How ALCS Game 4 Postponement Could Impact the Guardians

Everyone was ready for baseball to be played at Progressive Field on Friday night.

Players from both the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays were ready to go. The ground crew worked around the clock to prepare the field. Fans were prepared to wait out what looked like a potentially late night downtown.

However, the first pitch never came. After heavy rain showers swept through Northeast Ohio all day, MLB officially postponed Game 4 just before 9:00 pm, an hour before the game was supposed to start and nearly three hours after the gates opened.

Managers Stephen Vogt and Kevin Cash shared similar messages with the media after the game was officially postponed: it’s disappointing, but out of anyone’s control.

In hindsight, the field was in no condition for play when the gates opened, and it only got worse as the night went on. The left-field warning track was underwater, and a pool of standing water covered the outfield when the tarp was briefly taken off the field.

Postponing the game was the right call; what made it disappointing was how long it took to decide.

So what’s next? How does this postponement impact the rest of the series?

Looking at the schedule following Friday night’s cancellation, the Guardians and Rays are set for a sprint to crown a winner of the American League.

The Guardians and Rays are now set to play Game 4, Game 5, Game 6*, and Game 7* in four consecutive days, as needed.

Sunday was set as a travel day if the series goes long enough to return to St. Pete. Instead, it’s now a getaway day with Game 5 scheduled for 5:08 pm. Both teams would arrive in Florida in the early hours on Monday morning and be expected to play once again that night.

It’s not an impossible task considering that’s what all 30 MLB teams do during the regular season, but the playoffs are obviously a heightened challenge

The rainout impacts both teams most in the pitching department.

Cleveland needed its top bullpen arms to get through Thursday’s Game 3. Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis, and Cade Smith all pitched in the win. Cade ended up throwing 18 pitches, including a 10-pitch at-bat with Yandy Diaz.

With Game 4 being pushed back and Friday being a pseudo-off day, Cleveland’s bullpen is now coming into Saturday evening on full rest.

They’re going to need it, too, because with the possibility of playing four games in four days, the deciding factor in this ALCS could end up being which team’s bullpen is able to hold up the best.

This reality will force each manager to make some interesting in-game pitching decisions.

How long does a pitcher’s leash get, given how many games and innings are left? Will Vogt avoid going to Cade for more than one inning of work, given the possibility of needing him the next three days?

What happened in downtown Cleveland on Friday is unfortunate, but the teams have no time to be disappointed. The focus must shift to game planning because the cancellation will make the rest of the series strategically fascinating.