Cleveland Guardians provide devastating update on Ben Lively

The Cleveland Guardians provided an update on veteran pitcher Ben Lively after he was placed on the injured list about a week and a half ago, and the news isn't good.

The team announced that LIvely is going to require Tommy John surgery to repair what has been described as an insufficient ulnar collateral ligament. This comes after Lively sought a second opinion on his arm, a development which always seems to be a precursor to an announcement such as this. The surgical procedure is set to keep Lively out of action for around 12-16 months, so the rest of 2025 and most, if not all of 2026, as well.

Pitching to a 3.22 ERA and 1.187 WHIP in nine starts (both numbers still being the best among all of Cleveland's starters), Lively had been the most stable and effective member of the Guardians' rotation before going down with an injury. Lively may not have the talent of some of the other arms in Cleveland's rotation, but he knew how to command every one of his pitches to ensure he could produce a solid start on the mound.

With Lively now out of the mix for the rest of the year, it appears the Guardians are going to roll with the rest of their rotation intact while having Slade Cecconi slide into his rotation spot. Cecconi has already made one start, finishing a line that has been seen from Lively quite frequently since coming to Cleveland, only with a few more strikeouts (5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 8 K). If Cecconi can continue to deliver Lively-esque results, the Guardians should be in relatively good shape moving forward.

With a lack of a successful track record before coming to Cleveland, combined with his age and the surgical procedure he is about to undergo, it is going to be a tough path back to the major league pitcher's mound for Lively. It would be different if there were years of success prior to coming to Cleveland last season, but his pre-Guardians numbers are not exactly all that enticing (5.05 ERA, 1.409 WHIP, 6.9 K/9 ratio).

Perhaps Lively can work his way back to be a contributor of some sort once he is fully recovered, but it seems like it is going to have to be in similar circumstances that Cleveland found themselves in last year, and hopefully, by that time, the Guardians will be in a spot where taking a flier on a post-Tommy John arm is a luxury and not a necessity.