The Guardians Have Unlocked A Pitching Strategy Built For October

The Cleveland Guardians find themselves in a comfortable spot heading into October as they clinched a playoff spot for the eighth time in 11 years. On the back of another strong performance from Joey Cantillo, the Guardians won 1-0 in Boston to clinch at least a wildcard position in the American League. They seem to have unlocked a new problem for opposing offenses in the tall-left hander.

Cantillo struggled in August, issuing too many walks that led to runs in leading up to the September stretch. Then they had an epiphany. The Guardians have used rookie flame-thrower Daniel Espino to open his starts. The right-handed pitcher has been deployed in the first inning to use his plus fastball to get through the first three hitters. Then Cantillo gets to settle in coming into the second inning.

The once erratic pitcher has grown comfortable in the role of taking the mound in the second inning. Cantillo has thrown 15 straight scoreless innings since being removed as the starting pitcher. His arm slot and change of speed is a different angle from Espino’s and it has allowed him to go deeper into games.

The Guardians have used Espino as an “opener” in which he starts to get through the opposing teams first three hitters. That allows Cantillo to throw deeper into ball games and get through the third time of top of the lineup. Cantillo has utilized his changeup to throw strikes and get quick outs through the second and sixth innings.

The new strategy comes at a perfect time for the Guardians. Although they lead by one game in the division, the Chicago White Sox own the tiebreaker and play the lowly Colorado Rockies to finish out the season. The Guardians are top heavy in the rotation with Parker Messick and Gavin Williams. Messick may have to start the season finale to secure a division title and earn a first-round bye.

If Messick starts against the Royals and the Guardians end up in the wildcard round, then the Guardians will be very thin at starting pitching. Williams will pitch game one of the series and then it gets dicey from there. Cantillo and Espino’s new role can provide an advantage in a short three-game series.

Should the Guardians win the division and get a bye to the American League Divisional Series, then they will have to win three of five games. Messick and Williams will have the first two starts, but after that the rotation gets very thin. Cantillo’s emergence gives them three reliable pitchers to sway the series. The Guardians need to rely on solid pitching to win short playoff series.

As the season boils down to a couple more games and the Guardians set their lineup for an October push, they may have figured out how to utilize Cantillo’s abilities to their advantage. In the eighth postseason in 11 years, the Guardians may have found their biggest advantage in starting Cantillo in the second inning and resting the bullpen.

The bullpen has struggled in the middle innings this season. By starting Cantillo in the second inning, they can use Erik Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis in the seventh and eighth innings, should he get through five innings, which he has done in every start since Espino has started.

For a small market team, the Guardians have to be smart on how to utilize their roster and get the most out of them. They have seemingly struck the right chord with Cantillo, which will be key to an October push to deliver a championship to Cleveland.

Add us as a preferred source on Google