Guardians’ bullpen depth could be tested in early in 2026 thanks to injury

Last August, every arm in the Guardians' bullpen moved up a rung in Stephen Vogt’s trust tree thanks to Emmanuel Clase’s suspension. 

And although the Guardians finished the season with the best bullpen ERA in baseball after Clase’s suspension, the team’s front office still made upgrading the unit a priority during the offseason. 

And those upgrades have become even more important over the past couple days thanks to star reliever Hunter Gaddis suffering from forearm tightness that could keep him out for Opening Day. 

Although the Guardians have gotten relatively lucky with injuries this spring, Gaddis’ injury has a chance to derail the Guardians' bullpen plans before they even get off the ground. 

The Guardians have plenty of options to replace Hunter Gaddis in the bullpen

Vogt gave an update on Gaddis on Monday, where he said that he’s throwing between 90 and 120 feet and is going through his normal throwing progression. If all goes well, he should be throwing off a mound sometime in the next couple days. 

That said, the Guardians seem set to slow-play things with Gaddis for the rest of the spring, which makes it seem like there’s a chance that he could end up missing Opening Day. 

Any potential injury to Gaddis would lead to a huge butterfly effect for almost every reliever on the Guardians’ roster. 

Shawn Armstrong could be in line for the biggest role since he seems like the likely option to move into the team’s setup role in his first season back in Cleveland. Although Armstrong doesn't have an overpowering fastball, he had a 2.31 ERA for the Rangers last season and is a great veteran arm. 

Gaddis’ injury could also open up a path on the roster for Rule 5 Draft pick Peyton Pallette or free agent signing Connor Brogdon — both of whom are on the roster bubble. 

Pallette got off to a late start this spring due to shoulder soreness, but he’s thrown two scoreless innings so far this spring and has shown solid life on his fastball. 

His Rule 5 status puts him in a bit of a unique spot since the Guardians would need to offer him back to the White Sox if he doesn’t make Cleveland’s roster out of spring training. 

The Guardians opened the offseason by signing Brogdon to a major league contract ahead of the Winter Meetings, but his spot on the roster got more and more tenuous as the Guardians kept adding relievers over the winter.  

He’s allowed two earned runs through five innings so far this spring and has also recorded five strikeouts. 

Either pitcher would be a low-leverage option for the Guardians, but, as we saw last year, it only takes one loss for a low-leverage arm to become incredibly important.