Projected starting rotation for Guardians has more questions than answers

If there is one thing that fans of the Cleveland Guardians wanted the organization to do this winter, it was improve their pitching staff. The Guardians have brought in a few new arms into the mix, but their projected Opening Day starting rotation still has its fair share of question marks.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter took a shot at guessing what every MLB team's starting rotation will look like on Opening Day, and Cleveland's entry is expected. Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Ben Lively, Luis Ortiz, and Triston McKenzie are the arms most likely to be in the Guardians' rotation once the regular season begins. Some version of those five arms have been floated out during the offseason, with the order following Bibee's spot being switched accordingly, so this grouping should not surprise anyone.

When it comes to the Guardians' offseason approach to their rotation, Reuter was not particularly impressed. "The Guardians were left trying to cobble together a competitive rotation behind Tanner Bibee last October, turning to veterans Matthew Boyd and Alex Cobb to start playoff games. Despite those issues, they did little to address the rotation this winter outside of adding Luis L. Ortiz from the Pirates, though they should have Shane Bieber back at some point during the first half.", wrote Reuter, and it is hard to argue with that assessment. It really feels that the Guardians did not do nearly enough to improve their rotation for 2025, as everyone after Bibee has some sort of question mark attached to them. 

Can Gavin Williams put 2024's abbreviated and disappointing campaign behind him?

Will Ben Lively be able to build upon his best season in the majors and be the innings eater Cleveland needs, or was last year just an outlier of what has been a relatively unimpressive career?

Is the 2024 breakout of Luis Ortiz an accurate representation of his pitching abilities or just a ton of good luck that resulted in being successful despite having a low ground ball and strikeout rate?

Can Triston McKenzie get his career back on track, or are his days as a viable starting option behind him?

With questions like these, it is easy to see why it would have been much more preferable for the Guardians to go out and get a proven arm for their rotation. Instead, it appears they are banking on getting the better end of multiple this or that scenarios. Should things work in their favor, it could prove to be a very important part of a successful 2025 season. If not, it would make it incredibly difficult to win games consistently and would be a major factor in failing to repeat as American League Central champions in 2025.