Cleveland Guardians Announce Starting Pitcher for ALDS Game 5

The Cleveland Guardians ripped up the script to fend off elimination during their Game 4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.

One of Stephen Vogt’s shocking moves was bringing in Gavin Williams from the bullpen to close out the game in the ninth inning, the pitcher’s first relief appearance in his career.

Now, the pitcher who closed out the ninth inning on Thursday will take the ball again in the first inning on Saturday, as Cleveland’s skipper confirmed Friday afternoon that Williams will start Game 5 of the ALDS.

Having Williams start on Saturday, just 48 hours after pitching, may seem like a surprising decision, but there’s more to it than the pitch log may show.

First, Thursday was Williams’ typical between-start bullpen session day; whether it was in one of the side mounds or at the end of a win-or-go-home game, he was going to be pitching either way. Plus, Williams only threw 18 pitches in Game 4, and it could have been much higher.

Throwing in an elimination game in front of a hostile crowd is certainly more taxing than a workout session, but the point is that Williams can still take the mound on Saturday and be pretty close to regular rest in terms of arm fatigue.

Calling on Williams to start Game 5 also makes plenty of sense considering just how dominant the right-hander has been against the White Sox during the regular season and during his lone start in the Playoffs,

Williams made franchise history in Game 2 when he struck out 11 Chicago hitters in 5.0 innings of work. He did allow two earned runs on four hits, but the White Sox had virtually no answers for Cleveland’s starter.

Vogt said on Friday that the team is confident in giving the ball to Williams, but understands the game could dictate how long he pitches.

"It's a Game 5, win or go home. Gavin wants the ball. We want him to have the ball, and it's his game. The game will tell us when it's time to move on, or maybe he takes it the whole way. We don't know. We've gotta get there and find out,” Vogt said.

With all that in mind, the leash for Williams will be short on Saturday, and that would have been true whether he was pitching in Game 4 or not.

It will be all hands on deck yet again for the Guardians in Game 5. If Williams finds himself in trouble early, Vogt won’t be afraid to go to his bullpen earlier, as he showed on Thursday with Parker Messick.

The Guardians still have Joey Cantillo, Tanner Bibee, and Foster Griffin (who was lights out in Game 3) rested and ready to come to pitch multiple innings of relief.

Williams will start with the ball in Game 5, but the Guardians could once again use a handful of pitchers to get through the game.