Rays tweak pitching for ALCS, adding rookie Brody Hopkins and dropping Garrett Cleavinger

The Tampa Bay Rays have set their American League Championship Series roster for their opener against the Cleveland Guardians, and the adjustment is focused entirely on the pitching staff. In a move that leaves the position players unchanged from the ALDS, the Rays added rookie right-hander Brody Hopkins and removed left-hander Garrett Cleavinger from the postseason set.

The roster decision, announced by the team, means Hopkins will be available for ALCS action after earning a spot on Tampa Bay’s series roster. For a club built to manage matchups and leverage roles in October, even a single change to the pitching corps can shift late-inning options and how the staff is deployed across the first swings of a best-of-seven series.

Cleavinger, meanwhile, is the one player to come out from Tampa Bay’s previous ALDS roster. While the Rays did not change the rest of their roster composition, clearing space by removing one pitcher indicates a specific view of what kinds of innings the team expects to prioritize against Cleveland in the ALCS.

The Guardians provide a familiar but challenging opponent, and the Rays are entering the league’s final stage with a roster built for postseason manageability rather than a longer, tinkered-by-week approach. With the ALCS opener approaching Monday, Tampa Bay’s immediate priority is having the right mix of arms available for the earliest high-leverage stretches, when bullpen usage patterns often set the tone for the series.

Because this is a roster switch rather than a full overhaul, the Rays’ broader game plan is likely to stay intact: establish an early rhythm, then turn to the same kinds of roles they used through the ALDS. The Hopkins inclusion suggests the Rays believe they can gain something in the run prevention picture by leaning on the rookie’s specific profile and timing, while the Cleavinger removal suggests the staff’s remaining left-right balance has been reconfigured for the opponent at hand.

From here, the key questions are how quickly Hopkins is used, whether Tampa Bay prefers him as a multi-inning look or a tighter situational weapon, and how the rest of the bullpen snaps into place once Cleavinger is out of the picture. Those choices matter most in the first two games, when managers typically map out how they can repeat their most effective pitching sequences without burning through the staff too early.

For Guardians fans, the ALCS roster is also a reminder that the matchup extends beyond who is on the field for each team. Cleveland will be preparing for the possibility that Tampa Bay’s bullpen options are slightly different on a day-to-day basis, with Hopkins available where Cleavinger is not, even if the Rays’ overall structure remains consistent.