CLEVELAND — Sidelined starting pitchers Triston McKenzie and Aaron Civale are nearing the final steps of their respective rehab assignments. While the offense scuffles and the pitchman staff tries to keep the Guardians afloat, the return of McKenzie and Civale will shake up the starting rotation.
McKenzie is scheduled to make his third rehab appearance with Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday. According to manager Terry Francona, the goal is to get McKenzie stretched out to 85 pitches. It’ll be determined after that outing whether McKenzie needs one more tune-up in the minors or if he’s ready to join the big league rotation.
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“I think that’s where, when they get to that point [85 pitches]I think you can start to talk about them contributing to a Major League team without putting the other people in jeopardy, or all the things that you talk about, and themselves included,” Francona said.
Civale is slated to pitch Sunday with Triple-A Columbus. Both pitchers are in the final steps of their journey back to the rotation. McKenzie hasn’t pitched this season with a teres major muscle strain, and Civale (left oblique strain) is returning after a strong start was cut short.
The next question: which pitchers are optioned to Triple-A to make room for them. With Peyton Battenfield on the injured list, Hunter Gaddis will assuredly be one of them. The other would likely be Tanner Bibee or Logan Allen, two prospects on which the Guardians are high.
Allen has a 3.31 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings. Bibee has a 2.88 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings and is coming off a gem of a start against the St. Louis Cardinals. Unless the Guardians get creative with one of the four veterans — Shane Bieber, Cal Quantrill, McKenzie and Civale — or if they move to a six-man rotation, something has to give. A six-man rotation would need to be modified considering it’s well known how much Bieber prefers to pitch on a regular five-game schedule, as do most pitchers.
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With Cody Morris, the Guardians will soon be balancing what they’d like to see with his development long term against what could be more helpful right now. It’s a case of weighing whether he could remain a starting pitcher or be an option out of the bullpen at the major league level.
The case for Morris remaining in the rotation: starting pitching depth is always important in the case of multiple injuries, and the team has envisioned him as a starting pitcher for the long haul.
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The case for Morris moving to a bullpen role: the Guardians already have a log jam in the rotation, and he could also move back to a starting pitcher role down the road.
“We’re going to build him up to three innings when he gets there, then we’re going to reevaluate,” Francona said. “It’ll be the medical people, the pitching guys, just quite frankly, there’s a combination of what helps us the most, what’s in his best interest, and there’s probably a couple different, as you can imagine, opinions on bullpen, starter , what’s best for him.”
Morris has been knocking on the door to the majors since last spring. He simply hasn’t been able to remain healthy long enough to give the coaching staff a long look at him. The team has been high on him, and he’s warranted some strong praise, but he’s also only been able to pitch 28 1/3 innings in the majors while dealing with injuries — most recently, a teres major muscle strain.
“We think he’s a pretty good pitcher,” Francona said. “We just haven’t seen him as much as we’d like.”
Ryan Lewis can be reached at [email protected]. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Triston McKenzie, Aaron Civale nearing return to Guardians rotation