Building on Success: How Guardians Bullpen Can Reach New Heights in 2025

The Cleveland Guardians were one of the best team’s in baseball throughout the entire 2024 season.

There were multiple reasons for this, but the dominant bullpen was the biggest. The reliever group had a 2.57 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP and carried the team when the offense struggled toward the end of the year.

Looking at who’s returning for the Guardians and who could have a larger role, Cleveland could have an even better bullpen in 2025.

Guardians Bullpen Core

Let’s start with this: the core of the Guardians bullpen is all under team control for the foreseeable future.

Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, and Tim Herrin should all be back with the Guardians in 2025 unless one of them is involved in a trade, which seems unlikely.

Yes, Clase struggled in the playoffs, but his regular season run was still one for the record book. Plus, Stephen Vogt believes that Clase’s struggles could fuel his offseason work.

With Smith being a rookie and Gaddis’ first season in a reliever role, they still have room to develop and be even better after a full offseason of training for their specific job in the bullpen.

Then there are the additions the Guardians could add to an already dominant bullpen.

Trevor Stephan

Trevor Stephan missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery during spring training. Let’s not forget just how good the right-hander and his splitter were before the injury.

Stephan made his debut with Cleveland during the 2021 season. In his three big league seasons, Stephan has a 3.73 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 3.56 FIP, and 111 ERA+.

Considering a typical rehab schedule for pitchers who’ve undergone Tommy John surgery, the 29-year-old may not be ready for Opening Day. However, he could boost the bullpen in June or July and the rest of the season.

Andrew Walters

Andrew Walters was a late-season addition for the Guardians after being called up on September 12. The 2022 draft pick absolutely overpowered minor-league pitching, and a full season with him on Cleveland’s roster could take them to another level of dominance.

Walters appeared in nine games for the Guardians and only allowed one hit and no earned runs. He posted a WHIP of just 0.69 and had an opponent batting average of .038.

The Guardians already have a closer and two set-up men on their roster. This depth means Walters’s ideal spot in an in-game situation would be somewhere in the fifth or sixth inning, depending on the game and matchup.

An opposing lineup having to go through Walters, then Gaddis, then Smith, then Clase to close out a game is a near-impossible task.

Of course, all of this is contingent on the bullpen being healthy, and injury stints always happen over a 162-game season. However, it does appear that the Guardians will have one of the best bullpens, if not even better, once again in 2025.