The Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen has one of the best bullpens in baseball over the last two seasons. The reliever core is one of the key reasons the team has won the American League Central in back-to-back seasons.
That said, the Guardians’ bullpen does have a major issue, outside of simply needing more depth. Cleveland’s relievers don’t have a strong tendency to strike batters out.
Even though Cleveland has the third-best ERA in MLB (3.44), the team only ranked 15th in baseball with 571 punchouts. Plus, many of those strikeouts came from one pitcher, and another one of Cleveland’s top relievers may never pitch in a big-league game again.
Here’s a quick look at the bullpen strikeout leaders and where they ranked among the rest of MLB.
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Cade Smith – 104, 3rd
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Hunter Gaddis – 73, 38th
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Matt Festa – 56, 105th
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Jakob Junis – 55, 112th
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Emmanuel Clase – 47, 147th*
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Tim Herrin – 45, 151st
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Erik Sabrowski – 42, 164th
Clearly, Cade Smith makes up a large chunk of the strikeouts from Cleveland’s bullpen, coming in at 18 percent of the bullpen’s punchouts. Yes, Clase’s number could have been higher if he hadn’t been placed on administrative leave at the end of July.
Looking at the rest of the list, Jakob Junis is a free agent and may not be back with the team next year, Matt Festa was used as an innings eater and not in high-leverage situations, Tim Herrin bounced back and forth between the minors and majors throughout 2025, and Erik Sabrowski probably still has more to prove before being considered a true bullpen staple.
Chris Antoentti admitted earlier this offseason that adding to the bullpen will be a priority for the Guardians. However, Cleveland shouldn’t be just willing to add any other pitcher.
If the front office is going to spend some of their funds on adding a reliever, they should be seeking an arm with a whiff and punchout rate to solve this growing issue.
The Guardians’ bullpen has survived not having a high strikeout rate in past seasons because of Cleveland’s relatively strong defense behind them, but that’s not a long-term recipe for success.
The team must figure out how to get more of their pitchers swinging bats, or add an arm with a high tendency to do so this offseason.
