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Guardians Announce ALDS Roster

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The Guardians defeated the Rays in the Wild Card round and will now face the Yankees in the ALDS. They have announced their roster for the second round, with a few changes from last time. Right-hander Nick Sandlin and left-hander Kirk McCarty have been replaced by righties Aaron Civale and Cody Morris. The full roster breaks down like this…

Right-Handed Pitchers

Left-Handed Pitchers

Catcher

Infielders

Outfielders

The removal of Sandlin is not surprising, as it was reported yesterday that he has a strain in his upper back/shoulder that will keep him out of action for the remainder of the postseason. That will deprive the Guardians of a reliever who tossed 44 innings in the regular season this year, posting an ERA of 2.25 while getting grounders on 55.9% of balls in play.

McCarty was one of two lefties on the club’s Wild Card roster and his removal for the ALDS leaves Hentges as the only southpaw for the Guards to deploy against the Yankees. The Yankees have a lineup that leans right-handed, with Anthony Rizzo and Matt Carpenter the only two who hit exclusively from the left side. They also have a handful of switch-hitters in Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Cabrera and Marwin Gonzalez. McCarty registered a 4.54 ERA in 37 2/3 frames at the big league level this year, though a much better 3.58 ERA over 65 1/3 innings in Triple-A. Hentges, on the other hand, had an outstanding campaign, throwing 62 innings with a 2.32 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and 61.5% ground ball rate. He also tossed the last three scoreless innings in the club’s 15-inning 1-0 victory over the Rays on Saturday.

Both Civale and Morris have the potential to give Cleveland some length, whenever they are needed. Civale made 20 starts this year and threw 97 innings. His 4.92 ERA isn’t especially impressive, though a lot of that damage was done over his first six starts. Since mid-May, he’s had a much more respectable 3.24 ERA. Morris missed the first few months of the season with a shoulder strain but eventually made 16 appearances between the majors and minors, which included five starts in the big leagues. This year’s ALDS features a unique schedule where there are off-days after the first and second games, with the final three being played on consecutive days, if necessary. After going with Quantrill, Bieber and McKenzie in the first three games, the Guardians could potentially turn to Quantrill on regular rest in game four and then Bieber on short rest in game five. Civale and Morris could contribute multiple innings at some point over the series, depending on how it progresses.

Pitching was the big storyline in the series against Tampa, as Cleveland held onto narrow victories of 2-1 and 1-0 in the Wild Card round. They will be facing a more potent offense this time around though, as Tampa’s .239/.309/.377 batting line for the year was just a hair above average, as evidenced by their collective 101 wRC+. The Yankees slashed .241/.325/.426 for a wRC+ of 115, the fourth-best mark in the majors.

Zack Meisel of The Athletic was among those to relay the roster changes prior to the official announcement.

Guardians’ Nick Sandlin Will Miss Remainder Of Postseason

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Guardians righty Nick Sandlin has been diagnosed with a strain in his upper back/shoulder and will miss the remainder of the postseason, tweets Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Cleveland will need to swap him out for the next round of postseason play. Starter Aaron Civale, who took the ball in the final regular-season game and was thus left off the Wild Card roster, will likely be added, though depending on other moves the team wishes to make, right-hander Cody Morris could be a candidate to join the fray as well. The team will have until tomorrow morning to make a formal decision on who’ll take Sandlin’s roster spot.

The loss of Sandlin is a notable one for Cleveland, even if the 25-year-old —  like much of the Guardians’ roster — is far from a household name. The 2018 second-rounder made his big league debut in 2021, when he tossed 33 2/3 innings of 2.94 ERA ball, and has had similar success in 2022.

While this year’s 22.8% strikeout rate and 13.3% walk rate were steps back from 2021 levels (34% and 12.1%, respectively), Sandlin also saw his ground-ball rate spike from 41.7% to a whopping 55.9%. He tossed 44 innings of 2.25 ERA ball out of the Cleveland ’pen, including a sparkling 1.11 ERA and 26-to-6 K/BB ratio over his final 24 1/3 frames.

The Guardians haven’t formally announced the injury, a treatment plan or a potential timeline, but they’ll likely provide more details in the days to come. For now, what’s immediately clear is that their powerhouse bullpen will take at least a slight hit in their American League Division Series date with the Yankees. The bullpen — and the pitching staff in general — will still remain an unquestioned strength, however. Even with Sandlin sidelined, Cleveland can turn to righties Emmanuel Clase, James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan and lefty Sam Hentges in leverage spots — all four of whom had ERAs of 2.69 or better and strikeout rates of 28.4% or higher.

Injury Notes: Nick Sandlin, George Springer

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Guardians righty Nick Sandlin departed yesterday’s win over the Rays with right upper arm tightness, reported by Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal. Sandlin has a small history of shoulder problems, missing the last month of the 2021 season with a right shoulder strain, but it is unclear of the exact nature of his new ailment.

