The Cleveland Guardians have a rich history of turning overlooked players into bullpen heroes, and it looks like they've done it again with Erik Sabrowski. While all eyes have been on the big names, the quiet, unassuming left-hander is in the midst of one of the best relief seasons in all of baseball.
Erik Sabrowski has become one of the best left-handed arms in baseball
Sabrowski's journey to the big leagues has been anything but smooth. After being drafted by the Padres in 2018, he missed both the 2019 season due to an injury and the entire 2020 minor league season due to the pandemic.
The Guardians drafted him in the minor league Rule 5 draft after the 2021 season before he underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career which sidelined him for all of the 2022 season and made him consider quitting baseball entirely.
But Sabrowski decided to stick with it, and has evolved into a dominant left-handed option out of Cleveland's bullpen
While Sabrowski was great last year when he pitched 12 2/3 scoreless innings, he's reached another this year, which has been a huge boost for a Guardians team that lost closer Emmanuel Clase to suspension at the end of July.
Sabrowksi has a sparkling 1.00 ERA in 18 innings this year with 24 strikeouts, and has tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings since Clase went down with his suspension.
In other words, he's been nothing short of dominant.
What makes his performance this season so special is the quality of his stuff. His fastball, which sits in the low-to-mid 90s, generates an extremely high number of swings and misses and feels faster than it is thanks to his extension (82nd percentile) and excellent backspin.
His 87.2 mile per hour fastball has some nasty spin and his curveball has a ton of bite, making all three pitches tough for hitters to square up. The proof is in the results: he's only given up eight hits this year, and has become one of the Guardians' go-to arms in high-leverage situations.
Sabrowski’s incredible comeback is a testament to his determination. He's gone from a kid who contemplated walking away from the game to an indispensable weapon out of the Guardians' bullpen, and has quickly earned his place as a fan favorite.
In many ways, his emergence feels reminiscent of another dominant left-hander who once anchored this team’s bullpen in Andrew Miller.
While they may not have the exact same pitch arsenal, Sabrowski's ability to miss bats at an elite level and be a reliable, high-leverage option for multiple innings echoes Miller's legendary run in Cleveland.
His story is yet another example of the Guardians' uncanny ability to mold a pitcher into a bullpen force, and if his early performance is any indication, he could be the next great arm to lead this team's relief corps for years to come.