Guardians’ bullpen once again becomes postseason scapegoat after Cleveland’s offensive struggles in ALDS

For the third straight season, the lasting image of the Guardians’ season may be a reliever standing on the mound as everything comes apart around him. 

In 2024, it was Hunter Gaddis standing on the mound while Juan Soto’s go-ahead home run flew into the Progressive Field seats in Game 5 of the ALCS. 

Last year Gaddis was on the mound again, only this time the lasting image was Wenceel Pérez's two-run single flying into Progressive Field’s right field corner in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series. 

Well, that corner’s back. 

This year’s image may have occurred on Monday night when White Sox rookie Braden Montgomery rapped a go-ahead double to right field off reliever Erik Sabrowski. 

As Montgomery let out a celebratory roar at second base, Sabrowski walked back to the mound after backing up the play, stepping over the postseason logo spray painted into the Progressive Field foul line. 

It may be the last time we get a chance to see that logo at Progressive Field this season now that the Guardians are down 2-0 in the series and are going to be facing elimination when the series resumes on Wednesday. 

The Guardians' bullpen needs more production from its offense in Game 3 of ALDS

Sabrowski’s meltdown came three batters after Gavin Williams left the game following an electric start where he racked up 11 strikeouts across five innings. 

Stephen Vogt sent Williams back out for the sixth inning, but he was pulled after allowing a leadoff single to Miguel Vargas. Vargas eventually came around to score on Montgomery’s double. 

Vogt pulled Sabrowski after Montgomery’s double in place of Gaddis, but then he served up an RBI single to Chase Mediroth that gave Chicago an all-important insurance run. 

Those outings were followed by 1 1/3 scoreless innings from Shawn Armstrong along with a scoreless inning from Cade Smith, but it proved to be for naught outside of Jo Adell’s eighth inning triple off Grant Taylor. 

While teams always score off bullpens in the postseason (that’s just how things go in high leverage), the Guardians’ bullpen keeps getting put in the unenviable spot of having to hold slim leads when their offense isn’t giving them much to work with. 

Gaddis has now been at the center of three of those meltdowns, but part of that stems from him working in high-leverage.

That said, it’s at a point where it’s fair to wonder if the Guardians are going to continue to trust him in those high-leverage situations. 

The Guardians bullpen may have finished the regular season with a 3.54 ERA, but that impact is always going to be nullified so long as the Guardians’ offense continues to fall asleep at the wheel.

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