Guardians shore up bullpen by rolling the dice on intriguing reliever 

While the Cleveland Guardians didn’t make any major league additions at this year’s trade deadline, they did add one new player to the fold on Thursday when they claimed reliever Carlos Hernández off waivers from the Tigers. 

It may not be the sexiest addition in the world, but it’s the kind of no-risk, marginal move the front office has become known for.  

Guardians shore up bullpen by rolling the dice on Carlos Hernández

The Guardians will be the third team that Hernández has played on in the last four months, as he started the season with the Phillies before being DFA’d and signing with the Tigers, who cut him last week. 

He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Royals, and boasts a 5.17 ERA across 292 2/3 career innings. He posted a 6.69 ERA in 36 1/3 innings with the Tigers and Phillies. 

The 27-year-old has an electric fastball (97.8 miles per hour), but struggles with his command (15th percentile in walk rate) and ability to limit hard contact (fourth percentile in barrel rate). 

The Guardians will likely work him in with some lower-leverage spots, similar to how the team handled things with Matt Festa earlier this year. 

Hernández’s best season came in 2021 when he recorded a 3.68 ERA in 85 2/3 innings working as both a starter and reliever. He also recorded four saves (the only ones of his career) in 2023. 

He has a 3.16 ERA in 25 2/3 career innings against the Guardians along with having a 2.38 ERA in 11 1/3 innings at Progressive Field. He also already closed out one win against Cleveland this year as a member of the Tigers. 

While Hernández won’t fill the hole that Emmanuel Clase’s suspension has left in the Guardians' bullpen, he has enough potential to justify taking a shot on him. The Guardians will be on the hook for whatever’s left of his $1.6 million salary, and he still has two years of arbitration left. 

If it doesn’t work, they can just pull the plug with no strings attached. But if they help him unearth something then it would be easy to work him into the long-term picture. 

Hernández isn’t a perfect reliever, but it seems like he has all the ingredients needed to be a successful one. And, at this point, that’s all the Guardians can ask for.