Cleveland Guardians: How will Cleveland’s bullpen pan out in 2022?

What will the Cleveland Guardians bullpen look like when the 2022 season opens up next March?

By their very nature, Major League bullpens tend to be fickle beasts. In most cases, consistency can be difficult to come by, and individual arms can rise and fall in effectiveness like the tides. Even in the course of a single season, a bullpen’s effectiveness can gyrate between surefire late-game lockdowns and leaky faucets in a matter of days.

For the Cleveland Indians, the first half of the 2021 season was a narrative of clutch performances and slammed doors. The second half, however, has been a drastic about-face, leaving the team with some question marks as the season winds down. What will the 2022 iteration of the bullpen look like when the book opens on the Cleveland Guardians?

Near-Guaranteed Locks for the Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians should open 2022 with at least a few surefire arms in the bullpen. Emmanuel Clase, Trevor Stephan, and Nick Sandlin are all young, controllable, and talented, and have the best early claim to spots in the bullpen going into next season.

Emmanuel Clase has provided excellence in the closer’s role this season to the tune of a 1.54 ERA, and 20 converted saves in 24 opportunities. Pencil him in as the closer of the future. Not much else needs to be said to make Clase’s case.

Trevor Stephan has been an interesting case this season, as he was a Rule-5 pick from the New York Yankees organization. To keep him in Cleveland, he has to stay on the Tribe’s active roster throughout the entirety of the 2021 season, lending itself to some inconsistencies in his game at the Major League level (he cannot be sent to Columbus without being exposed to the Yankees).

As the year has progressed and he has logged more Major League innings, Stephan has started to look more like a key cog of the future of the bullpen. Although still prone to rookie missteps on occasion, his raw stuff (high 90’s fastball, solid slider, and developing split-change) indicates back-of-the-pen potential and good things to come in his future. More innings in 2021 will help Stephan to refine his mechanics and lock down his spot in 2022.

Nick Sandlin took the bullpen by storm upon being called up from Columbus this season. The sidewinder possesses a dynamic sinker-slider combo, leading to 48 strikeouts in 33.2 innings (or 12.83 per 9 innings). He also throws a serviceable four-seam fastball, which he can elevate or use to jam left-handed hitters. He has gained the trust of the ballclub in high leverage scenarios, and has a bright future in 2022 and beyond.

The 30+ Year Old Cleveland Guardians

The last three guys I want to mention are the elder statesmen of the Tribe’s bullpen in 2021. Bryan Shaw, Nick Wittgren, and Blake Parker have all had their moments this season, but all find themselves on the wrong side of 30. Each has reasons they may or may not return as Cleveland Guardians in 2022.

Bryan Shaw has been a target of ire from fans through both of his stints in a Cleveland uniform. When he returned to the Indians this offseason, there was plenty of reason for optimism. Even with some fans degrading his value to the ballclub in his first run from 2013-2017, Shaw pitched no less than 64.0 innings in any of those seasons, and gave Terry Francona an ironman reliever that he could run the wheels off of.

When he returned before this season, there were reasons for cautious optimism (coming home to where he had success before, reuniting with Tito, etc.). Throughout the first leg of the season, it seemed that he was worth his weight in gold for a young bullpen. He took on 7th inning duties, getting the ball to James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase in the 8th and 9th innings, and had found new life in his upper 90’s cutter.

As the season progressed, however, it seemed like Shaw’s arm became tired, and his velocity began to dip from his earlier high marks. He became less reliable in high-leverage situations, and has been relegated to less significant innings as of late. Even with a little life still left in his arm at 33, one must wonder how he would fit into the Guardians bullpen in 2022.

He has struggled with walks all season (34 in 62.1 innings), and doesn’t seem like the lockdown guy he was even as recently as early in 2021. I’ll personally always be a fan of Bryan Shaw going back to the years he and Cody Allen anchored the pen, but it may be hard to fit him into the mix after this season.

Nick Wittgren was a sneaky-good acquisition from the Miami Marlins back in 2019, and has given the Tribe consistent production since coming north. His quality body of work being acknowledged, Wittgren’s 2021 season has paled a bit in comparison to his first two years in a Cleveland uniform. He sported ERA’s of 2.81 and 3.42 respectively in 2019 and 2020, but has seen that same statistic rise a full run plus to 4.47 in 2021.

Even with a WHIP on the season (1.18) a smidge lower than his career average of 1.19, something is causing the Tribe reliever to take more damage in his outings this year. That something may be his hard hit percentage, which is up to 53.9% this season, in comparison to the league average of 35.5%. In relation to usage, Wittgren’s changeup has been his most brutalized pitch in 2021, with the opposition getting 17 base hits off of it this season.

I believe that there is a fix that can be made, in the form of his slider. Wittgren has used it less than his fastball (58.5% of his pitches) and changeup (22.6% of his pitches), but if he can up it’s usage going forward while laying off of his changeup a bit, his fastball could play better with a more consistent breaking ball compliment. On the season, hitters have only hit .214 against the slider, and using it more consistently than it’s 10.4% usage rate may allow Wittgren to attack hitters more aggressively going forward. If he can use that to work his hard hit percentage down, he may have a place in the bullpen going forward into 2022.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

Blake Parker has been a welcome addition to Cleveland’s bullpen in 2021. With Oliver Perez being let go early in the season, Parker has claimed the mantle of “old man in the bullpen”, and he has pitched well in that position. With a 2.67 ERA and a 2-0 record to his credit, Parker has been a steady veteran presence as the relief corps has dealt with some late season upheaval.

What may be most impressive from a fan’s perspective about Parker, is how he passed on heading back into free agency in Spring Training and accepted an assignment to Columbus so he could stay with the organization. He has been a respected voice and leader in the bullpen since getting called up, and has had an impact that goes beyond his play on the field.

For example, Parker has been instrumental in helping Trevor Stephan develop a split-change, showing that his contributions to club extend beyond his work on the mound. Outside of his statistical merits and quality body of work, he is the kind of guy who strengthens the culture in the pen, the clubhouse, and the organization. It would behoove Cleveland to have Parker in a Guardians uniform in 2022.

Conclusion

With the options Cleveland has amongst the guys in the organization, fielding a strong bullpen should be within reach for the 2022 season. The mix of youngsters, veterans, and high-leverage arms should give the Guardians a positive outlook on relievers as the page turns on 2021. Outside additions will probably be made and some guys will likely be headed out of town, but there is plenty of reason for optimism when the Cleveland Guardians take the field for the first time next March.