Once-reliable Guardians starter continuing to work way back into team’s MLB picture after Tommy John surgery

While the Guardians rotation has gone through plenty of change in the past two weeks, this isn’t the first time they’ve had this much turnover. 

In fact, you only have to go back two years to find that level of turnover, as the 2024 iteration of the Guardians ended up having 14 pitchers start a game for them. 

That number would have likely been for more if not for the presence of Ben Lively, who came out of nowhere to throw 151 quality innings. 

Lively got off to an even better start last season (3.22 ERA in 44 2/3 innings) before his season came to an abrupt end when he suffered an elbow injury that resulted in him undergoing Tommy John surgery. 

But he’s started on the road back to the big leagues this summer with four starts at High-A Lake County with another one set for this weekend. Even though Lively is still a ways away from helping the Guardians’ big league club, every one of his successful rehab stints means he’s getting a step closer to making his Guardians return. 

Ben Lively’s minor league rehab has gone well so far 

As mentioned above, Lively has made three rehab starts with High-A Lake County and has recorded a 17.28 ERA in 8 1/3 innings. While those stats may look a bit alarming at first blush, it’s important to remember these are rehab starts. The mere fact he’s on the mound and is able to work his way back is a win. 

His usage has gone up in each outing, and he went three innings and threw 54 pitches (36 strikes) his last time out. He’s been slowly building himself up, and seems to look more and more like himself with every outing, as evidenced by him sitting at 91 miles per hour in his last outing. 

While there’s no chance that Lively’s going to be built up enough to impact the Guardians’ rotation this season, it seems like he at least has an outside chance to pitch out of Cleveland’s bullpen this year. 

The one thing that could impact that, however, is his roster status. The Guardians signed Lively to a two-year minor league contract in the offseason so he’d have an avenue to rehab from his injury without taking up a roster spot, and adding him to their big league roster would obviously change that. 

Not only would the Guardians need to keep Lively on their 40-man roster all offseason, but they also wouldn’t be able to send him down to the minors without exposing him to waivers. 

In short, the only way Cleveland would add Lively to their big league roster this season is if he really proved himself (or if the Guardians were really desperate for pitching). 

But even if Lively isn’t going to fit into the Guardians’ roster picture this season, his successful rehab makes it seem like he’s going to make some kind of impression in 2027. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow