Welcome to Sliders, a weekly in-season MLB column that focuses on both the timely and timeless elements of the game.NEW YORK – Carl Willis, the 65-year-old pitching whisperer of the Cleveland Guardians, has seen enough to distinguish reality from luck. We’re into June now, and the Guardians have still used only five starters. No injuries, no openers, no other team can match it. Impressive, right?“It means we’ve been fortunate with the weather,” Willis said this week at Yankee Stadium, with a dry smile.“But honestly, I think a lot of credit goes to (manager) Stephen Vogt. We talk throughout the game and are pretty diligent about protecting our guys, but it’s always hard to know when enough is enough when guys are going well. It’s such a lengthy season and starting pitching is such a commodity. I mean, you can never have enough.”For the American League Central leaders – who have played just one doubleheader – five has been plenty. Two years ago, in a five-game AL Championship Series loss to the New York Yankees, Cleveland got just 17 innings from its rotation. So far in 2026, through Wednesday, the Guardians’ starters ranked third in the majors in innings and eighth in ERA, at 3.77.Gavin Williams, Parker Messick, Tanner Bibee, Joey Cantillo and Slade Cecconi are all in a career sweet spot – 25 to 27 years old and in their second, third or fourth seasons. They can handle an MLB workload while leaning on each other, and the Guardians’ renowned pitching instructors, for support.“I think our pitching factory, from the big leagues down through the minor leagues, is the best in the world,” said veteran catcher Austin Hedges, who returns every year at the same price ($4 million) to be a factory engineer.“So when you get the right people with the best minds for pitching development, it allows guys to become the best version of themselves. They figure that out really quickly at the young levels, and by the time they get to the big leagues, nothing’s going to change. They figure out who they are and then they get to be who they are.”While Bibee, Cantillo and Cecconi have collectively been about league-average, Williams and Messick could soon have a new identity: All-Star.Williams is attacking the strike zone with more conviction than he did last season, when he was very good (13-5, 3.06) but led the majors in walks. A first-round pick from East Carolina in 2021, he made a brief start in the 2024 ALCS and graduated to a six-inning start, with no earned runs, in last fall’s playoff opener.This season, he has pitched the most innings, faced the most batters and recorded the most strikeouts in the American League. Williams — who mixes four-seamers, sweepers and curves about equally — said he loves the way the starters learn from each other.“Everybody’s doing their job and taking one thing from everybody (else),” said Williams, who is 9-3 with a 3.20 ERA. “Every day, we’re always talking about different games and different players, talking about scouting reports and what they see when they’re pitching. It definitely helps out with all of us.”