The Cleveland Guardians aren’t closing the door on a six-man rotation in September, but manager Stephen Vogt isn’t exactly sounding eager to go back to the setup that helped fuel last year’s surge.
That call was a huge part of Cleveland’s run in September 2025, when the club stormed back to win the American League Central. The move also lined up with one of the most dominant stretches by a pitching staff in franchise history. This time around, though, Vogt says the Guardians are still sorting through whether it makes sense again.
“We haven't talked about that yet,” Cleveland’s skipper explained.
“I think we're still looking at our schedule. This is a tough gauntlet coming out, coming into September 1st. So, we haven't talked through six-man or not.”
The biggest difference from last September is the shape of the month ahead. Vogt described that stretch as “the perfect storm,” and the ingredients were hard to miss: Cleveland played 27 games in 26 days, including a doubleheader, and several pitchers were pushing past career highs in innings.
There’s also the bullpen picture, which was very different a year ago. Vogt indicated the Guardians may be more inclined to carry an extra reliever now rather than add another starter to the mix.
“The schedule really doesn't set up for it like it did last year,” Vogt continued. “It worked out with the personnel. Um, and it worked out with where our bullpen was and I think it was a perfect storm last year why we were able to do it.”
Even so, Vogt said Cleveland has enough arms if it wants to go that route. The current rotation includes Gavin Williams, Parker Messick, Tanner Bibee, Foster Griffin, and Joey Cantillo.
Logan Allen is also on the big-league roster, and Vogt said he’s stretched out enough to start if needed. Slade Cecconi is getting closer to returning from the injured list.
There are still more options down on the farm, too. Vogt mentioned Austin Peterson and Yorman Gomez as additional possibilities for Cleveland.
Nothing has been ruled out yet, but based on Vogt’s comments, a six-man rotation doesn’t sound like the plan that will carry the Guardians into 2026.
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