Franco Aleman , RHP. Injuries may have prevented him from earning his first promotion to the big leagues last year. Last year, he posted a 1. Kolby Allard , LHP. The Guardians invited Allard to big-league camp, the latest team to try to crack the code to the former first-round pick. Logan Allen , LHP. In , everything went south.
His Baseball Savant page is full of rich blues, like the water at sunset on Waikiki Beach. Those hues reflect rankings at the bottom of a variety of leaderboards β chase rate, hard-hit rate, strikeout rate, whiff rate, expected ERA, barrel rate.
Tanner Bibee , RHP. He even took the ball on short rest in the ALCS. Shane Bieber , RHP. Of course, lofty expectations for any pitcher returning from elbow surgery are unfair. Tanner Burns , RHP. The 36th overall pick in the draft, Burns spent last season in the bullpen at Triple-A Columbus. He averaged more than a strikeout per inning, but his walk rate and home-run rate spiked. The difference between his walk and strikeout rate has been trending in the wrong direction.
Joey Cantillo , LHP. The Guardians threw him to the wolves last summer, with his first four starts coming against four of the top lineups in the sport, and three of those starts coming on the road. But battle scars make you tougher, or something like that. In four September starts, he posted a 2.
Slade Cecconi , RHP. He split the last two seasons between the Arizona Diamondbacks and their Triple-A affiliate, working both in the rotation and the bullpen. The Guardians have already tweaked his delivery and plan to initially build him up as a starter. Emmanuel Clase , RHP. He became the first reliever in 16 years to finish in the top three in the Cy Young voting. He allowed five earned runs all season, rarely found trouble, led the league in saves and ranked among the leaders in appearances as he does every year.
