Guardians' trade deadline needs are even more acute after doubleheader showing against Reds

The Cleveland Guardians’ trade deadline needs are a bit open ended right now. Although they’ve done enough to hang around in the American League postseason picture, they also have some clear needs. 

Their pitching staff could use another arm. The bullpen could use some reinforcements thanks to Shawn Armstrong’s injury. Oh yeah, and their lineup’s .230 batting average is tied for the worst in baseball. 

And while all those things are going to be front of mind any time the Guardians take the diamond this week ahead of next Monday’s trade deadline, they were all on full display in Cleveland’s doubleheader split against the Reds on Tuesday.

Some of it was good, some of it was bad, but all of it showed that the current iteration of the 2026 Guardians is not a complete product. 

The Guardians need to add at the trade deadline

Tuesday’s games showed the two extremes in the Guardians’ starting rotation. In Game 1, Slade Cecconi labored through another rough start where he allowed four runs on 3 2/3 innings on seven hits. 

That kind of performance has sadly become the norm for Cecconi, who always seems to be dancing out of trouble even during the best of times. Cecconi now has a 4.78 ERA through 21 starts while allowing 123 hits (seventh-most in baseball). If he wasn’t a liability before, he is now. 

Then Gavin Williams followed that up with seven dazzling innings in the nightcap in Cleveland's listless 2-0 loss. Although he spent all of the evening pitching from behind after his first inning mistake to JJ Bleday, he still racked up 12 strikeouts while allowing just three hits. 

Williams now leads the American League in innings pitched (133 ⅓) and strikeouts (168). 

The Guardians have a fantastic top of the rotation led by Williams, Parker Messick and Tanner Bibee, but they still desperately need another starting pitching option to fill out their depth while taking some pressure off Cecconi. 

The good news for the Guardians’ pitching staff is that their bullpen was able to meet the moment. After Tim Herrin allowed some damage in direct relief of Cecconi, Cleveland’s bullpen combined to throw six scoreless innings across both games of the series. 

The highlights from that came in the form of Franco Aleman’s dominant two inning outing in Game 1 and Daniel Espino’s scoreless inning in Game 2 where he struck out the side. 

While neither reliever was in the Guardians’ bullpen at the start of the season, they’re both intriguing options who could help in the wake of Shawn Armstrong’s injury. 

Aleman’s done nothing but impress since being called up by the Guardians and has allowed just one run in 11 innings since getting recalled at the beginning of the month. 

Even if Espino doesn’t have the same kind of roster standing as Aleman since he was the 27th man, Tuesday’s outing was another example of just how good he can be. 

Espino is an obvious internal candidate who can help fill part of the void left by Armstrong (though an external arm would still be helpful).

And then there’s the offense. 

Kyle Manzardo set the tone in Game 1 with a first inning grand slam, but they ended up winning thanks to some classic Guards Ball in the later innings. But then the bats went silent in Game 2 outside of singles from Gabriel Arias, Austin Hedges and Travis Bazzana. 

If the Guardians want to be a true contender then they’re going to need to add at least one bat to the mix. Even if things aren’t as bad as last season thanks to their influx of young talent, upgrades are still desperately needed. 

Even though the Guardians have done enough to hang around the American League postseason picture, Tuesday showed the team’s clear flaws that Chris Antonetti needs to address. 

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