Today we’re here to take a look at the Guardians’ bullpen options, break down how everyone has looked, and see what future roles might be available to these pitchers out of the Guardians’ bullpen. We’re going to start by taking a look at some general numbers for most of the pitchers who have thrown from the bullpen for the Guards in 2026 and are still with the team. For Logan Allen, Connor Brogdon, and Daniel Espino, the numbers are their minor league and major league stats combined, and for every other
pitcher it’s just the 2026 MLB numbers. I chose to include MiLB numbers because those three pitchers did not have a substantial amount of MLB innings to look at.
We’re going to look at four primary stats: Whiff%, K%, BB%, and xwOBA. The stats are color coded in such a way that they move closer to white when they’re near league average, and closer to red/green depending on if they’re better or worse than league average. I’m also putting a column at the end to label the potential bullpen roles each pitcher might be most suited to fill. The categories listed are high leverage (HL), fireman (FM), middle relief (MR), long relief (LR), right-handed specialist (RS), left-handed specialist (LS), and closer (C).
A typical 13 man pitching staff is going to have five starters, leaving eight bullpen spots to work with. There’s not one universal formula for a bullpen build, but ideally you want a mix of high leverage arms, matchup options, middle relief, and at least one pitcher capable of covering a few innings in case of an emergency.
First, I think we want to establish the obvious keepers. Cade Smith, Erik Sabrowski, Daniel Espino, and Franco Aleman – from a long term standpoint – shouldn’t be going anywhere. Cade Smith has proven to be a dominant closer, and Sabrowski has been a very valuable high leverage arm vs. LHP. Espino and Aleman have limited numbers to go off of, but they both have high upside and have shown potential as future high leverage arms as well.
The next tier are guys that look keepable, but maybe should be used in lower leverage roles. This group contains Herrin, Gaddis, Holderman, and Yoho. Herrin has very solid numbers vs. lefties, so I would consider him for very matchup specific moments. The other three are significantly better vs. righties than lefties. I think ideally you’d keep one or two as a righty matchup option for earlier in games, and then aim to keep someone with a bit more balanced splits for the last spot. In our list, Armstrong fits that bill. If my counting is correct, Armstrong technically would be eligible to return from the IL in the last week of the regular season in 2026, but given his age and contract, looking beyond that becomes hazy for considering him. You could look for similar/better options in FA as well to fill that spot for future seasons.
If we’re taking 2 of Gaddis/Holderman/Yoho, that leaves us with 1 more spot to consider. There’s a couple ways to go about this. A safe option is having someone like Allen or Cecconi, who can provide multiple innings in a pinch and possibly even give you a spot start here or there. Another option is going for a more balanced/complete middle relief option or going for another left handed matchup option. This bullpen does not have very many LHPs, and adding another one of those would be a solid way to round it out.
There’s a lot of potential with this bullpen, especially as Aleman and Espino can get more work in. I think if you include them, you have 4 clear keepers and 4 more that have legitimate reasons they can be in an MLB bullpen as long as they’re used appropriately. Some of the others have potential as organizational depth that could be brought up in a pinch. I think for the MLB level, you’d ideally want one more pitcher that can handle lefties, given the splits for Gaddis/Holderman/Yoho are very tilted towards usefulness against righties, but apart from that improvement, there’s a lot of good pieces here for the near future.