Sandlin, playing in his second major league season, improved upon his strong rookie season (2.94 ERA in 33 2/3 innings) and pitched to a robust 2.25 ERA in 46 appearances this season, allowing only 2 homers in 44 innings pitched. He has been particularly tough on right-handed hitters,  holding them to a measly .149/.265/.238 line.

With the Guardians earning a trip to the ALDS following their two-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, Sandlin will have two days to recover before facing the New York Yankees. If he is unable to return to the field, right-handed Aaron Civale, a notable omission from the Wild Card roster, is a possible candidate to replace him on the postseason roster.

In other Wild Card series injury news, Blue Jays outfielder George Springer was carted off the field in yesterday’s game following a collision with shortstop Bo Bichette in the eighth inning.  Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider said in his postgame conference that the All-Star center fielder, who signed a six-year, $150MM contract with the Jays prior to the 2021 season, was “doing ok” and that Springer was going to “be evaluated for a couple of different things,” per Julia Kreuz of MLB.com. Schneider followed up by saying that the team would know more about Springer’s injury in the next few days.

Springer has had another successful year, slashing .267/.342/.472 en route to his fourth All-Star game appearance while playing slightly above average defense in center, earning one Outs Above Average. With the Jays ending their 2022 season following yesterday’s defeat to the Mariners, Springer will have a few months to recover before the start of the 2023 season.

Indians Activate Shane Bieber From Injured List

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Sept. 24: Bieber has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, the Indians announced Friday. Righty Nick Sandlin is being transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot. Cleveland also reinstated Amed Rosario from the bereavement list and optioned infielder Ernie Clement and lefty Francisco Perez to Triple-A Columbus.

Sept. 22: Shane Bieber will return to the Indians to start Friday night’s game against the White Sox, interim manager DeMarlo Hale told reporters (including Mandy Bell of MLB.com). It’ll be his first appearance since June 13. He’s on the 60-day injured list, so a corresponding 40-man move will need to be made, although that can be accomplished by simply transferring Wilson Ramos from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL in the wake of his season-ending knee injury.

The 26-year-old Bieber was placed on the 10-day injured list back on June 14 due to a right shoulder subscapularis muscle strain. The reigning American League Cy Young winner hadn’t been quite as dominant as he was during 2020’s 60-game sprint, but he’d still impressed with 90 2/3 frames of 3.28 ERA ball prior to landing on the injured list. Bieber’s 33.9 percent strikeout rate, while still among the best in the league, was down from last year’s remarkable 41.1 percent showing. His 8.6 percent walk rate marked a slight increase over last year’s 7.1 percent clip.

Bieber’s injury was a major factor in Cleveland’s downfall in the American League Central standings this season, although had he been the lone member of the rotation to fall to an injury, perhaps the club could’ve withstood the loss. Instead, he was joined by both Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac for lengthy stays on the injured list, forcing the Indians to lean heavily on a group of rookie starters who spent much of the season looking overmatched.

At this point, any postseason hopes for Cleveland have been dashed, but there’s still some value in getting Bieber a few innings to close out the year on a high note. Pitching in a game setting without experiencing any lingering or recurring symptoms will allow both Bieber and the team to head into the offseason with greater confidence that the right-hander’s injury won’t carry over into the 2022 season. As a first-time arbitration-eligible player, Bieber surely appreciates the opportunity to pick up a few more innings to help offset the missed time.

Looking to 2022, Bieber will return to front a rotation that again looks to be stocked with quality young arms. The aforementioned Civale gives the club a strong No. 2 option behind Bieber, and while young Triston McKenzie was clobbered for seven runs in his most recent appearance, he’s shown some extended flashes of brilliance this year and looks well on his way to settling into the rotation as well. Plesac’s 2020 numbers look increasingly like an outlier, but even if that’s the case, he presents a solid fourth option. Cal Quantrill, meanwhile, has a 3.05 ERA (albeit with a 4.18 FIP) in 115 innings out of the rotation. Right-hander Eli Morgan hasn’t fared particularly well in his debut campaign but does have sound numbers in Triple-A. He’ll be a fine depth option moving forward, and the Indians have also at least gotten some big league exposure for depth options like Sam Hentges, J.C. Mejia and Logan Allen this year as well.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/30/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Indians have selected right-handed reliever Nick Sandlin’s contract, Zack Meisel of The Athletic was among those to report. Sandlin joined the Indians as a second-round pick in 2018, but he has thrown just 50 1/3 innings in the minors since then, owing in part to a forearm strain in 2019 and the canceled minor league season in 2020. The 24-year-old submariner has been effective in the minors when healthy, having put up a 2.68 ERA with 74 strikeouts and 18 walks. MLB.com ranks Sandlin 30th in the Indians’ system, writing that “[h]e has a high floor as a multi-inning reliever and the upside of a back-of-the-rotation starter.”
  • The Pirates have released catcher Christian Kelley, Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets. Kelley had been with the Pirates since they chose him in the 11th round of the 2015 draft, but he hasn’t made it to the big leagues yet. The 27-year-old topped out at Triple-A in 2019 and hit .179/.251/.282 with five home runs in 281 plate appearances.
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