Guardians greatest pitching irony is about to be on full display in must-win Game 6

For the first three-plus months of the 2026 MLB season, you could set your watch around the Guardians’ starting rotation. From Opening Day to July 17, the Guardians pitching plans went as follows: Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo, Slade Cecconi and Parker Messick. 

A new islander entered the starting pitching villa on July 17 when Logan Allen pitched in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Pirates after a game was postponed due to air quality.

In fact, the biggest change to the rotation didn’t come until the start of August when Foster Griffin took Cecconi’s spot in the rotation after being acquired at the trade deadline.

There may have been a lot of uncertainty around the Guardians for most of the season, but the one place where they always seemed to be solid was their starting rotation. 

Oh how the times have changed. 

Later today, the Guardians are going to start Shawn Armstrong in their must-win Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS. While calling him a “starter” is a bit disingenuous since he’s only going to go for an inning or two, it’s the perfect example of just how dire things are for the Guardians’ pitching staff right now. 

Their biggest strength for most of the season has, for one game, become their biggest weakness, and it could end up being the thing that brings about a long, cold winter in Northeast Ohio. 

The Guardians are going to need some serious contributions from unheralded pitchers tonight

Relying on Armstrong isn’t the worst thing in the world considering he’s already recorded four scoreless innings against the Rays this series, but it’s still a far cry from earlier in the year when they had one of the best and consistent pitching rotations in baseball. 

But now their season is going to need to be saved by a trio of Bibee, Cantillo and Cecconi pitching in relief. All three of them have been relegated to the bullpen this postseason due to the Guardians’ tightening their pitching plans, but they don’t really have a choice today after Parker Messick’s struggles on Sunday forced Stephen Vogt into a bullpen game. 

And all three of them come with clear warts. Cantillo has the best track record out of all of them, but he pitched two days ago. Cecconi’s looked sharp this postseason, but he’s just one pitch away from a blowup. And then there’s Bibee, who has made two appearances in the past months and is coming off the worst regular season of his career. 

Not exactly a murder’s row. 

The Guardians won plenty of games early in the season thanks to the contributions from those three, but now the rest of their season depends on what those three can do.

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