AJ Smith-Shawver struggles through 4 1/3 in return

The Guardians’ ace came out of the bullpen in Game 4 on Thursday, throwing 18 pitches to record the final three outs. Williams racked up 11 strikeouts over five innings of two-run baseball as the Guardians dropped Game 2 on Monday. It’ll be an all hands on deck situation in an elimination game for the Guardians, with Williams giving them everything that he possibly can before turning the ball over to the bullpen on Saturday.

There had been some rumblings that the 37-year-old hurler was mulling retirement but ultimately, it became a relatively easy decision. Gray noted, “My family and I have talked about it and it’s an easy decision... I still want to win a World Series, whether that is [with] Boston or with whoever wants me.” He’s expected to decline his side of his $30 million mutual option with the Red Sox and should be very highly sought after in free agency this winter.

Jung suffered a right-hand fracture during the final week of September when he was drilled by a 95-mph fastball from Joe Ryan. He’ll still need some time to recover, but it’s not expected to interfere with his regular off-season routine. Expect the 28-year-old infielder to be fully recovered and ready to go for the start of spring training.

The procedure isn’t expected to interfere with Jansen’s regular offseason routine, and the 31-year-old backstop should be ready to go for the start of spring training. Jansen slashed just .203/.296/.381 with eight homers and 26 RBI in 227 plate appearances with the Rangers during the 2026 campaign.

The 32-year-old shortstop will have plenty of time to recover from the procedure and still be ready for the start of spring training. While the elbow injury didn’t force him to miss any time in 2026, it may have played a role in his underwhelming .227/.312/.424 slash line.

The 31-year-old right-hander stated, “San Diego’s been—been incredible for me, and it’s all the way across the country from home... But now I feel like I have a—a second home on the West Coast, so it’s been awesome. And yeah, I hope to—hope to continue.” King holds a $28 million player option ($5 million buyout) for the 2027 season. He’s almost certain to opt out of that and land a multi-year deal with a much higher AAV. While the Padres will almost assuredly love to bring him back, there’s going to be plenty of competition for his services on the open market and they’ll need to ante up in order to put themselves in the mix.

Burke was available in the pen Thursday, but he wasn’t used. That meant the only question for Saturday was whether he’d start or again work as a bulk reliever. He did the latter in the Game 2 victory, coming in during the third inning and allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings.

Bailey didn’t start the game behind the dish but came on as a pinch-hitter for Austin Hedges in the fifth inning. There, he tagged Erick Fedde for a 376-foot (110.0-mph EV) solo shot that got the Guardians on the board. That was the hardest hit ball in Bailey’s career. He then delivered a go-ahead RBI single as part of a six-run uprising in the sixth inning to help the Guardians take control of the game before scoring on a fielding error by Chase Meidroth. Expect Bailey to be behind the dish in another must-win game for the Guardians in Game 5 back at home on Saturday.

Ramírez clobbered a go-ahead 378-foot (103.1-mph EV) two-run homer off of Jordan Hicks in the fifth inning that briefly gave the Guardians a 3-2 lead. He then added an RBI single as part of a six-run rally in the sixth inning. He’ll need more heroics like that if the Guardians are going to complete their massive comeback from being down 0-2 in the series when they play in a critical Game 5 at home on Saturday.

Adell came through with a two-run single off of Grant Taylor during a six-run uprising in the sixth inning, pushing the Guardians’ lead to 9-4. The 27-year-old slugger is now 4-for-15 (.267) with six RBI in his first four postseason contests for the Guardians.