Cleveland’s 2021 bullpen was supposed to be good. One random idiot even called it the team’s secret weapon coming into the season. That idiot, as dashingly handsome as he is short-sightedly stupid, was almost proven right for a bit. Then a sticky substance ban hit, Nick Sandlin got hurt, and everything came unraveled.
Not everyone in the bullpen is James Karinchak and totally unable to pitch without sticky fingers (Blake Parker and Bryan Shaw are still better than you probably think), but once better part of the Guardians’ 1-2 punch turned out to be a sham, it really threw a wrench in things.