Former Guardians prospect included in Foster Griffin trade just flashed potential he never showed in Cleveland

At the end of May, the Cleveland Guardians called Will Dion up from Triple-A to add a bit more length to the back of their bullpen.

Although he ended up making 12 appearances for the Guardians across three different big league stints, he never really got a chance to become a high-leverage arm with Cleveland before being traded to the Nationals at the trade deadline. 

And it took all of two appearances with the Nationals for Dion to become a key piece in Washington, as he picked up his first big league win on Sunday with three scoreless innings out of the Nationals bullpen in their win over the Reds. 

While it’s going to take more than one outing for Dion to truly become a part of Washington’s future, Sunday’s outing did more to help his stock than anything he ever did during his time with Cleveland. 

Will Dion picked up his first big league win on Sunday 

Now, part of the reason why Dion never got to have that kind of moment with the Guardians was because they never put him in those kinds of moments. In fact, he worked almost exclusively in mop up duty.

The Guardians went 1-11 in games that he appeared in, with the one win being their come-from-behind win over the Pirates (a game in which Dion entered when Cleveland was losing 3-0). 

He held some value as a long reliever (he went multiple innings in half of his appearances), but most of those appearances came to eat up innings in games that were already decided. 

But should get plenty of opportunities to work high-leverage innings in a Nationals bullpen that entered Sunday with a 4.90 ERA with an MLB-leading 31 blown saves. Dion may not help with their problems at the back of the bullpen, but he can help them work through the soft middle innings. 

He relieved Brad Lord in the third inning and then was pulled for Trevor Williams in the sixth innings. Williams then covered 2 1/3 innings before Jake Bird pitched the ninth.

The Nationals will likely rely on more of that pitching madness down the stretch as they look to keep pace in the National League Wild Card race. Thirty of the 41 pitches he threw were strikes. 

“He’s not afraid out there, that’s the big thing,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said after the game. “...(He has) a funky arm action with really good stuff; the curveball is really good; the fastball plays up because of the carry; and then he's got a good changeup, too. So he’s able to neutralize both righties and lefties.”

Although Dion opened his career with the Guardians working as a starter, he was able to shift toward being a full–time reliever last season while still maintaining his ability to give his team some length. 

Sunday’s outing marked his first three-inning outing since he tossed three innings in his big league debut (which ironically came against the Nationals). 

At that moment, he seemed like another unheralded Guardians pitching prospect who would have an unremarkable tenure in Cleveland’s bullpen. But even if that ended up happening during his time in Cleveland, he could quickly become a household name in our Nation’s Capital. 

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