Stephen Vogt is not reaching for Gavin Williams on short rest with the Guardians’ season hanging in the balance.
After Cleveland dropped Game 5 to the Tampa Bay Rays, 3-2, on Sunday, the Guardians fell behind in the American League Championship Series and now need to win Game 6 and Game 7 at Tropicana Field to get to the World Series. That setup had plenty of fans wondering whether Williams, the club’s top arm, would be asked to take the ball Monday night despite the quick turnaround. Vogt shut that down immediately.
“Gavin Williams is not an option to start on short rest, Stephen Vogt said,” MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins posted.
Stebbins also reported that Cleveland is still sorting out its Game 6 pitching plan. Williams last worked in Game 3 on Thursday, so Monday would have come on just three days of rest. Instead, the Guardians are keeping him lined up for a possible Game 7 on Tuesday, when he’d be on normal rest.
There’s logic behind the choice. Williams has already carried a heavy October workload, with three postseason starts plus the first relief outing of his big league career in Game 4 of the division series against the White Sox.
He then turned around two days later to start the decisive Game 5. Add in the regular season, and he’s crossed the 200-inning mark.
Cleveland doesn’t want to risk dulling either his stuff or his arm.
When he’s rested, Williams has been electric this postseason. He’s 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA, and his 44 strikeouts in his first five career postseason starts trail only Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson. The Guardians are clearly betting that the best version of Williams is still ahead of them if they can force a Game 7.
That leaves Monday’s assignment to someone else. Tanner Bibee stands out as one of the freshest arms available after not pitching since a short relief appearance in the division series.
The Opening Day starter led the staff with 19 quality starts during the regular season. Joey Cantillo, Slade Cecconi and Daniel Espino are also in the mix to help soak up innings, and Vogt has already shown this October that he’s comfortable mixing and matching with openers and bulk relievers.
The bullpen is going to be taxed again, too. Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski all pitched in Game 5 after sitting out Game 4, and the three of them combined with Shawn Armstrong to throw six scoreless innings on Sunday. With no off days left, Vogt will have to keep threading the needle with his relievers if this series is going to stretch to two more games.
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