Guardians plans for final week could lead to a surprise or two on Cleveland's postseason roster

Last September, the Cleveland Guardians soft launched Chase DeLauter’s inclusion on their postseason roster by including him on their Taxi Squad ahead of the start of their Wild Card Series against the Tigers. 

A day later, they surprised the baseball world by including him on their postseason roster, making him the sixth player to make their MLB debut in the postseason. 

On Monday, the Guardians started their preparations for their postseason roster via a “stay hot camp” at Triple-A Columbus that will consist of players on the team’s 40-man roster who aren’t on the big league roster along with some other minor leaguers.

The Athletic’s Zack Mesiel reported about the presence of the camp earlier today. 

If every non-MLB player on the 40-man roster is going to be including, the camp will break down like this: 

Pitchers

RHP Franco Aleman
LHP Logan Allen
RHP Shawn Armstrong
RHP Yorman Gómez
RHP Colin Holderman
RHP Austin Peterson

Hitters

C/OF Cooper Ingle
1B Kyle Manzardo
OF Blake Perkins
OF Kahlil Watson

RHP Andrew Walters and 1B CJ Kayfus are technically on the 40-man roster and in the minors, but they both are out with season-ending injuries.

While none of those players being added to the postseason roster would rise to the same level as DeLauter’s inclusion last year, it’s smart to have their minor leaguers stay ready just in case. 

The Guardians have plenty of depth options they could turn to in the postseason

Of that group, it seems like at least two of those pitchers could get added to the postseason roster. 

Both Holderman and Armstrong were pitching on rehab assignments before the Triple-A season ended, and it seems like they could both make their returns at some point this week. 

Armstrong made four rehab appearances before the Clippers' season ended while Holderman is set to resume throwing this week after he left his rehab outing on Thursday due to a wrist issue. 

While the Guardians have an easy player to replace in Connor Brogdon, adding a second pitcher is where things would get complicated. 

One option they could do is replace Slade Cecconi on their postseason roster with one of Armstrong or Holderman and move one of their starters to the bullpen to fill the longman role (Tanner Bibee, perhaps)? 

There aren’t as many easy fits on the position player side. Ingle and Manzardo would provide some power from the left side of the plate, but neither of them did enough to stick around on the big league roster so it’s hard to believe the Guardians would switch that up for the postseason. 

Watson hit well in his short time with the Guardians, but there may not be enough room in the outfield for him. The same can be said for Blake Perkins (who has yet to make his Guardians debut), though he could hold a bit of value as a late-game pinch-runner. 

No one wants to think about a world where the Guardians lose one of their roster mainstays before the postseason, but it happens every postseason. The Guardians may not use every player they have in their “stay ready” camp, but they’ll likely need one or two. 

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