Who's in Opening Day pitching mix? Guards want Nikhazy to build up at Triple-A

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Doug Nikhazy gave the Guardians something to think about this spring as he emerged as an option to make his first Opening Day roster. While the 25-year-old will not break camp with the team after all, he left a great impression.

Cleveland optioned Nikhazy, ranked as the club’s No. 22 prospect by MLB Pipeline, to Triple-A Columbus on Saturday, reducing its Spring Training roster to 49. He was a potential option for the Opening Day bullpen.

“We just need to get him built up to start,” said manager Stephen Vogt, “and don’t have enough innings for him to do that [in the Majors].”

Nikhazy -- who was added to the 40-man roster in November -- had a tough outing on Wednesday against the Dodgers, but he has otherwise had a strong showing this spring. He did not allow a run in his first three Cactus League appearances (all in relief), while surrendering one hit and two walks to go with 10 strikeouts.

• Box score: Guardians 7, Royals 5

"[The message] was, 'Doug, you made a really good impression,'" Vogt said. “'There were a lot of people talking positively about you. Just because you're not making the team on Opening Day doesn't mean you're not going to help us at some point this year.' Doug had a great camp and impressed a lot of people."

Nikhazy’s option could add some clarity to the Guardians’ pitching picture. He was one of a handful of lefties with a plausible pathway to earning a spot in the Opening Day bullpen. Tim Herrin is the only lefty reliever penciled in at this point. (Erik Sabrowski is likely to open the season on the injured list due to left elbow inflammation.)

Should Cleveland opt to carry another southpaw in the ‘pen, non-roster invitees Kolby Allard and Parker Mushinski have emerged as two veteran options to keep an eye on. Young starters Logan Allen and Joey Cantillo are potentially other candidates.

Allard signed a Minor League deal on Feb. 3. The 27-year-old has allowed just two runs on nine hits and two walks with nine strikeouts in 11 innings over five appearances this spring.

”I really like the way Kolby is throwing the ball,” Vogt said this week. “He knows how to pitch. He knows how to get outs. He's throwing a lot of strikes right now, and I think that's really been the difference for me. When he's ahead in the count, he's in the driver's seat.”

Allard has made 76 career appearances (42 starts), and four outings this spring have been multiple innings. He’s gone three innings twice, including Friday vs. the Mariners. Allard noted a key to him being successful is “being aggressive and throwing every pitch at 110 percent intent.”

“That's something that I've struggled with a little bit in the past,” Allard said. “Just intent and having confidence behind everything that we're doing. I'm in a very good place mentally with going out there and believing in what we have and believing that it’s good enough to go out and consistently get big league hitters out.”

Mushinski signed a Minor League deal with the Guardians on Nov. 9, after he spent the first eight years of his professional career with the Astros. Signing with Cleveland as early in the offseason as he did afforded them more time to work together on adjustments.

Over five outings this spring, Mushinski has thrown five scoreless innings while only allowing one walk to go with five strikeouts. He’s been so efficient that he’s only thrown 42 pitches (29 strikes).

“We got into an understanding of, ‘OK, this is where I've been the best. What does it look like? How do we get back to that?’” Mushinski said. “ ... I've just been excited to be a part of this group. It's honestly some of the most fun I've had so far in pro ball.”

Allen (two) and Cantillo (one) have Minor League options remaining. If they don’t make the initial rotation, having them open the season in Columbus is one pathway to keeping them built up -- ensuring Cleveland has as much rotation depth ready as possible.

Whatever the Guardians’ Opening Day roster ultimately looks like, it will evolve as the season goes on. But they have much to consider over the next week and a half.