The Cleveland Guardians will be without right-handed pitcher Ben Lively for the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers, despite Lively serving as a crucial member of the starting rotation in the regular season.
Lively finished 13-10 with a 3.81 ERA in 29 starts but was left off the ALDS roster, announced Saturday. He led the team in wins and was second to Tanner Bibee (31) in starts.
The 32-year-old Lively ended the season with a 2-2 record and 3.15 ERA in September.
Signed to a one-year contract in December, he became a valuable puzzle piece for the Guardians, especially after former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber was lost in April to season-ending Tommy John surgery and starter Gavin Williams (elbow) was sidelined until July.
Manager Stephen Vogt said that there were tough choices to be made. He chose to go with an extra position player in the best-of-five series.
“The pitching format of this five-game series over seven to eight days allows us to really lean on our bullpen guys later in the game,” he said, per Sports Illustrated. “Having the two length options at the back with [Gavin Williams] and [Joey Cantillo], it allows us to do some different things out of the bullpen.”
Cleveland, whose bullpen was the best in the league this season with a 2.57 ERA, chose to add 12 pitchers to the ALDS roster
Notably, the roster did not include Pedro Avila (6-1 with a 3.81 ERA in 54 appearances) or Nick Sandlin (8-0, 3.75 in 68 appearances) but did include starter Alex Cobb, who finished the season on the injured list with a finger blister. Cobb was 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA in three starts since being acquired in a trade with the San Francisco Giants.
Rosters can be reset after the division series for teams that advance.
The Guardians host the Tigers in Game 1 of the ALDS Saturday, with Cleveland right-hander Bibee (12-8, 3.47 ERA) facing left-hander Tyler Holton (7-2, 2.19 ERA).
A pair of left-handers are penciled in to start Game 2 on Monday with Detroit ace Tarik Skubal (18-4, 2.39) set to square off against Matthew Boyd (2-2, 2.72).
–Field Level Media