The American League Championship Series begins tonight at Tropicana Field, and both clubs entered Monday with their cards on the table. The 98-win Rays will host the 85-win Guardians in St. Petersburg, with each side revealing the roster it plans to ride into the best-of-seven showdown.
Tampa Bay is starting with Drew Rasmussen, a Cy Young candidate who put together a 172-inning, 2.67 ERA regular season and then sharpened the knife in the American League Division Series. Against the Yankees, he turned in eight innings of 10-strikeout dominance, allowing just three baserunners in a statement outing.
Cleveland is countering with Foster Griffin, the deadline addition who took a winding route back to MLB after a three-year run with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants. Once a first-round pick and top prospect, Griffin split the year between the Nationals and Guardians and finished with 172 2/3 innings of 3.60 ERA ball.
His numbers were better in Washington, where he posted a 3.06 ERA, than in Cleveland, where he had a 5.19 mark, though much of the damage in Guardians colors came in one rough start against the Orioles, when he gave up eight runs. He was far better in his lone ALDS appearance, working 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run, and striking out seven of the 11 batters he faced.
Tampa Bay’s biggest adjustment comes in the bullpen. Left-hander Garrett Cleavinger is out, and young right-hander Brody Hopkins is in.
Cleavinger, 32, had been one of the Rays’ more dangerous relief weapons, carrying a 3.09 ERA into mid-August before a late-season slide that saw him charged with 10 runs over his final 6 1/3 innings. Forearm discomfort sent him to the injured list, and while he was healthy enough to make the ALDS roster, he never appeared in a game.
Hopkins, 24, enters with plenty of prospect buzz and a fastball that can touch 100 mph, but his command has been a real issue. He struggled in Triple-A and in a brief 5 1/3-inning MLB debut, and this year he walked 21% of his opponents in Triple-A.
Cleveland made just one swap of its own, replacing utilityman Daniel Schneemann with right-hander Slade Cecconi. Schneemann hit .210/.276/.332 in 286 plate appearances this season, good for a 72 wRC+, and he also sat on the ALDS roster without getting into a game.
He could have offered Stephen Vogt speed and defensive flexibility, but the Guardians chose to add another arm now that the series stretches to seven games. Cecconi spent most of the season in the rotation, posting a 4.78 ERA in 21 starts before moving to the bullpen after Griffin arrived.
He’s not expected to start this round, but he does give Vogt some needed length.
Here’s how the roster breaks down for each team…
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