Rumors are beginning to swirl about Doug Nasty
Back in the Summer of 2021, Cleveland took Ole Miss lefty hurler Doug Nikhazy in the second round. Since then, Nikhazy has steadily worked his way up the minor league ranks within the system, and in 2024, he put together potential glimpse into his future, posting a 2.98 ERA across 123.2 Double-A and Triple-A innings, posting a strikeout rate over 25% despite not having overpowering velocity.
Yesterday, longtime Guardians writer Paul Hoynes wrote that the Guardians potentially see Nikhazy as an Opening Day arm within their staff.
Per @hoynsie, Doug Nikhazy is being looked at as an option for the Opening Day roster, whether in his natural position as a starter, or in the bullpen as the second lefty if Sabrowski is out.
Source: https://t.co/PH5zs79Ux4 pic.twitter.com/pK8s432Ddl
— Trainiax (Gabriel Arias Truther) (@TrainiaxCLE) March 4, 2025
The part that sticks out to me is how complimentary and impressed Carl Willis has come away from Nikhazy’s outings this Spring. “It’s extremely close for him” is not just blowing smoke either. Nikhazy’s constant tinkering led to him having some dominant performances in Columbus in 2024, tallying a 2.23 ERA across 44.1 innings in August and September with 43 strikeouts to just 21 walks (11 of those walks came in consecutive starts in August).
Thus far in Spring Training, Nikhazy has tossed just four innings in two appearances, and making snap judgements of his stuff in much smaller sample is a dangerous game, but we’re still going to look at it regardless.
Thus far, Nikhazy has struck out four batters in his four innings, hasn’t allowed a hit and has allowed just one baserunner via a walk. He is also running a 32.1% CSW rate. CSW rate is how often a pitcher generates a called strike or swinging strike. The league average in 2024 was 27.4%. His slider has especially been clicking, running a 47.8% CSW rate while generating above average horizontal movement of 7.9 inches. This is an improvement over his 2024 Triple-A average of 6.6 inches, and again, while snap judgements are frowned upon for overall analysis, that extra near inch-and-a-half of sweep on that slider is a game-changer for Nikhazy should he come out of the bullpen, which is likely the most realistic landing spot for him should he crack the Opening Day roster.
With Erik Sabrowski going down with a hamstring injury, the Guardians, who were already without Sam Hentges, immediately became very thin on left-handed options out of the bullpen. It was strictly just Tim Herrin. However, with Nikhazy flashing positive stuff in brief spurts this Spring, his timeline is likely going to be accelerated. Finding success in Nikhazy despite being both undersized and not overpowering is a classic Guardians find.