CLEVELAND — In the first inning of the first game the best-of-five American League Division Series matchup between two teams that know each other extremely well, Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had so much respect (fear?) for the Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen that he made the unusual decision to pull his infield in during a one-run game.
Advertisement In the first inning. Of the first game. Before the Tigers had even recorded an out.
If there was an early indication of how Detroit feels about facing Cleveland’s all-gas-no-brake relievers in this series, this was it. “We’re going to see a lot of this bullpen,” Hinch said, with no hint of joy in his voice. In order for the Guardians to make a deep October run, this is their ideal path to do it.
Establish an early lead and get to the majors’ best set of relievers as quickly as possible. There’s no such thing as too early, particularly with all of these off days built into the schedule. Cleveland relievers produce radar readings that look like Dean’s List test scores: 95, 97, 98, 99.
They led all of baseball this year in nearly every statistical category, including ERA. They have both righties and lefties who can overpower hitters and the fact this series has a day off between every game except Games 3 and 4 in Detroit heavily favors Cleveland. Manager Stephen Vogt can be aggressive with how early he gets to the bullpen and how long he can stick with guys knowing they’ll usually have an off day in between app.