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Logan Allen to make Guardians rotation; Triston McKenzie to start season in bullpen
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- Logan Allen to make Guardians rotation; Triston McKenzie to start season in bullpen
One former member of the major league starting rotation is returning, and another is headed for the bullpen to start the season.
Left-hander Logan Allen will round out the club's rotation to open the season, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt announced Sunday. Triston McKenzie , who is out of minor league options , will break camp as a member of the bullpen.
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The Guardians and the other 29 major league clubs have only a few days of spring camp left to make numerous roster decisions before Opening Day on Thursday, March 27. The Guardians will open the 2025 regular season in Kansas City against the Royals in what could shape up to be a four-way, razor-thin American League Central race between Cleveland , K.C., the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins .
Speaking Sunday on Zoom, Vogt noted how the Opening Day roster has continued to take shape.
Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Logan Allen (41) delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Oakland Athletics on Saturday in Cleveland.
Logan Allen , Triston McKenzie back with Guardians to open 2025 season
Allen will join Tanner Bibee — who will take the ball on Opening Day — Luis Ortiz, Gavin Williams and Ben Lively in the starting rotation.
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After a positive rookie season (3.81 ERA in 125⅓ innings), Allen took a step back in 2024 with a 5.73 ERA in 93⅓ innings. His strikeout, walk and home run rates were all heading in the wrong direction, and Allen was optioned to Triple-A to allow him to work on some things away from the pressures of major league action.
Allen then put together a productive camp this spring, posting a 1.89 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 19 innings, enough to earn the No. 5 spot in the rotation.
"I told him — completely different pitcher than the one I saw last year, and that's a credit to him and the work that he put in this winter and this spring," Vogt said. "He came in and competed his backside off and then earned a spot, and we couldn't be more thrilled for Logan."
McKenzie also struggled enough that he was optioned to Triple-A Columbus last season. He came to camp looking to work his way back to the rotation but had some ups and downs, finishing with a 7.50 ERA in 12 innings. There were some positives within that, and McKenzie being out of minor league options left the Guardians with few avenues that didn't involve possibly losing him altogether.
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So, McKenzie will start the season in the bullpen, with the Guardians hoping the move can click some things into place for him.
"Triston, when he came into camp, it was like a new guy," said Guardians general manager Mike Chernoff. "The ride on the fastball was back, the velocity was back. He was letting loose, and we saw that sort of in the short stints in his live BPs and some of the early sim game outings he had. And then he struggled a little bit as he was in the rotation and trying for that spot. So we wanted an opportunity to see him out of the bullpen."
In addition to pitchers at times seeing their stuff play up a bit out of the bullpen, it might also allow McKenzie to just go after hitters without worrying about setting them up for a second or third at-bat as he might in the starting rotation.
"We need to get him into the mindset where it's an attack mentality," Chernoff said. "And whether that's in the rotation or in the bullpen, we've got to him attacking the strike zone with all of his pitcher, and we felt like seeing him in the bullpen role would potentially allow him to get more into that mindset."
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With the rotation set and McKenzie converting to a reliever, one spot in the bullpen remains up for grabs.
Rockies Nolan Jones (22) celebrates scoring with Elias Diaz (L) against the Diamondbacks during a game at Chase Field.
Guardians trade for Nolan Jones , deal Tyler Freeman to Colorado Rockies ; Will Brennan 's roster spot in doubt
Sometimes, plans can change rather quickly.
The Guardians believed they pretty much had their outfield situation sorted out, and that included Will Brennan on the roster to start the season. They even had communicated that to him.
But then the Colorado Rockies came calling with a surprising offer, and the trade that swapped outfielder Nolan Jones and infielder Tyler Freeman came together rather quickly. The deal was made official Saturday night, with Jones — as a left-handed right fielder — returning to Cleveland. Jones was a second-round pick in 2016 who was traded from Cleveland to the Rockies a few years ago in exchange for Juan Brito.
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"Unexpectedly over the past 48 hours or so, and it kind of unexpectedly came onto our radar," Chernoff said. "We obviously know Nolan really well … which probably allowed us to act a little bit more quickly than we typically would, beause we felt like it was an opportunity to add a left-handed impact-type bat, or the potential to have that type of impact, into our outfield mix."
Jones is out of minor league options, so he's going to be assured an Opening Day roster spot in right field, joining Jhonkensy Noel . Freeman being gone also further clears the way for at-bats at second base for Gabriel Arias and Daniel Schneemann .
It means Brennan's spot — as another left-handed right fielder, but one who hasn't had stretches of success like Jones, and who has options remaining — is suddenly in some doubt. The Guardians have some options with the last bench spot on the position player side.
"With the trade happening as quickly as it did, I had informed Will that he was going to be on the Opening Day roster, and then I talked to him [Saturday] night, that that's now up in the air," Vogt said. "No final decisions have been made."
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Jones had a strong 2023 season , posting a .931 OPS with 20 home runs and 20 steals in only 106 games. But his 2024 season was a much different story, as he struggled with a .641 OPS in only 79 games while battling back and knee injuries. The Guardians felt comfortable enough with his medical situation to bring him back for the potential he can get anywhere close to his 2023 numbers.
"The health is a real factor and obviously he had the tremendous, monster year in 2023 and then didn't replicate that last year, and a lot of that was due to some back injuries and some knee stuff he had going on," Chernoff said. "We did a full medical review — we know his medical file up to 2022 exceptionally well, obviously — and felt comfortable with where things are. … We are going to manage his workload appropriately and make sure that we try to keep him on the field."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians name Logan Allen to rotation, Triston McKenzie to bullpen
