MLB’s Spring Training officially wrapped up on Tuesday, and Opening Day for 28 teams is one sleep away. (The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres played their first games last week in South Korea). For the Cleveland Guardians, the new season brings in a new era under new manager Stephen Vogt with what is once again the youngest roster in baseball. Who will Vogt bring with him to Oakland for Opening Day? Here is a Cleveland Guardians roster breakdown for the 2024 season.
The Guardians' Opening Day roster is almost set.
— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) March 23, 2024
Myles Straw will not be on the team. Cade Smith will fill the final spot in the bullpen unless the team acquires an external reliever before Thursday. pic.twitter.com/6cB0N3yB9j
Starting Pitchers
Shane Bieber, Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, Triston McKenzie, Carlos Carrasco
The are two surprises for the 2024 starting rotation. The first is that it includes Shane Bieber. Bieber is entering his seventh season, all with the Guardians, and is a former Cy Young winner. He has also been the center of trade speculation for the better part of a year now. Bieber is entering his final season before free agency, and it is unlike the Guardians to not trade a player prior to them entering free agency. However, Bieber is coming off an injury-riddled 2023 campaign, and the Guardians believe he has more value to their team this year than what he would’ve brought back in a trade.
Carlos Carrasco is another surprise in the rotation. Carrasco spent the first 11 seasons of his career in Cleveland. He was part of the Francisco Lindor trade back in 2021 and has been with the New York Mets for the last three seasons. It wasn’t a pretty stint in New York for Carrasco, and he returned to Cleveland this offseason on a Minor League contract. However, after a decent spring and a minor injury that will sideline Gavin Williams for the first couple of weeks, Carrasco has made the roster for now.
Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen, and Triston McKenzie are all returning players and will round out what should be the strength of the club. Bibee finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting last year. McKenzie finished ninth in ERA and WAR among AL pitchers in 2022. Allen is coming off a strong rookie season and is the lone south paw in the rotation.
Shane Bieber's final line today:
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) March 18, 2024
5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Think he's ready?#GuardsSpring pic.twitter.com/b76OQ8of50
Position Players
Bo Naylor, Austin Hedges, Josh Naylor, Andrés Giménez, José Ramírez, Brayan Rocchio, Gabriel Arias, Steven Kwan, Will Brennan, Estevan Florial, Tyler Freeman, Ramón Laureano, David Fry
There is a lot of familiarity in this group. 11 of the 13 position players on the Opening Day roster played for Cleveland last year. Austin Hedges split last season between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers. Prior to last year, Hedges had spent the previous three seasons in Cleveland. The lone unfamiliar face is Estevan Florial. Florial has spent his entire career in the New York Yankees system, only appearing in 48 games over four seasons. Florial was once viewed as a top prospect in baseball, and Cleveland is hoping he can live up to that to give the offense a much-needed boost.
Hedges will be backing up young catcher Bo Naylor who finished last season with a .892 OPS and seven home runs over the final two months. Florial will likely split Center Field duties with Tyler Freeman. Freeman is a former top prospect himself and transitioned from the infield to the outfield this offseason. Freeman had a strong Spring Training, slashing .297/.366/.459 with one home run and three doubles. The biggest surprise is that Myles Straw, the team’s primary Center Fielder for the last two and a half years, and former Gold Glove winner, was out-righted this past week. Straw signed an extension prior to the 2022 season, but since then he has been abysmal at the plate. In the last two seasons, he combined to slash .229/.296/.284 with only one home run. That ranks him among the worst hitters in all of baseball, and something the Cleveland Guardians could no longer overlook despite his defensive prowess.
A five-run inning to take the lead? That's Guards baseball.#GuardsSpring pic.twitter.com/9qVXpOq7cJ
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) March 25, 2024
Relief Pitchers
Emmanuel Clase, Tyler Beede, Scott Barlow, Nick Sandlin, Eli Morgan, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, Cade Smith
The bullpen has the most change. Injuries have sidelined familiar faces such as Trevor Stephan, James Karinchak, and Sam Hentges. Stephan is out for the year after undergoing elbow surgery. It is currently unclear how long Karinchak and Hentges will be out. Tyler Beede comes over in free agency after spending the majority of the last four years with the San Francisco Giants. Scott Barlow came over via trade with the San Diego Padres. Before his time with the Padres, Barlow spent six seasons with the Royals and has 56 career saves. Barlow will hopefully help ease the load for closer Emmanuel Clase, who led the league in appearances the last two seasons.
The 2024 Cleveland Guardians come into the season with relatively low expectations. There are a number of young players looking to make a name for themself. There are also a couple of guys not currently on the roster that could make an impact in the very near future (top prospects Kyle Manzardo and Chase DeLauter). Luckily for Cleveland, the AL Central is arguably the weakest division in MLB. Anything is possible with a roster as young as Cleveland’s.
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