Opening Day preview guide for the Cleveland Guardians’ 2023 season
By Chad Porto
Bullpen
The Cleveland Guardians bullpen really showed off what it can be last year and with most of that talent coming back for 2023, fans should be very ok with the possibilities that can come with this group of relievers.
It all starts in the back with the team’s prized closer, Emmanuel Clase. Once seen by the more vocal minority of the fanbase as a lackluster piece to get back in the Corey Kluber trade, anyone and everyone would agree that Clase and not Kluber is the asset to have currently. Though if you could get Kluber back, that wouldn’t suck. Clase is among the best, if not the best closers in the game. He had 77 strikeouts to just 10 walks last year, all while pitching 72.2 innings. you don’t want to wear him out, but you also don’t want to be stingy with him.
Hunter Gaddis will look to eat a lot of innings in his role but for now, he’s in the starting rotation. Xzavion Curry will fill in for Gaddis in the bullpen. Trevor Stephan is also another big name the team will rely on in 2023, as he just agreed to a new, multi-year deal with the Guardians.
Tim Herrin is the only proper rookie in the bullpen this season, breaking camp as a member of the Guardians for the first time in his career. The rest of the pen includes Enyel De Los Santos, Eli Morgan, and Nick Sandlin, three very solid arms.
However, the most important piece to staying healthy and consistent may be James Karinchak, the only other hurler in the pen besides Clase. He slowed down in the second half of 2021 and dealt with injuries in 2022. If he can stay healthy and consistent in 2023, he’ll be all the help Clase needs at the back of the pen. His stuff is electric but his inconsistency at times is dangerous.