Rays and Guardians set ALCS rosters as series opens Monday at Tropicana Field

The Rays and Guardians announced their American League Championship Series rosters Monday, per Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors, with each club making exactly one change from the rosters they carried through the Division Series. The ALCS opens Monday night at Tropicana Field, where the 98-64 Rays — first in the AL East — host the 85-win Guardians.

What happened

Tampa Bay's roster adjustment moves lefty Garrett Cleavinger off the ALCS roster in favor of 24-year-old right-hander Brody Hopkins, per the report. Cleveland, meanwhile, swaps out utilityman Daniel Schneemann for right-hander Slade Cecconi.

Neither player who was removed appeared in the ALDS, per the report, so both clubs are converting a roster spot that went unused in the previous round into something they believe fits the ALCS matchup better.

Why it matters

The Cleavinger-to-Hopkins swap is the more operationally loaded of the two moves, and it arrives with context worth unpacking.

Cleavinger, 32, carried a 3.09 ERA into mid-August before running into significant trouble — per the report, he was tagged for 10 runs over his final 6 1/3 innings of the regular season before landing on the injured list with forearm discomfort. He was cleared to be part of Tampa Bay's ALDS roster but did not get into a game. That forearm concern is worth noting in a postseason environment where the Rays are already managing pitching health carefully: Shane McClanahan was officially ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 postseason with left forearm tightness, per a Rays announcement earlier this month, and has not pitched since September 3.

Hopkins brings a different profile entirely. The report describes him as having garnered plenty of top-100 attention this year, and his fastball sits at 100 mph. The concern is command: per the report, Hopkins walked 21% of his opponents in Triple-A this year — a figure the report calls staggering, and one that stands well above anything he had posted previously. His MLB debut covered just 5 1/3 innings. The Rays are betting that the heater plays in October even as the walk rate remains a live question.

The Guardians' move is quieter in profile but reflects a similar logic. Schneemann, 29, hit .210/.276/.332 in 286 plate appearances this season, posting a 72 wRC+, per the report. He offers utility versatility, but Cleveland is choosing to add a right-handed arm in Cecconi instead.

Is Cleavinger available at all this series?

Per the report, Cleavinger is not on the ALCS roster. The forearm discomfort that landed him on the injured list late in the regular season is the backdrop, though the report does not specify his current status beyond his removal from the roster. What is clear is that he was available for the ALDS and simply did not appear, and now he is off the active roster for this round entirely.

The numbers

Drew Rasmussen takes the ball for Tampa Bay in Game 1. He pitched 172 innings of 2.67 ERA ball during the regular season, per the report, and then turned in an eight-inning, 10-strikeout performance against the Yankees in the ALDS, allowing only three baserunners. That is the kind of outing that makes a rotation feel very short.

Foster Griffin gets the start for Cleveland. The former first-round pick spent three years with Japan's Yomiuri Giants before returning to MLB last offseason, per the report, and split this season between the Nationals and Guardians. Across both stops he logged 172 2/3 innings of 3.60 ERA ball. His work was sharper in Washington, where he posted a 3.06 ERA, than in Cleveland, where he posted a 5.19 ERA — though the report attributes much of that Cleveland damage to a single start in which he surrendered eight runs to the Orioles. In his lone ALDS appearance, Griffin tossed 2 2/3 innings, allowed one run, and struck out seven of his 11 opponents.

Where the club stands

Tampa Bay enters the ALCS at 98-64 (.605), first in the AL East, and on a one-game losing streak. The Rays host Cleveland on Monday, October 12 and Tuesday, October 13 at Tropicana Field before the series shifts to Progressive Field on Thursday, October 15.

The home-field advantage is meaningful here. The 98-win Rays hosting the 85-win Guardians at Tropicana Field is the kind of setup that rewards a rotation built around Rasmussen — and the Rays swept the Yankees in the ALDS, taking a 2-0 series lead before closing it out, with Nick Martinez named as the Game 3 starter in that round.

The Rays announced their new ballpark is targeting an early 2027 opening, which means this is, in all likelihood, one of the final postseason runs Tropicana Field will host. The building has its quirks. It will be full.

What we don't know yet

The report does not specify Cleavinger's current health status beyond the forearm discomfort that ended his regular season and kept him off the mound in the ALDS. Whether he is available in any capacity later in the series — should the Rays need to make a roster adjustment — is not addressed.

Similarly, the report does not detail how Cleveland plans to deploy Cecconi out of the bullpen, or whether Griffin's role could expand beyond a single start given his ALDS workload of 2 2/3 innings.

Hopkins' command issues in Triple-A are documented, but how Tampa Bay intends to use him — high-leverage, matchup-specific, or in lower-stakes situations — is not specified in the report.

What to watch

The Rasmussen-Griffin matchup in Game 1 is the obvious focal point, but the bullpen decisions behind them will tell you a great deal about how each manager reads this series. For Tampa Bay, the Hopkins addition is the variable: a 100 mph fastball attached to a 21% walk rate is either a weapon or a liability depending entirely on the count and the moment. For Cleveland, replacing a utility bat with a right-handed arm suggests the Guardians are prioritizing late-inning pitching depth over positional flexibility — a reasonable approach when facing a lineup that just dispatched the Yankees.

The series shifts to Progressive Field on Thursday, October 15, which means the rotation math will come into focus quickly. Watch how both clubs handle their starters' workloads in Games 1 and 2 before the travel day.