Deep bullpen gives the Guardians a massive postseason weapon and October advantage

CLEVELAND — For months, the routine has been exactly the same for Cleveland's relievers, who begin every game by challenging each other in a trivia contest.

World history. Geography. Sports. No subjects off limits. Bring your best brain teasers.

“Just the first and second innings we’ll do it,” said left-hander Tim Herrin. “And then after that we have to lock in.”

And lock down.

Here's some recent trivia: Who has the best bullpen in baseball this season? The answer is simple: Cleveland — and it's not even close.

Anchored by All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, who paced the AL with 47 saves and led the majors with a 0.61 ERA thanks to a devastating cut fastball that slices up hitters, the Guardians' bullpen has developed into one of the best ever assembled.

Cleveland's bullpen led the majors in ERA (2.57), batting average against (.203), on-base percentage (.276), slugging percentage (.328), OPS (.604), WHIP (1.05), hits per nine innings (6.53), home runs per nine (0.75) and games with at least three scoreless innings (60).

If stats were kept on flailing swings, opposing manager headaches and anxiety, the AL Central champion Guardians, who will face division rival Detroit in the AL Division Series, would top those categories as well.

By comparison, Milwaukee (3.11) had MLB's second lowest bullpen ERA, and the Guardians were nearly a run better than the rest of the AL playoff field — Detroit (3.52), New York (3.62), Houston (3.66), Kansas City (4.13) and Baltimore (4.22).

The Guardians’ bullpen ERA was the lowest in the AL since Kansas City (2.55 in 2013) and the lowest for a Cleveland team since 1954 (2.52), a team that won 111 games and went to the World Series.

This group is both vaunted and versatile.

“They’re really, really good,” said Astros manager Joe Espada, who could face Cleveland and its blazing bullpen in the ALDS. “They have good arms. They throw a ton of strikes. They give you a different look. Their repertoire is that they kind of have different stuff.”

Unhittable, almost unfair stuff.

Clase, Herrin, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith combined to become the first quartet of teammates in history to each appear in at least 70 games and post ERAs of 2.00 or lower. Only one team has had three: the 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers.

First-year Guardians manager Stephen Vogt has leaned on his bullpen all year and that's not going to change in the postseason, when he will have the ability to shorten games and maybe use his relievers from start to finish.

He's got a weapon. He won't be afraid to use it.

Vogt didn't dismiss the idea of using his bullpen for an entire game this October.

“We’re going to take the same approach we’ve taken all year and that’s how do we win today’s game?” Vogt said last week. "Sometimes that looks like the bullpen’s coming in in the sixth. Sometimes it looks like they’re coming in in the fourth or fifth because the game’s getting away.

“We’re going to take it one game at a time. We’re talking through all kinds of different strategies.”

Perhaps as a playoff test run, and to give his starters some rest, Vogt used his bullpen for a game last week. The results were nearly sublime.

Cleveland's relievers carried a perfect game into the seventh inning before Herrin allowed a leadoff bunt single. Over a two-game span, the Guardians' bullpen retired 31 straight batters, perfect and then some.

As the Guardians can attest, any bullpen plans can only be penciled in.

Heading into the season, Vogt, who was Seattle's bullpen coach before being hired by Cleveland this winter despite having no managerial experience, knew he was inheriting an elite closer in Clase, now the team's career saves leader.

Beyond that, Vogt wasn't sure what other arms he would have available. Then, he got thrown, well, a curveball at spring training when back-end, right-handers Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak both suffered injuries.

Those roster holes led to open auditions, and as camp progressed, the Guardians realized they had some solid, if not surprising, choices.

“Obviously, we saw the arms we had in spring training, and we weren’t exactly sure who we were bringing to start the year,” said All-Star utilityman David Fry, who made two emergency relief appearances in 2023. “We were like — this guy deserves it. This guy deserves it. And a guy like Cade, we weren’t even sure he was going to make the team and he ends up being unbelievable.”

From the get-go.

Smith only learned he made the roster hours before the season opener in Oakland, and in his first appearance two days later, he struck out five in two innings. The 25-year-old finished the regular season with 103 Ks, and only two of 36 inherited runners scored against him.

"We always joke during games about how quick can we get to Cade Smith?” Fry said. "Why wouldn’t you?”

It all ends with Clase, who has been as close as there is to a sure thing for months. He's just 26 and there's no one in the game like him. The right-hander has recorded 34 consecutive saves, and in August became the club's career saves leader in only four seasons.

Catcher Austin Hedges calls him “the best pitcher — ever.”

“If we can get it to the ninth for Clase,” Herrin said with a smile. “We’re in really good shape.”

Of all his eye-popping stats, one stands out. Clase's 1.67 ERA is the lowest for any pitcher with at least 200 innings since the stat became official in 1913.

Trivia for another day.