Slade Cecconi, Rhys Hoskins left off Division Series roster

CLEVELAND — There were no surprises when the Guardians announced their Division Series roster prior to Game 1 against the White Sox on Saturday afternoon. The only players who finished the regular season with the team who were left off were right-handers Slade Cecconi and Austin Peterson. Cecconi began the season in the rotation, but finished the year pitching in a long-relief role. "When we broke it down knowing that we were going to carry all five of our (current) starters, (we) felt like keeping one extra kind of one-inning guy was a little more important," manager Stephen Vogt said. "Unfortunately, that meant Slade wasn't going to be on the team. "We asked Slade to do a lot this year. He was in the rotation for half the year, moves to the bullpen, has an unfortunate injury and came back and pitched some big innings for us down the stretch." Offseason acquisition Rhys Hoskins was also left off the roster. Hoskins finished the year on the injured list, but was activated a day after the Guardians' final regular-season game Sept. 27. "We talked a lot about Rhys, adding Rhys with the left-handed bullpen that the White Sox have," Vogt said. "But (carrying) the 12th pitcher is really what it came down to more so than not adding Rhys. We felt like we wanted a 12th arm for this series." Hoskins and Cecconi could be added to the roster should Cleveland advance to the ALCS. Vogt said both players would travel to Chicago as members of the taxi squad, along with minor league catcher Kody Huff. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.