47 minutes ago
BALTIMORE — Right-hander Aaron Civale will rejoin the Guardians’ starting rotation on Friday and Triston McKenzie could also return sooner than later, which will make for at least one difficult roster decision before week’s end, manager Terry Francona said on Tuesday.
Civale worked 4 2/3 innings in his final rehab outing for Triple-A Columbus on Sunday and will pitch on turn in the second of four games at the Twins on Friday night.
McKenzie is set for another rehab outing on Tuesday and then will re-join the team in Minnesota on Thursday, though it’s not yet clear when he’ll be activated or what role he will assume.
Rookie Hunter Gaddis will return to a bullpen role after making two of his better outings of the year as a starter, including throwing six scoreless innings on May 22.
Even with Civale (left oblique) and McKenzie (right teres major) combining to make only two combined Major League appearances this season, Cleveland’s starters have posted a respectable 4.06 ERA entering Tuesday’s middle game of three against the Orioles.
That’s good for sixth-best in the American League and eighth-best in all of baseball. And it’s based partly on the work of rookies Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee, who are both carrying sub-3 ERAs after Allen posted career highs with seven scoreless frames and 10 strikeouts in Monday’s 5-0 win at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Yet if the Guardians decide to stick with a five-man rotation, some tough decision loom on what to do with Allen and Bibee. Cal Quantrill, who allowed eight runs in 4 1/3 innings against Baltimore on Tuesday, also has an option remaining and could be sent to Triple-A.
“We try to cover everything,” Francona said of the decision-making process and his discussions with pitching coach Carl Willis. “Carl and I have been talking about it for the last week because we’re probably a little stressed about it because we care about these guys. We live with ’em every day.
“I still think if you have a problem where you think you have too much pitching, it’s a heck of a lot better than not having enough. But saying that we still stress over it and we talk about it a lot and try to, we owe these guys one, to be honest, and two, to really be conscientious when we’re trying to think about it. And we will always do that.”
Allen perhaps cemented his safety for now with what was his best start of an already promising rookie year, equaling rookie achievements accomplished by club greats Bob Feller and Herb Score.
Across 39 2/3 innings of work, Francona says he’s seen enough to believe it’s not just a fleeting run of excellence.
“A lot of times you’ll see a kid come up and make a start and be like, ‘Whoa, that’s pretty good. Is that sustainable?’” Francona said of Allen. “But when you watch him pitch you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that looks sustainable.’ He’s got three pitches and works quick, fields his position. It’s hard to run on him because he doesn’t have a whole big leg kick. And so I mean, there’s some things that really kind of lead you to think this is pretty good.”
47 minutes ago
BALTIMORE — Right-hander Aaron Civale will rejoin the Guardians’ starting rotation on Friday and Triston McKenzie could also return sooner than later, which will make for at least one difficult roster decision before week’s end, manager Terry Francona said on Tuesday.
Civale worked 4 2/3 innings in his final rehab outing for Triple-A Columbus on Sunday and will pitch on turn in the second of four games at the Twins on Friday night.
McKenzie is set for another rehab outing on Tuesday and then will re-join the team in Minnesota on Thursday, though it’s not yet clear when he’ll be activated or what role he will assume.
Rookie Hunter Gaddis will return to a bullpen role after making two of his better outings of the year as a starter, including throwing six scoreless innings on May 22.
Even with Civale (left oblique) and McKenzie (right teres major) combining to make only two combined Major League appearances this season, Cleveland’s starters have posted a respectable 4.06 ERA entering Tuesday’s middle game of three against the Orioles.
That’s good for sixth-best in the American League and eighth-best in all of baseball. And it’s based partly on the work of rookies Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee, who are both carrying sub-3 ERAs after Allen posted career highs with seven scoreless frames and 10 strikeouts in Monday’s 5-0 win at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Yet if the Guardians decide to stick with a five-man rotation, some tough decision loom on what to do with Allen and Bibee. Cal Quantrill, who allowed eight runs in 4 1/3 innings against Baltimore on Tuesday, also has an option remaining and could be sent to Triple-A.
“We try to cover everything,” Francona said of the decision-making process and his discussions with pitching coach Carl Willis. “Carl and I have been talking about it for the last week because we’re probably a little stressed about it because we care about these guys. We live with ’em every day.
“I still think if you have a problem where you think you have too much pitching, it’s a heck of a lot better than not having enough. But saying that we still stress over it and we talk about it a lot and try to, we owe these guys one, to be honest, and two, to really be conscientious when we’re trying to think about it. And we will always do that.”
Allen perhaps cemented his safety for now with what was his best start of an already promising rookie year, equaling rookie achievements accomplished by club greats Bob Feller and Herb Score.
Across 39 2/3 innings of work, Francona says he’s seen enough to believe it’s not just a fleeting run of excellence.
“A lot of times you’ll see a kid come up and make a start and be like, ‘Whoa, that’s pretty good. Is that sustainable?’” Francona said of Allen. “But when you watch him pitch you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that looks sustainable.’ He’s got three pitches and works quick, fields his position. It’s hard to run on him because he doesn’t have a whole big leg kick. And so I mean, there’s some things that really kind of lead you to think this is pretty good.”
