Austin Peterson could be the biggest X-factor on the Guardians' pitching staff in 2027

On Sept. 27, Austin Peterson closed out the Guardians’ season with the final five innings of their 3-2 loss to the Royals. While the innings Peterson covered were the most meaningless innings of Cleveland’s season since they had already secured the American League Central title and locked up a bye for the Wild Card Series, Peterson’s coverage helped save Cleveland’s bullpen ahead of the postseason. 

He also flashed enough potential to show that he deserves a spot in their pitching plans for 2027. That may seem unwise given the Guardians were the only team in MLB to finish last season with four pitchers with 30+ starts, their jagged postseason performance showed there’s still some room for improvement in their pitching staff. 

Enter Peterson. 

His 4.41 ERA in Triple-A last year may not seem that impressive, but it’s important to remember he had to work through a triceps strain he sustained in spring training, and also pitched well in the two appearances he made with the Guardians. He’s also just a season removed from recording a 3.21 ERA in 145 2/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A. 

Austin Peterson could be the future of the Guardians' pitching staff

Although both of those appearances came in the bullpen, almost all of his minor league appearances have come as a starter, which is the clearest path for him to make the Guardians’ roster. 

Gavin Williams, Parker Messick and (potentially) Tanner Bibee are locked into the top three spots in the Guardians’ rotation, but everything else after that is kind of spotty. Joey Cantillo showed some flashes but he spent the end of the season working behind an opener while Slade Cecconi finished the year in the bullpen. 

Pitching is the Guardians’ strength (when isn’t it), but there’s more uncertainty than there’s been in Stephen Vogt’s tenure. Peterson doesn’t have an overwhelming fastball (average velocity of 92.4 miles per hour), but his stuff is able to get on batters quicker than to his elite extension. He was able to parlay that into a solid 29.6% strikeout rate in his short time in MLB along with a 52.9% groundball rate. 

Even if Peterson isn’t able to make the rotation there's still room for him in the bullpen as a longman. Kolby Allard was supposed to fulfill that role for the Guardians last season after a productive 2025 but he lasted just four subpar appearances before getting designated for assignment. Colin Holderman, Matt Festa and Cecconi all filled that void at certain points during the season, but it was never as settled as it needed to be. 

Peterson’s not a proven commodity, but neither was Shane Bieber or Parker Messick before they had their big league breakouts. Now it could be Peterson’s turn.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow