The Cleveland Guardians have navigated a number of injuries to the pitching staff this season while holding onto first place in the AL Central. The Guardians got several starters back from the injured list in the last week. However, reliever Sam Hentges remains on the shelf and the outlook is concerning.
Hentges was placed on the 15-day injured list on July 12 with left shoulder fatigue/inflammation. The fourth-year lefty was unable to make a rehab appearance on August 4 and on Wednesday he was officially removed from his rehab assignment, per MLB.com’s team report. Hentges traveled to Dallas for a second opinion on his ailing shoulder.
The 27-year-old reliever dealt with inflammation in the middle finger of his throwing hand at the beginning of the season, which delayed his 2024 debut until May 6. Hentges made 25 appearances for the Guardians before going down with the shoulder injury. He last pitched for Cleveland on July 10.
When healthy, Hentges has played well for the Guardians this season. He’s posted a 3.04 ERA, 0.972 WHIP, an ERA+ of 138 and 27 strikeouts in 23.2 innings so far this year. And Hentges showed what he can do with more usage in 2022 when he made 57 appearances for the Guardians and had a 2.32 ERA, 0.968 WHIP, 163 ERA+ and 72 strikeouts in 62 innings.
The Guardians don’t know when Hentges will be healthy enough to return
Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said more would be known about the pitcher’s injury in the next week, according to MLB.com. There’s currently no timeline for his return.
The Guardians have been rocked by injuries to the pitching staff this season. The team lost ace Shane Bieber to Tommy John surgery in April after just two starts. Cleveland also dealt with injuries to starters Tanner Bibee, Alex Cobb and Matthew Boyd. All three made their returns in the last week. But just as they came back to the rotation, the Guardians lost Carlos Carrasco to the 15-day injured list with a hip strain.
The rash of injuries likely contributed to the team struggling since returning from the All-Star break. The Guardians have gone 12-14 since the Midsummer Classic with a lengthy losing streak that caused some painful honesty from Vogt about the team.
Despite the injuries and the rough stretch, the Guardians have the best record in baseball entering play on Thursday. The team is 23 games over .500 with a 4.5 game lead over the Minnesota Twins in a competitive AL Central.
Led by three-time All-Star and AL Reliever of the Year frontrunner Emmanuel Clase, the Guardians’ bullpen has been the best in baseball this season. Cleveland relief pitchers lead the majors in ERA, saves, holds, HR/9, batting average against, WHIP, FIP, WPA and fWAR. The team hopes Hentges can return to action in time for the postseason and help the Guardians' bullpen continue its dominance.
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