Matt Wilkinson's promotion provides Guardians with stark reminder of thin bullpen depth amid Giants series

Earlier this week the Giants added a bit of intrigue to their series against the Guardians by letting the world know that they were planning on calling up former Cleveland farmhand Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson at some point during their stay at Progressive Field this week. 

And even if the Guardians gained an early advantage over the Giants by picking up a dominant win on Tuesday, the Giants have a golden opportunity to give Cleveland’s front office some early buyers remorse by starting Wilkinson tonight opposite Parker Messick. 

Matt Wilkinson would be a great fit in the Guardians' bullpen right now

Although the Giants still haven’t announced a starter for today’s game, all signs point toward Wilkinson taking the mound for them in the bottom of the first inning in tonight’s game. 

The Giants added him to their taxi squad at the beginning of the series, and reports emerged after last night’s game saying that he’s going to make his debut later today. 

“I think it’ll help provide a little bit of help left-handed-wise,” manager Tony Vitello told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado. “But he’s also an exciting prospect for a lot of reasons -- one being, he’s not scared. He gets a chance to prove that at the ultimate level, or the level that, if you are scared, you’re going to get exposed.”

Another option is that Wilkinson could work as a bulk guy behind Adrian Houser. 

But regardless of Wilkinson’s role, his debut is going to come at a time when he’d be a great fit in the Guardians’ bullpen that’s currently without Colin Holderman, Slade Cecconi and Shawn Armstrong. 

It’s gotten so bad that the Guardians currently have Logan Allen working as the longman in their ‘pen. Even if he’s never going to work in a high-leverage situation, it’s still not great. 

That spot would likely have been Wilkinson’s had the Guardians not traded him to the Giants in May as a part of their return for Patrick Bailey.

Even though Wilkinson hadn’t pitched above Double-A at the time of the trade, he was excelling at the level and seemed ticketed for Triple-A sooner rather than later. 

Wilkinson posted a 5.15 ERA in 42 1/3 innings at Triple-A Sacramento prior to getting called up, but he has a 3.40 ERA across 90 innings at three different minor league affiliates. 

Although the Guardians did a great job adding Griffin to their pitching core at the trade deadline, it seems like they missed out on an opportunity to add a true relief option, which is why they’ve had to use Allen in a relief role. 

Even though Bailey’s been a positive addition to the Guardians’ roster, Wilkinson could end up haunting the Guardians for years, and Wednesday is his first chance to turn into a trade boogeyman. 

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