Nick Sandlin will miss rest of season with muscle strain

The Cleveland Guardians have announced that reliever Nick Sandlin will miss the remainder of the postseason with an upper back/muscle strain, specifically the Teres Major muscle if that means anything to you.

Sandlin will be unable to throw for five to six weeks, which means he’s done for the year. He pitched a scoreless 0.2 innings in his lone postseason appearance, finishing a walk and a strikeout in the Guardians’ dramatic 15-inning win Saturday.

Sandlin was one of many great relievers in the Guardians’ pen during the regular season, finishing with a 2.25 ERA over 44.0 innings. Walks were an issue, but he finished 19th among MLB relievers with his 55.9% groundball rate.

The Guardians are now left with deciding who takes his spot on ALDS roster. Aaron Civale will likely be added somehow as he was left off the Wild Card roster but figures to start sometime in the five-game ALDS. But that means the Guardians will still need another true reliever. Cody Morris seems like the most obvious choice, given that Terry Francona made it clear the decision between him and Zach Plesac for the Wild Card was a close one.

Morris made five appearances in the regular season (five starts) with a 2.28 ERA over 23.2 innings. After s shaky two runs allowed in his MLB debut back on Sept. 2, he never allowed more than one run in any outing down the stretch.