Guardians prospect promotion ahead of Tigers series has great feel-good journey

In 2022, Daniel Espino looked like he was going to be the Cleveland Guardians’ next great ace. Not only did MLB Pipeline have him as the Guardians’ No. 2 prospect, but he started the season with 35 1/3 innings in 18 innings at Double-A Akron before suffering a season-ending injury. 

But that momentum quickly dissipated thanks to a variety shoulder injuries that kept him off the diamond for nearly three seasons. He ended up making his return last year via a late-season cameo as a reliever in Triple-A Columbus, and he’s continued to work in that role for them this season. 

But now he’s going to get a chance to show how dangerous he can be in the big leagues, as the Guardians are poised to call him up ahead of this weekend’s home series against the Detroit Tigers. 

Guardians Prospective was the first to announce the news on Twitter before numerous members of the beat confirmed the move early this morning. 

Guardians reshuffle bullpen by calling up Daniel Espino 

Cleveand’s promotion of Espino is coming at the perfect time given how things went for their bullpen earlier this week against the Yankees. 

Wednesday’s series finale was arguably one of the worst outings of the year from Cleveland’s bullpen thanks to Matt Festa and Codi Heuer’s lackluster appearances, which made it clear a change was necessary. 

That change ended up being the promotion of Espino, who will take Heuer’s place on the 26-man roster. 

After working that aforementioned scoreless outing for Columbus this season, he went to the Arizona Fall League and tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. He also threw two scoreless innings in the spring before opening his season with Triple-A Columbus. 

While Espino’s 5.30 ERA in 18 2/3 Triple-A innings doesn’t jump off the page, he’s passed every test the Guardians have put in front of him. After opening the season by pitching once every five days, he’s been able to tighten the number of days between outings, served as an opener and worked across multiple innings. 

It hasn’t been perfect (he’s given up 15 walks), but he’s also recorded 29 strikeouts thanks to a plus-fastball and strong slider. 

Although he may not immediately be a part of the Guardians’ high-leverage equation, he still could provide a ton of value as a middle-leverage arm alongside Colin Holderman. 

At the very least he’s a more intriguing option than Heuer, who had allowed four runs across his last three outings (two innings). 

While Cade Smith is entrenched at the back of the Guardians' bullpen, everyone else's position seems to be a bit in flux thanks to the 'pen's recent sturggles.

At one point, it looked like Espino may never make it to the big leagues. Now he could end up being the Guardians' bullpen savior.

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