Guardians' Tanner Bibee: Strikes out seven in no-decision
Rotowire
Bibee allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk over five innings in a no-decision Thursday against the Royals. He struck out seven.
Bibee allowed just one unearned run through his first five innings Thursday, though he'd be charged with two runs in the sixth after allowing the first two batters to reach. Still, it was another decent effort from the 25-year-old right-hander -- Bibee now has seven strikeouts in back-to-back outings while pitching to a 2.12 ERA over his last five starts. Overall, he's 4-1 on the year with a 3.73 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 76:19 K:BB through 70 innings. Bibee's currently in line for a road matchup with the Reds in his next outing.
Allen is listed as the Guardians' probable pitcher for Friday's game against the Marlins in Miami.
Allen had been in line to work as a primary pitcher out of the bullpen behind opener Nick Sandlin in Wednesday's game against the Royals, but that contest was ultimately postponed due to inclement weather. Rather than pushing Allen's next outing back a day to Thursday's series finale, Tanner Bibee will stay on turn in the rotation and start against Kansas City. Allen is thus set to take the hill for the series opener in Miami, and barring a late change from manager Stephen Vogt, the southpaw looks poised to handle a traditional starting role rather than working behind an opener.
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Guardians' Tyler Freeman: Getting Thursday off
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Freeman is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.
Freeman had been in line to receive Wednesday's game off before that contest was postponed due to inclement weather, but he'll see his streak of 20 consecutive starts come to an official end Thursday. Though he's moved out of the leadoff spot since the Guardians brought back Steven Kwan from the injured list Friday, Freeman has continued to thrive with four hits -- including a game-winning home run Tuesday -- and a stolen base over his last four starts. Utility man Daniel Schneemann will get the nod in center field Thursday in Freeman's stead.
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Guardians' David Fry: Taking seat Thursday
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Fry is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Blue Jays.
Fry will take a seat for Thursday's series finale, as he had been scheduled to head to the bench Wednesday before that game was postponed due to inclement weather. Though his 1.092 OPS on the season ranks first in the majors among all players with at least 140 plate appearances, Fry still hasn't quite locked down a full-time role in Cleveland. He'll be out of the lineup for the second time in three games while the Guardians go with Bo Naylor at catcher and Kyle Manzardo at designated hitter.
Allen and the Guardians won't play the Royals on Wednesday after the game was postponed due to inclement weather in Cleveland.
The Royals and Guardians will make up the postponed game as part of a split doubleheader Aug. 26. Allen had been expected to work behind opening pitcher Nick Sandlin on Wednesday, but it's unclear if he'll be pushed back a day to pitch in some capacity in Thursday's series finale with Kansas City, or if his turn through the rotation will be skipped entirely.
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Guardians' Tyler Freeman: Taking seat Wednesday
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Freeman is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Royals.
Though he's moved out of the leadoff spot since the Guardians brought back Steven Kwan from the injured list Friday, Freeman has continued to thrive with four hits -- including a game-winning home run Tuesday -- and a stolen base over his last four games. Utility man Daniel Schneemann will get the nod in center field Wednesday in what looks to be little more than a maintenance day for Freeman, who had started in each of Cleveland's last 20 games.
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Guardians' David Fry: Not starting Wednesday
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Fry is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Royals.
Among all players with at least 140 plate appearances, Fry leads the majors with a 1.092 OPS on the season, but he still hasn't quite seized hold of a full-time role in Cleveland. He'll be on the bench for the second time in three games while the Guardians go with Bo Naylor at catcher and Kyle Manzardo at designated hitter.
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Guardians' Joey Cantillo: Activated at Triple-A
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Triple-A Columbus reinstated Cantillo (hamstring) from its 7-day injured list Wednesday.
Cantillo is ready to make his season debut for Columbus after he had been sidelined for more than two months to begin the campaign due to a left hamstring strain. He made just one rehab start in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League prior to being activated, so Cantillo could face some limitations with his workload in his initial outings with Columbus.
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Guardians' Tyler Freeman: Hits game-tying homer
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Freeman went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Royals.
