Guardians Make Surprising Roster Move With Starting Pitcher

The Guardians' 22nd-ranked prospect had a long shot of making the Opening Day roster heading into spring training.

However, a stellar Cactus League performance sparked a conversation about whether Nikhazy should be in the Opening Day rotation or as another left-hander out of the bullpen.

"Doug had a great camp and made a lot of really good impressions. We just need to get him built up to start, and don't have enough innings for him to do that," said Stephen Vogt on Saturday morning.

Cleveland's skipper also said he told Nikhazy, "Just because you're not making the team on Opening Day doesn't mean you're not going to help us this year."

Nikhazy's final spring training stats don't do just to just how good he looked in March.

Before getting hit around and losing his command against the reigning World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers, Nikhazy hadn't allowed a run, given up just one hit, and struck 14 batters in 11.0 innings of work.

Considering how good Nikhazy looked this spring, this roster move is slightly shocking, but Vogt's rationale makes sense, too.

The Guardians need to see other pitchers get into games while still ramping Nikhazy up for his season, whatever level that may be at

Even though Doug won't be in the starting rotation to start the year, he could quickly be promoted to make his MLB debut if some of the arms in the back of the rotation struggle to start the year.

Watching Nikhazy's first few starts at Triple-A could be telling for what early season decision the front office may be forced to make.

Read More Cleveland Guardians Coverage