Cleveland Guardians Should Sign This Pitcher Immediately

The Cleveland Guardians entered the 2025 MLB season with some significant questions in their starting rotation, and those concerns have certainly manifested themselves in the early going.

The Guardians once again have one of the worst starting pitching staffs in baseball, as they have managed just one quality start through their first nine games. Four of their five starters have ERAs north of 6, and they have very limited depth beyond that group.

Yes, Shane Bieber is slated to return from Tommy John surgery midseason, but how much he will actually be able to contribute after having not pitched for over a year remains to be seen (plus, Bieber has a checkered injury history as it is).

Cleveland can always try and acquire some pitching at the trade deadline, but that is several months away, and we don't even know if the Guardians—who were 3-6 heading into their three-game series against the Chicago White Sox—will remain in contention that long.

That's why Cleveland may have to look for a solution now, and there is one pitcher still remaining on the open market who could help Stephen Vogt's club: Spencer Turnbull.

Turnbull spent the 2024 campaign with the Philadelphia Phillies, making 17 appearances and seven starts before going down with a lat strain that ended his season in mid-August. He pitched to the tune of a 2.65 ERA, allowing 37 hits while registering 58 strikeouts over 54.1 innings of work.

The 32-year-old owns a lifetime 4.26 ERA and 3.83 FIP across 356.2 frames, which are actually pretty solid numbers. Most of Turnbull's outings have been starts (67 out of 78), so he has ample experience as a starter and could provide a terrific swing option for the Guardians.

Cleveland desperately needs an arm like Turnbull's to provide the club with some versatility and insurance, especially with Ben Lively looking very shaky over his first couple of starts (was last year a fluke?) and Luis Ortiz throwing up all sorts of red flags since spring training. And let's be honest: you really don't know what to expect from Bieber.

At this point, Turnbull can almost surely be had on a cheap one-year contract, and it's something the Guardians must consider with their rotation clearly in rough shape right off the bat.

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