Tanner Bibee has spent the last two Octobers in the thick of Cleveland’s pitching plans. In 2024, he led the Guardians with four starts during their run to the American League Championship Series. Last fall, he turned in one start in a shortened postseason, giving up one run across 4 2/3 innings against the Tigers.
This October has looked very different. Bibee made the roster for both the American League Division Series and the ALCS, but his only appearance this postseason was a rough one against the White Sox, when he allowed two runs in 1/3 of an inning. Now, though, the weather may force him back into a major role.
Cleveland’s incoming forecast is ugly enough to complicate everything beyond Games 4 and 5, even though there hasn’t been any word yet on how the rain might affect those matchups. The window to move a game up has already passed - just as it did for Thursday’s Game 3 - so postponements or delays are very much in play.
That matters in a big way for a pitching staff that already has questions behind Parker Messick and Gavin Williams. Bibee suddenly looks like the clearest answer if the Guardians need innings while trying to move one step closer to the World Series.
If the series goes forward on schedule, Bibee could be used tonight either as the nominal starter or in bulk relief. Messick and Williams are not options today because they’re still working back to regular rest, which would put Messick in line for Game 6 on Monday and Williams for Game 7 on Tuesday. Foster Griffin, meanwhile, looks like the cleanest choice to start Saturday’s Game 5 on normal rest.
Bibee had a team-high 33 starts in the regular season, but he hasn’t started since Sept. 26, and the only time he’s pitched since then was that shaky relief outing. Expecting length from him would be a stretch, especially after he finished the regular season with a 4.36 ERA.
Cleveland does have other fresh arms it can tap if needed. Slade Cecconi and Joey Cantillo are both available and could cover an inning or two for Stephen Vogt.
The trickiest scenario comes if Friday’s game gets bumped to Saturday. In that case, Griffin could take Game 4 on regular rest and Messick could get Game 5 on regular rest, but the Guardians’ bullpen game would then be pushed back to a winner-take-all Game 6.
At some point, the Guardians are going to have to piece together a bullpen game. It might be tonight, it might be over the weekend, or it might be next weekend in Florida. And whenever that happens, Bibee is likely to be right in the middle of it, with Cleveland’s World Series hopes riding on his right shoulder.
In Other News...
Guardians Loss May Have Quietly Set Up The Rest Of This Series
The Guardians did enough early to make Game 4 feel like a chance to even the ALCS, but the game slipped away once the Rays pushed across runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Even so, the loss may not have been as damaging as it first looked, because Cleveland managed to avoid leaning too heavily on the bullpen and preserve its most important relief arms for the rest of the series.
That matters with the matchup still hanging in the balance, especially after Tampa Bay also went through several pitchers in the same game. Both clubs now have some moving pieces to sort through on the mound, and the way each staff is managed over the next few days could end up shaping the rest of the series just as much as the score from Game 4. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians Face A Real October Decision On Travis Bazzana
Travis Bazzana has given the Guardians enough at the plate to keep his name in the lineup conversation, but the glove has made things a little less straightforward as October has worn on. The rookie second baseman has flashed real offensive value, yet his seven errors at the position have become hard to ignore, and the latest reminder came in a recent game against the Rays.
Stephen Vogt has already shown he is willing to make a late-game switch at second, turning to Angel Genao in postseason situations to tighten things up defensively. So the question hanging over Cleveland is a familiar one for any contender with a young infielder in the spotlight: how much offense can they afford to keep in the lineup if the defense keeps giving away outs? [Read more 🡒]
Travis Bazzana May Have Just Changed Cleveland's ALCS Outlook
Travis Bazzana delivered his best postseason game yet in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, reaching base three times against the Tampa Bay Rays and giving Cleveland a jolt when it needed one. The rookie second baseman finished with a home run, a walk, a run scored and an RBI, and his first career playoff homer helped spark a rally even in a loss.
For a Guardians lineup that has been searching for steady production in a tight series, Bazzana's timing mattered almost as much as the box score. Cleveland did not finish the job, but the performance helped level the matchup at two games apiece and hinted at a player who may be starting to settle into the postseason stage at exactly the right time. [Read more 🡒]