Freeman's homer tied the game at 5-5 in the seventh inning. He hit eighth Tuesday, the lowest he's been in the order since May 9, though it was expected he'd see less time in the top-third of the lineup following Steven Kwan's return from a hamstring injury. Freeman is batting a respectable .256 over his last 20 games, though his season average remains at .219 with a .666 OPS, five homers, 24 RBI, 33 runs scored and eight stolen bases through 54 contests.
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Guardians' Josh Naylor: Launches homer Tuesday
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Naylor went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run, a walk and a second run scored in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Royals.
Naylor was part of the Guardians' comeback push -- his fourth-inning homer cut the deficit to 5-3. After being one of the team's hottest hitters in April, the first baseman has hit .178 with a .719 OPS since the start of May. Naylor's power is still coming through with 16 homers, a .500 slugging percentage and a .271 ISO. He hasn't had a pronounced issue with strikeouts either, fanning at just a 16.2 percent rate while walking at a career-best 10.3 percent clip. Naylor's .308 batting average last year was likely unsustainable, but he's a better overall hitter than he's been over the last month.
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Guardians' Scott Barlow: Collects 15th hold
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Barlow pitched a perfect inning to earn a hold in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Royals.
Barlow has given up six runs over his last seven innings, but he's also picked up seven holds over nine appearances in that span. He's been a little shaky all season, as evidenced by a middling 3.91 ERA to go with a 1.34 WHIP and 34:12 K:BB through 25.1 innings, but Barlow still leads the Guardians with 15 holds. He's maintained a setup role while adding one save and a 2-2 record, though Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis have been more reliable parts of the bridge to closer Emmanuel Clase.
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Guardians' Cade Smith: Secures another win
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Smith (3-0) allowed one hit over 1.2 scoreless innings to earn the win over the Royals on Tuesday. He did not strike out or walk a batter.
Smith entered the game while the Guardians were down, 5-3, but they put together a rally in the seventh inning to put him in line for the win. During his 10.1-inning scoreless streak, Smith has two wins, one save, four holds and a 14:1 K:BB. That impressive stretch has helped him get into the high-leverage mix. He's been fantastic in his first big-league season with a 1.67 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 38:7 K:BB over 27 innings, though he's unlikely to be anything more than a setup man with Emmanuel Clase entrenched as the closer.
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Guardians' Gavin Williams: Five Ks in second rehab start
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Williams (elbow) struck out five over 2.1 innings and allowed three earned runs on three hits and two walks Tuesday in his second rehab start with Triple-A Columbus.
After covering just one inning and tossing 32 pitches while giving up two runs in his first rehab start with Columbus last Thursday, Williams upped his pitch count to 46 (29 strikes) Tuesday. Williams' control has wavered a bit over his first two rehab outings, but so long as he avoids any further setbacks with his right elbow, he should remain on track to return from the 60-day injured list at some point later this month. He'll likely require two more rehab starts before he's ready to make his 2024 debut for the Guardians.
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Guardians' Emmanuel Clase: Notches 19th save
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Clase walked one and struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning Tuesday to record his 19th save of the season in an 8-5 win over the Royals.
It didn't look like Clase would even get a save chance when the Guardians fell behind 5-0 early, but the right-hander had little trouble securing the comeback victory. Clase is tied for the league lead in saves with the Cardinals' Ryan Helsley, and the Cleveland closer hasn't given up an earned run since April 14 en route to a sparkling 0.30 ERA and 0.63 WHIP through 30.1 innings with a 31:3 K:BB.
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Guardians' Triston McKenzie: Escapes with no-decision
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McKenzie came away with a no-decision in Tuesday's 8-5 win over the Royals, surrendering five runs on nine hits -- including three home runs -- and two walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out seven.
He was taken deep twice by Bobby Witt and once by Hunter Renfroe as McKenzie dug a 5-0 hole through four innings, but the Guardians were able to climb out of it. The right-hander's suddenly having trouble keeping the ball in the park -- after serving up only six homers over his first nine starts of the season, McKenzie's coughed up multiple long balls in three straight outings and has a 7.04 ERA over that stretch. He'll try to turn things around in his next trip to the mound, which is scheduled to come on the road this weekend in Miami.
