Guardians notes: Stephen Vogt still unsure who will take Shane Bieber's spot in the rotation

CLEVELAND — Manager Stephen Vogt said the Guardians have yet to decide what to do with their rotation in the wake of the season-ending injury to ace Shane Bieber. Cleveland was already down a starter in right-hander Gavin Williams, who is expected to miss the first month with elbow inflammation. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco took his place, but now the Guardians need another fill-in until Williams returns. The candidates to replace Bieber include right-handers Xzavion Curry and Ben Lively, who are at Triple-A Columbus. "The rainout (Sunday in Minnesota) bought us a few more days to keep guys in rotation, so we're still working through the process of who will step into the rotation for Shane," Vogt said Monday. "But it does allow Ben and Zay to get one more outing in Triple-A to build up pitches before we make that final decision. So it's maybe a little bit of a blessing that we got rained out in that regard." Curry, 25, was a versatile pitcher for the Guardians last year, appearing in 43 games (11 starts) and posting a 4.23 ERA and 1.409 WHIP. He made one start for Columbus through Monday, tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out seven. Lively, 32, is a four-year veteran who spent 2019-2021 pitching in Korea. He returned to the majors with Cincinnati two years ago, appearing in 19 games (12 starts) for the Reds last season — 5.38 ERA and a 1.365 WHIP. He's also made one start for the Clippers, with three strikeouts over three scoreless innings. Rookie season The home opener against the White Sox was Vogt's 10th game as a manager. He was asked what he noticed most about his new job. "Just the speed of the game," Vogt said. "It's a good thing I have a really good staff around me that I don't have to worry about everything. But there's been a few games that it gets hairy really quick and I've been able to navigate those very well and keep my cool. "It's amazing to me how every day there's a learning experience or a learning opportunity for me and I've been able to get out in front of a lot of them already. But there's still going to be things that I learn on a day-to-day basis or mess up on a day-to-day basis that I want to fix the next day." Old friends Former Cleveland greats and longtime teammates Corey Kluber and Michael Brantley threw out ceremonial first pitches to a warm ovation. Jose Ramirez caught Brantley's pitch, while Carrasco caught for Kluber. They were each teammates of both players in Cleveland. "A lot of emotions for me personally, but at the same time, so many great years that I got to spend here," said Brantley, who played for Cleveland from 2009-18 before joining the Astros and winning a World Series in 2021. "Obviously get to see a lot of familiar faces that are still here and just the great people that work at this ballpark and the fans. So anytime I get to come back here, it feels like home for me." Kluber spent his first nine years in the big leagues in Cleveland before finishing his career with multiple teams, including the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees. "This is the only place that I played that I was here for an extended amount of time," said Kluber, whose tenure in Cleveland spanned 2011-19. "You develop relationships, not just with people that you play with, but people in the clubhouse, people that work around the stadium, people that work for the team in other areas. I was never anywhere long enough to have that same feeling anywhere else." Kluber was part of one of Vogt's fondest memories as a player, when the two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed a home run to the A's catcher in Cleveland on 2015. "I got robbed of a home run in the first inning (by David Murphy) and then hit a homer in the third inning," Vogt said. "But what I remember about that is we were headed right to the All-Star Game after that. That was the last day of the first half and I rode on a party bus with (former Cleveland second baseman and fellow All-Star) Jason Kipnis. It was just a really special day, one of my favorites in Cleveland … until now." Vogt's memories of Brantley as an opponent weren't as wonderful. "Frustrating is the best way to describe it," Vogt said. "Michael Brantley is one of the best hitters in our game over the course of his career. Didn't he have Smooth Operator (as a nickname, actually, Dr. Smooth) or something like that? That just personified him perfectly. There were no holes. There was no way to get him off-balance." Dark moment Guardians players left the clubhouse prior to the game to take in the eclipse on the field. Vogt was looking forward to watching from a family viewing area. "I think it's cool. I can remember elementary school in California, we had one that I remember the shop teacher bringing over the welding goggles and we all got to look at it," Vogt said. "I don't remember what year that was or anything, but I have this vague memory of doing that. So it's a cool event." Fans inside Progressive Field got louder as the event moved from a partial eclipse to a total one and the NASA feed was shown on the scoreboard. Roundin' third Cleveland's 7-2 start was its best since 2011. The Guardians entered Monday owning the best run differential in the majors at plus-32. Cleveland improved to 64-60 in the home opener and ended a three-game losing streak. Second baseman Andres Gimenez entered Monday having been hit a major league-leading four times over his first nine games. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on Twitter.