Guardians setup man Trevor Stephan might be present process a UCL reconstruction process (i.e. Tommy John surgical procedure) inside the subsequent seven to 14 days, the crew introduced. Cleveland had shut Stephan down for 3 weeks in late February, however the discomfort in his arm continued and subsequent testing has revealed that his ulnar collateral ligament is “not offering sufficient stability.”
There’s additional discouraging information on righty Daniel Espino — previously one of many prime prospects in all of baseball. The 23-year-old righty, who missed your complete 2023 season because of a capsule tear that required shoulder surgical procedure, underwent a second shoulder process yesterday — this one to restore new capsule injury in addition to his rotator cuff. He’s anticipated to overlook your complete 2024 season, although a precise timetable on his restoration isn’t but recognized, per the crew.
The 28-year-old Stephan has confirmed to be top-of-the-line Rule 5 alternatives by any crew in current reminiscence. Taken out of the Yankees group previous to the 2021 marketing campaign, he’s logged 63 or extra innings in every of his three seasons in Cleveland. Stephan owns six saves and 50 holds over that stretch, having climbed the ladder from low-leverage and mop-up settings to a distinguished late-inning piece in every of the Guards’ previous two seasons.
From 2022-23, Stephan tossed 132 1/3 innings of three.40 ERA ball with a stout 28% strikeout charge and better-than common stroll and ground-ball charges of seven.8% and 44.6%, respectively. Fielding-independent metrics like FIP (2.90) and SIERA (3.18) really feel he’s been even higher than his already sharp earned run common.
Extra to come back.