The 'Pen, on Paper

 

I think it's very easy to underestimate the Guardians, especially with the playoffs a week away. They've routinely dominated this season, and have seen great campaigns from Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor, but there have been holes in the team that competitors have easily exploited. The back half of their lineup, for instance, which, while improved upon with the presence of Daniel Schneemann and Kyle Manzardo now, was a black hole of mediocre white guys named Will or Tyler. The infield defense, hammered down by Andres Gimenez and Brayan Rocchio, doesn't mean much when neither are especially sharp at the plate. And, as has been discussed, the starting pitching was more dilapidated than usual, with Tanner Bibee, Ben Lively and Gavin Williams being the only real anchors. 

And yet they still won 90 games, and the AL Central. And it may, in fact, be because nobody has been able to score runs on them after the sixth inning.

Okay, so it's been established that Emmanuel Clase doesn't give up runs. Clase might squeeze his way into the Cy Young conversation just by refusing to be human this year, because a reliever ending a season with a 0.63 ERA and 46 saves does not happen often. The last time a reliever won a Cy Young was Eric Gagne, and Clase is more dominant now than Gagne was because at least Clase stopped using HGHs before his peak. So that's already a given, nobody scores runs in the ninth.

Then you factor in the rest of the bullpen. Hunter Gaddis is on his way to finishing the season with a 1.51 ERA in 72 innings. Cade Smith, who just K'd his 100th batter [MORE THAN CLASE], is looking like he'll finish the season with a 1.96 ERA. Tim Herrin may just keep his season ERA under 2 in the next week. Eli Morgan's only pitched in 30 games this season but he's got a 1.60 ERA. The cumulative ERA of the bullpen is 2.61. That is insanely good, especially when you factor in that the cumulative starting ERA of this team is 4.43. It doesn't matter if the starters are getting beat up, the bullpen will ensure that's all that happens, and this team can certainly hit themselves out of a pickle.

And that's gonna be one of the big factors as the Guardians head into October, with their heroes still looking good. Can the bullpen bail them out if Bibee, Lively and Williams aren't enough? And there's no certainty that this will be enough. Odds are the Guardians get a round 1 bye, and have to play a momentum-chaser in round 2. Will they still have the leverage, and can the bullpen alone propel them to an ALCS? I think there's a chance, but knowing how these postseasons have gone, the Guardians will need to really pull something together to keep plowing through.

Coming Tomorrow- Another talented young outfielder for a fellow 1st place team.