The Cleveland Guardians must aggressively address this area of concern if they are going to contend in 2025

2024 was a successful season for the Cleveland Guardians. Winning the American League Central and advancing to the American League Championship Series were spectacular accomplishments for a team most did not expect to contend. As impressive as these feats were, there is one area of their roster that must be improved if they are going to continue their success and advance further in the postseason. Starting pitching.

The Guardians were able to overcome their lack of quality starting pitching this past season, but expecting the season to play out in a similar manner next season would not be wise. Cleveland's rotation was carried by Tanner Bibee and Ben Lively for most of the year, with the late addition of Matthew Boyd helping them out down the stretch. This is in addition to the less-than-optimal performances of Logan Allen and Triston McKenzie, as well as the unexpectedly thrust-into-action Carlos Carrasco. Credit where credit is due, compiling the second-best record in the American League, and reaching the ALCS with this group, is beyond impressive.

Succeeding despite not having enough starting pitching in the regular season is one thing, but the playoffs are a completely different story. The Guardians had only one postseason game in which that game's starter pitched more than 5 innings, that game being the 5-2 loss in Game 5 to the New York Yankees (Tanner Bibee 5.2 innings pitched). That is simply unacceptable and is not something that can continue into next season. The Guardians' bullpen was overworked throughout the regular season, and the high volume of innings they were tasked with covering eventually caught up to them at the absolute worst time.

If Cleveland is going to avoid a similar fate next year, they must add multiple quality starting pitchers this offseason. Betting on Allen and McKenzie to be anything other than bottom-of-the-rotation starters is a foolish endeavor. They could re-sign one of Shane Bieber, Alex Cobb, or Boyd, but that would only be a band-aid on a much larger wound. Spending in free agency or trading away players who do not have a clear path to the majors to acquire starting pitching is an absolute must. If not, 2024 will just be a one-off year that was fun at the time but will ultimately be forgotten relatively quickly.