Guardians Season in Review: Ben Lively

He saved Cleveland’s season but is it sustainable

Ben Lively was a dynamic pickup by the Guardians after he became a minor-league free agent. His major league deal with Cleveland paid off very well for both parties - what can we expect from Lively round 2?

As the Guardians' starting rotation went up in flames a week into the season with Shane Bieber tearing his UCL and Gavin Williams sustaining an elbow injury, one man stepped forward to support the Guardians' young starters by eating some innings and giving them a chance to win. From April to June 30th, Ben Lively had a 3.03 ERA with a 7.70/2.65 K/BB/9 in 71 innings. In 2023, Lively had only thrown 88 innings for the Reds with a 5.38 ERA, so this was quite an improvement. He also did it by displaying an aggressively competitive spirit on the mound, endearing himself to Guardians fans as the team ran out to a healthy division lead.

With the help of former siterunner Matt Dallas's scouting, Covering the Corner was quick to embrace Mr. Lively. I had noted that the plan for him was likely for him to be a poor man's Aaron Civale as he throws a lot of average pitches that can be maximized with an excellent pitch mix. Of course, good Civale has an amazing out pitch in his curveball and Lively doesn't necessarily have a dominant offering. However, in 2024, Lively and the Guardians recognized that Cleveland's infiend defense allowed the journeyman starter to lean on his sinker and get hitters to put the ball on the ground, hopefully hitting it to one of three Gold Glove nominees in Andres Gimenez, Brayan Rocchio and Jose Ramirez around the horn.

How can Lively repeat his 2024? Theoretically, it should help to have conditioned his body to 151 innings last season so he should have as good a shot as anyone to give the team something like 180 solid innings in the back of the rotation. He can also continue to lean on that good slider and embrace a role of getting groundballs and hanging around in games longer to give the bullpen a break when needed.

In 2024, Lively threw a four-seamer 31.4%, a sinker 29%, and sweeper 16.9%, a Changeup 9.1%, a Curveball 8.8%, and a Slider 4.9% of the time. His gyro slider graded out well, so I think he could use to up its usage, maybe dropping his four seam and changeup usage slightly to compensate. Lean on the slider and embrace the idea that a hitter has to prepare for any one of his six offerings at any given moment and I think Lively can continue to provide solid back-of-the-rotation production. I'll also note that Lively's groundballs end up on the shortstop side of second a lot, so continued development from Brayan Rocchio defensively should help him beat his FIP with a lower ERA again.

It is easy to forget how crucial Ben Lively was to the Guardians' success in 2024, but from Opening Day until June 30th, he had a 3.03 ERA and was the only consistent producer in the rotation aside from Tanner Bibee. He's a valuable player to keep around and I'm excited to see him compete and get outs for Cleveland in 2025.

Here's his highlight reel from 2024: