It's very odd. When the Guardians' season began, the prevailing thought was that they'd be going ahead with a rotation consisting of Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Cal Quantrill, Aaron Civale and Triston McKenzie. The current iteration of the Guardians' rotation consists, in all actuality, of Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, Gavin Williams, Xzavion Curry and Noah Syndergaard. And yet the cumulative ERA of the rotation is still 3.66, which is not bad at all considering that Shane Bieber isn't there.
It's been a season of backup plans for the Guardians. They really thought they'd be going forward with Mike Zunino behind the plate, but that didn't work at all and they've ultimately been using Bo Naylor and Eric Haase there. There was all this hubbub about Josh Bell being the new source of power, then he struggles all through his time there and immediately finds his bat in Miami; meanwhile, Kole Calhoun has been playing that role relatively well.
The biggest reset of the year has obviously been this rotation, and the fact that it's gone so well is really just a testament to how quietly excellent the Guardians' farm system has continued to be. Gavin Williams was at least a predetermined breakout, as he was such a high-ranked prospect, but Allen and Bibee were lesser known and outdid expectations. Bibee's 10-3 with a 3.01 ERA and 117 Ks in 21 starts, I think he's an under-the-radar Rookie of the Year candidate. Allen, through 19 games, has a 3.31 ERA and 100 strikeouts, he might be the most solid, consistent guy there.
Williams has had the shakier year but the sharper upsides. Gavin Williams is looking like one of those overpowered hard-throwing guys you need at least one of, and since Trevor Bauer left the Tribe has really needed one of those. Shane Bieber does count a lot of the time, but he's known more for consistency than for really challenging the speed gauge. The thing about the current faction of hard-throwing guys is that the accuracy isn't always there, and it takes them a while to really figure that out. Williams has a 3.52 ERA and has only won 1 game, but he's struck out 68 batters in 12 games, which is a very nice stat. In a full season I do wonder what madness he'd get up to.
At the same time though, in a full season I wonder how a lot of this rotation would work. It's looking like only Thor is a free agent at the end of this season, which means if all eight guys are healthy come 2024 Spring Training, it's gonna be a mad fight to see who lands in those five spaces. Not like Bieber, Quantrill or Bibee's spots would be in question, but would Triston McKenzie still have a firm spot even if he's missed all this time in the past few years? Do they give up on Plesac entirely? Does one of the rookies get dealt for a big piece? Will Curry end up back in the bullpen? It's a complicated scenario that the Tribe is really gonna have to measure out after the season, because both halves of this puzzle are working halves.
Even if the Guardians aren't exactly a playoff team this year, it's been eye-opening seeing them reform and adjust down the stretch, and this rotation does make me think they'll be competitive again fairly soon.
Coming Tonight: Oh yeah...there's this, uh, 21-year-old infielder that's setting the league on fire, I should probably do one of him..
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