineups that McKenzie faced, they make them even more incredible. The lineups McKenzie faced in May were Oakland, Toronto, Minnesota, Houston, and Detroit. 

Cal Quantrill

Cal Quantrill has been very consistent for the Guardians this season. One of the storylines that always seems to play an important role during Quantrill's starts is run support, which he has got very little of this year outside of his last start. 

Quantrill has only let up four runs or more once this season and pitched at least six innings in all of his starts in May. If Quantrill can start to get some run support from the offense, he will be able to feel more comfortable on the mound and his record will reflect that.

Zach Plesac

In his last start, Zach Plesac pitched six innings and only gave up one run. This is an encouraging sign because Plesac has struggled some this year. A positive split to look at though is his home and away stats. 

When pitching at home, Plesac has a 3.10 ERA versus his 7.52 ERA when on the road. He also has pitched nine more innings at home than away showing. It is also good to see that Plesac has pitched decently as of late too. Taking out his start against the Astros, Plesac only gave up three total runs in starts against Kansas City and Cincinnati which is an encouraging sign. 

Aaron Civale

One of the bigger question marks for this pitching staff is Aaron Civale. Civale has struggled a lot this season and is currently on the injured list. However, in his last start before missing time, Civale pitched 6.1 innings only allowing three hits and one run. 

Even though it was against a struggling Detroit Tigers team, Civale had great command of the zone in his start. Hopefully, when Civale returns he will be able to carry the momentum over from his last start. 

It was definitely a slower start for the starting staff than anyone expected, but each of the starters has some positives to look at and momentum to build upon as the season moves on. 

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Tommy Wild
TOMMY WILD

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