Colin Holderman surgery finally provides him relief from sidelines of Guardians' ALCS run

Although the Guardians bullpen has been able to meet the moment for the Guardians in their fantastic postseason run, it’s been missing one key piece in Colin Hoderman, who has been on the shelf for the past month with a wrist injury.

That injury may keep him out for the rest of the postseason, but it seems like it’s not going to carry over into 2027, as Holderman underwent surgery on bulky right wrist on Wednesday and is expected to be ready for the 2027 season. 

While the Guardians signed Holderman to a one-year deal in the offseason, he still has two more years of team control remaining via arbitration. He’s going to be due for a raise, but it’s a price tag the Guardians will gladly pay given what he did in his first season in Cleveland. 

Colin Holderman is going to be a big part of Guardians’ bullpen in 2027 

Not only did Holderman finish this season with a 2.73 ERA in 52 2/3 innings, but he did so while navigating that wrist injury. In fact, it got so bad that he told reporters that his “career starts in 2027” thanks to that wrist surgery.

That injury has plagued him since the start of the 2023 season, and was the biggest reason why he had a disastrous 7.01 ERA in 25 2/3 innings with the Pirates in 2025. He may have been able to pitch through that injury this season, but it was still clearly something that was limiting him in the background. 

He struggled at the start of the season for the Guardians but found new life after being promoted at the end of April. He initially worked as a longman, but he became so effective that the Guardians turned him into a single-inning reliever. 

His wrist injury flared up in August before he went on the injured list in September. He tried to fight his way back onto the Guardians' postseason roster, but he got pulled off his rehab assignment at the end of the month and was shut down. 

The Guardians’ decision to sign Holderman was met with a ton of apathy from the fanbase (largely because of the team’s lack of signings around him), but it ended up becoming the best of both worlds. Not only did he put together a great 2026 season, but he did so well that he’s become a clear part of the Guardians’ future. 

It may be easy to forget about Holderman thanks to Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski’s dominant showings this October, but his surgery is a reminder that things could be even better next season thanks to his surgery.

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