Projection Model 'Confident' With Guardians Rotation
FanGraphs ZiPS believes the Cleveland Guardians' starting rotation is in a good spot heading into the 2026 MLB season.
Video Transcript
A year ago, the Cleveland Guardians were searching up and down the organization, the trade market, free agency, to add more depth to rotation for the 2025 season.
Now, a year later, the tables have really turned, and the Guardians can feel pretty confident about the depth and quality of pitchers they have in the rotation.
And it's not just me saying this.
In fact, FanGraphs Zips projections model is very high on the Guardians' rotation as a whole, heading into, heading into 2026.
Dan Zbierskiewicz of FanGraphs recently said, "Zips is much more confident about the state of the Guardians' pitching staff than the lineup."
Obviously, at the top, you have Tanner Baby and Gavin Williams, two not... solid one-two punches.
And after that, there's a little bit of a drop-off in terms of quality.
But overall, Zips is still very high on Slate Cecconi, Logue Allen.
It seems really like Joey Quintillo and even prospect Austin Pederson as well.
Overall, Zbierskiewicz concluded that there aren't many big names in the rotation after Baby and Williams, but Zips sees Slate Cecconi, Logan Allen, and Parker Messick as quality com- competent starters.
And that's really all the Guardians need with the bullpen that they have as well.
Obviously, there's been a lot of talk about the Guardians' pitching staff, the bullpen, and now the rotation this offseason.
But what Cleveland really needs to do to solidify themselves as a playoff contender heading to next year is figure out some way to upgrade the lineup.
And now that they can feel confident and it's not just the organization, but it's other famous projection models saying that they should be confident as well, it's really time to switch that focus and zone in on how to improve the lineup.
