The Guardians are getting a pitcher with two different identities in ALCS Game 3.
Griffin Jax spent the first part of his career carving up hitters in relief, the kind of arm managers trusted when every pitch felt bigger than the last. This season, Tampa Bay stretched him out into a starter, and now the 31-year-old right-hander is taking the ball in one of the biggest spots of his career at Progressive Field with the American League Championship Series tied 1-1.
That shift showed up all over his 2026 line. Jax finished 8-10 with a 3.53 ERA, struck out 116 batters in 112⅓ innings and made 23 starts. Before that, he had spent the previous two seasons almost entirely out of the bullpen, appearing in 72 games and 73 games, respectively.
He was already back in a familiar pressure lane in the AL Division Series against the Yankees. In Game 3, Jax worked two innings in relief in his first postseason outing since 2023. He gave up one earned run on one hit and one walk while striking out four.
What makes him tricky is that he doesn’t live on pure heat. Jax’s most-used pitch in 2026 was a sweeper that sits around 87.5 mph, and he threw it 25.1% of the time.
His next two pitches were nearly equal parts of his mix: a 95.3 mph sinker at 22.7% and a 90.8 mph changeup at 22.6%. He also brought in a 95.9 mph four-seam fastball, a curveball and a cutter, giving him multiple ways to disrupt timing and eye level without leaning on one overpowering pitch.
For Cleveland, the sweeper is the first problem to solve. It’s the pitch Jax goes to most often, and hitters have to decide whether it’s staying in the zone or darting away.
In 2026, opponents hit .222 against it, but the pitch still produced a .417 slugging percentage. It also generated whiffs on 35.7% of swings.
That means it can finish at bats - and it can also get punished if he misses where he wants it.
The bigger trap is overcorrecting. A lineup that’s too eager to lay off the breaking ball can wind up sitting back on everything else.
Opposing hitters slugged .484 against Jax’s four-seam fastball and .407 against his sinker in 2026, while the changeup held them to a .278 slugging percentage and the curveball to .200, according to Baseball Savant. The pitch mix and usage matter, but the lesson is clear: Cleveland has to recognize the sweeper without getting frozen by it.
That kind of discipline can also force Jax to prove how willing he is to come into the zone with his fastball or changeup.
The Guardians have another path, too: make the converted reliever work like a starter. Jax handled the jump in workload this season, but that doesn’t mean Cleveland should treat him like someone who can breeze through a lineup.
His strikeout ability and his comfort in pressure moments are real. Still, the Guardians can make the night longer.
The way to do that is simple enough. Don’t give him easy outs.
Don’t chase early. Don’t help him stack quick innings.
Longer at-bats can expose how he’s using his pitches, push the count higher and give Cleveland another look at the full mix as the game goes on.
With the series even and the next three games moving to Cleveland, the Guardians have a chance to put Jax in a difficult spot in front of their own crowd.
In Other News...
Guardians' Most Painful Trade Looks Even Worse After New Report
The 2021 swap that sent Junior Caminero from Cleveland to Tampa Bay has long lingered as one of the organizations toughest second guesses, and fresh reporting only adds another layer to the regret. The Guardians moved the then-rising prospect for pitcher Tobias Myers, a deal made with the hope of solving a pitching need while parting with a young hitter who was still far from the majors.
Now the sting is not just what Cleveland gave up, but how close the Rays came to asking for something else from the system before settling on Caminero. Xzavion Curry was among the minor leaguers Tampa Bay initially sought, and the fact that Caminero has developed into a top prospect while Myers and Curry have had quieter big league careers makes the trade look even harder to defend in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Schedule Change Created An Unusual MLB Playoff Ripple
MLBs postseason calendar picked up an odd little domino effect Wednesday, with the league moving Game 4 of the NLCS between the Dodgers and Brewers up an hour to 8 p.m. ET. The change did not come out of nowhere. It followed the earlier decision to shift ALCS Game 3 between the Guardians and Rays from 6 p.m. ET to 1 p.m. ET because of expected inclement weather, a reminder of how one playoff adjustment can ripple across the rest of the bracket.
For Cleveland fans, the practical part is simple: the team confirmed that tickets and parking passes will still work for the new start time. The bigger picture is a postseason schedule that can still bend quickly around weather, TV and the rest of the leagues needs, even as the Guardians try to stay focused on the field rather than the clock. [Read more 🡒]
Gavin Williams Is Giving Guardians Fans Another Reason To Believe
Gavin Williams has already done his share to fuel Clevelands October run, and now he is looking to add something else to the mix as the Guardians head into the next round. The young starting pitcher said he wants to be a more vocal leader as the club prepares for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, a sign of how quickly he has grown from power arm to one of the voices in the room.
Williams backed up that confidence with his latest outing, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in the series-clinching win over the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland now turns to a Game 3 matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays, set for 1 PM ET Thursday after a weather-related delay from the original 6 PM start, and the Guardians will be hoping their emerging starter brings the same edge both on the mound and in the clubhouse. [Read more 🡒]