The lesson from Don Mattingly’s bullpen choices in yesterday’s NL Wild Card game is simple enough for the Guardians to hear loud and clear: get your best reliever on the mound when the game is on the line, and do it against the other team’s biggest bats.
Mattingly brought Jhoan Duran into the bottom of the seventh with a 3-2 lead and sent him straight at the Braves’ 9, 1 and 2 hitters. Then he came back to Duran in the eighth for hitters 3, 4 and 5.
The decision drew plenty of backlash once Duran allowed a three-run, go-ahead homer to Austin Riley in the eighth after the 5th and 6th hitters reached on an infield hit and a hit-by-pitch. But that reaction, at least from this view, misses the larger point.
Duran did what a closer is supposed to do in that spot: he came in with a one-run lead and retired five straight hitters from the most dangerous part of the Atlanta order. The trouble came after that, when weak contact turned into a hit and the inning kept moving.
At that stage, the next arm should have been warming and ready as fast as possible. That reliever would have had six pitches and maybe a mound visit to get set before Riley came up.
The longer leash Mattingly gave Duran may have been tied to the Phillies’ bullpen being what it is, but the process itself still makes sense.
The core idea is the one that matters most in October: if you have a lead in the seventh inning or later, your best reliever should be facing the other team’s best hitters in meaningful spots. Mattingly did that.
He got 5 out of 6 hitters out, and he made sure Duran saw the top of the Braves’ order when the game was still there to be won. After that, the more logical move would have been to have the next-best option ready to take over once the situation turned unfamiliar for the closer, especially with two outs, a runner on first, and one more out still needed.
For the Guardians, that idea points straight at Cade Smith. If Stephen Vogt finds himself in the same kind of spot, putting Smith into that role makes perfect sense.
It guarantees he’s facing the best hitters late with a lead, and Smith has already shown he can handle multiple innings and work as the fireman. The off days in the series should give Cleveland room to be aggressive with Smith and its other top arms, since they’ll have time to recover between appearances.
There are other names in the mix too. Erik Sabrowski, Daniel Espino, Shawn Armstrong, a healthy Colin Holderman and even, on a good day, Tim Herrin could be used to get a batter and finish the eighth. Tanner Bibee or Foster Griffin could also be asked to throw the kitchen sink at a hitter.
None of that means reliever comfort should be ignored. If the Guardians genuinely believe moving Smith from the eighth into the ninth would mess with him mentally, that matters. But based on what is known about Cade Smith, that doesn’t seem likely.
The one thing Cleveland has to avoid is dropping a lead in the seventh or later without Cade Smith ever seeing the opponent’s best hitters. Mattingly made sure that didn’t happen yesterday. The Guardians should take the same approach.
In Other News...
Guardians ALDS Picture Just Got More Complicated After Wild Card Opener
The Guardians ALDS path became a little clearer, and a little messier, after the White Sox opened their Wild Card Series with a 6-3 win over the Astros. Cleveland is waiting to see which opponent emerges for Saturdays Division Series start, and the result in Houston immediately adds another layer to the scouting work the Guardians already had in front of them.
Chicagos win means Cleveland now has to prepare for a series that could come with a different look on the mound than many expected, which matters in October as much as anything. The matchup, the pitching order and the way each club lines up its arms could all shape the opening games in a hurry, and the Guardians will be watching the rest of this series closely before the ALDS gets underway. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Finally Have A Real ALDS Opportunity If One Team Advances
The Guardians are lined up for a genuine ALDS chance, and they get the benefit of home-field advantage no matter which club emerges from the Houston Astros-Chicago White Sox series. Even though Cleveland dropped the regular-season matchups against both possible opponents, those meetings came before this group fully took shape, and the roster has changed enough since then to make those results feel less predictive than they once did.
What makes this setup so intriguing is how much better the Guardians look now than they did in those earlier head-to-heads. Key players have come back from injury, the roster has been strengthened by new additions, and the overall tone around the club has shifted as a result. Analysts around the team believe Cleveland is better positioned now to push either Houston or Chicago, which gives this waiting game a little more edge while the Division Series bracket plays out. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Fans Suddenly Have A Real Stephen Vogt Offseason Concern
Stephen Vogts rise in Cleveland has been quick enough to make him one of the more intriguing names around the managerial carousel, and now theres a fresh reason for Guardians fans to pay attention. After the Mariners moved on from Dan Wilson following the 2026 season, their opening has immediately become one of the most interesting jobs on the board, with Vogt mentioned as a possible candidate because of what he has already built in Cleveland.
That alone is enough to stir concern in the Guardians dugout and in the fan base, especially after Vogt guided the club to three straight AL Central titles and then signed a multi-year deal after the 2024 season. Any move would not be simple, though, because a change like this would likely require a trade, and for now there has been no official confirmation of any Seattle pursuit. Still, the connection is real enough to keep Cleveland on alert. [Read more 🡒]