Civale, Cody Morris not on Guardians' WCS roster

CLEVELAND -- The Guardians’ American League Wild Card Series roster was nearly set on Wednesday afternoon as the team wrapped up the regular season. There was only one decision left to make.

It was expected for Aaron Civale to be left off the Wild Card roster, as the club alluded to him being saved for a potential AL Division Series start, should the Guardians advance past the first round. That left one more player to trim in order to hit the required 26-man roster for this weekend’s series at Progressive Field against the Rays.

Guardians manager Terry Francona said the team went back and forth in this decision. Because it’s only a three-game series, it was easy to assume that all position players would be carried and a bullpen arm would be cut. On Friday morning, Cleveland announced that righty Cody Morris would be the reliever left off the roster.

“We just decided in the end a little bit more veteran, a little bit more experience,” Francona said, “and especially in a game, or could potentially be a game where, say, it's extra innings, having a guy that holds runners, fields his position, probably gave it the edge.”

Here’s a look at the Guardians’ full Wild Card Series roster:

• Postseason ticket information

Catchers (3): Austin Hedges, Luke Maile, Bo Naylor

Infielders (5): José Ramírez, Amed Rosario, Andrés Giménez, Josh Naylor, Owen Miller

Outfielders (5): Steven Kwan, Myles Straw, Oscar Gonzalez, Will Brennan, Will Benson

Utility (1): Gabriel Arias

Pitchers (12): Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, Zach Plesac, Emmanuel Clase, James Karinchak, Trevor Stephan, Nick Sandlin, Sam Hentges, Enyel De Los Santos, Eli Morgan, Kirk McCarty