How the Guardians' bullpen has helped fuel their postseason push

On Tuesday, the Guardians’ bullpen tossed four hitless innings in a 3-2 win over the Mets. 

At face value, that shouldn’t be surprising considering Cleveland is coming off a season where it had one of the best bullpens in MLB history. But Tuesday’s outing looked a bit different given the names rolled out. 

Instead of Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, Cade Smith and Emmanuel Clase taking turns leaving the opposing batter stupefied, it was Matt Festa, Kolby Allard and Jakob Junis who took turns sending Mets batters back to the dugout before Cade Smith closed the door in the ninth inning. 

The faces may look different, but the dominance has stayed the same. 

The Guardians’ bullpen by committee approach is working 

A couple hours after MLB announced that Emmanuel Clase had been suspended, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said that he was planning on doing a “closer by committee" approach at the back end of the bullpen. And while that’s been the case (Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Nic Enright have all picked up saves in Clase’s absence), the rest of the bullpen hasn’t missed a step despite everyone moving up a rung. 

Normally, Festa should work when Cleveland’s losing and Allard should be on the mound for a long-relief opportunity. Instead, they’ve had to work in some new roles and haven’t skipped a beat. 

The Guardians’ bullpen has posted a 1.84 ERA in the eight games since Clase was suspended, which is the third-best mark in baseball over that time period.

Allard, Festa, Eric Sabrowski and Carlos Hernández have yet to give up an earned run over that span, while Smith’s allowed just one run in 5 2/3 innings while picking up two saves and two wins. 

“This is why we use all eight of our relievers in all different situations,” manager Stephen Vogt told reporters, per Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes. “There are going to be nights when your typical leverage guys are down. To see Matt Festa, Kolby Allard, Jakob Junis and Cade Smith do what they did to this lineup was super impressive.”

Smith also picked up the save on Tuesday after throwing 22 pitches the day before. 

“Am I tired now? For sure,” Smith said, per Hoynes. “But I’ll do what I can to rest, recover and bounce back as soon as possible.”

Their bullpen heroics were set up by a solid start from Logan Allen, who ended up allowing two runs over five innings of work after having to throw 26 pitches in a high-stress first inning. 

While Clase’s suspension could have been the kind of thing that caused the Guardians to surrender, it seems to have done the exact opposite. The Guardians have now won 18 of their last 25 games, and are just 1 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot. 

They may not be dominant wins, but they’re wins nonetheless. And, as Tuesday proved, they’re wins where everyone on the roster contributes.