Just not his time, Guardians option young left-hander to Triple-A to start the season

When the Cleveland Guardians entered spring training, there were a couple of spots on their pitching staff that were somewhat considered up for grabs. One arm vying for a spot was left-handed pitching prospect Doug Nikhazy, and while there were some encouraging signs from his performance this spring, the Guardians have decided to option him to Triple-A Columbus to start the season.

Nikhazy did not give up a run over his first three apperances in Arizona, forcing his way into the conversation about who may be part of Cleveland's Opening Day pitching staff. With just one hit allowed and sporting a stikeout to walk ratio of 10-2, Nikhazy was definitively impressive over his first seven spring training innings pitched. Unfortunately, this did not continue in most recent outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this week.

Los Angeles was not fooled by anything Nkhazy had to offer this past Tuesday, as the young left-hander allowed seven runs on four hits and four walks in 1.2 innings. This was not what anyone was hoping for in this outing and it shows that Nikhazy might not be quite ready for major league action.

Facing a lineup with as much talent as the Dodgers have was never going to be easy, and ideally, Nikhazy would have been able to navigate their lineup with a little less difficulty instead of being completely overmatched by Los Angeles's star-studded lineup. Now, judging NIkhazy off of this appearance and this appearance alone would be an improper way to evaluate who he is as a pitcher at this point, but it did show that while he has a bright future as a major leaguer, more work is needed in the minors before he is truly ready for that challenge.

Nikhazy made 14 appearances (13 starts) in Triple-A for the Columbus Clippers last season, pitching to a 2.87 ERA, 1.128 WHIP, and 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Should Nikhazy pitch at a similar level in Columbus once again, it will only be a matter of time before he gets the call-up to the Guardians.