What the Guardians can learn from the Blue Jays and Dodgers’ pitching staffs

This year’s World Series will feature two teams who used their starting pitching staffs in unique ways. 

While Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw 173 2/3 innings in the regular season and has turned into the Dodgers’ unquestioned ace, Clayton Kershaw (112 2/3 innings) has been an afterthought and Dustin May (104 innings) spent the second half in Boston. 

On the other side, the Toronto Blue Jays got 100+ innings out of Kevin Gausman (who will start one of the first games of the World Series), Chris Bassitt (who has worked out of the bullpen this postseason) and Eric Lauer (who has made one postseason appearance). 

While the Dodgers and Blue Jays didn’t get to the World Series just because of their pitching, they manufactured wins in the regular season despite not having a ton of consistency in their starting rotation. 

Meanwhile, the Guardians had a stunning amount of consistency from their starting rotation this season, as they had four starters finish with 100+ innings this year. 

Is that a bad thing? 

The answer to that question is no. A resounding no, in fact. But the fact that it’s a valid question sums up the baseball landscape right now. 

The Guardians’ stellar pitching could lead them to a World Series

For the longest time, established periods of winning were usually defined by having an ace at the top of your rotation who took the ball every fifth day. And while that’s still important (and always will be), sometimes depth starters can be the difference between ending your season early and playing deep into October. 

Just to be clear, it’s not like the Dodgers or Blue Jays don’t have good pitchers. Tyler Glasnow had a 3.14 ERA in 90 1/3 innings for the Dodgers, while Blake Snell and Shohei Ohtani combined for just 100 regular season innings but combined for a 1.36 ERA in 35 postseason innings. 

The Blue Jays only got 17 regular season starts from Max Scherzer due to a variety of injuries, but he turned in 5 2/3 gutsy innings in his lone postseason performance. Trey Yesavage started the year at Single-A but will get a start in the World Series and old friend Shane Bieber has taken the ball three times for them in the postseason after only making seven regular season starts. 

And, just to be even clearer, the Guardians have some really good pitching. Tanner Bibee turned things around after a rough start, Gavin Williams became an ace and Parker Messick broke out over the final two months, among other positive developments. 

If the Guardians had made it to the Division Series (or further), they likely would have gotten a lot of contributions from pitchers like Messick and Cantillo, who both finished the regular season with less than 100 innings. 

They also could have moved a starter like Slade Cecconi into the bullpen like what the Blue Jays did with Bassitt. 

The Guardians’ front office also attempted to shore up their rotation with a depth arm by signing John Means to a one-year, $1 million contract, but Means’ rehab stalled a bit and he never ended up appearing in a Major League game.

A year prior, they struck gold with their mid-year signing of Matthew Boyd, who turned his three postseason starts into a multi-year contract with the Cubs. 

But the Dodgers and Blue Jays making the World Series is a reminder of how close the Guardians are. Both teams locked down their superstar (which the Guardians have done with José Ramírez) and have built a solid lineup and pitching staff around them.

The Guardians have figured out the pitching staff and (hopefully) are going to make moves this winter to help fortify their lineup.