Relief pitcher Sam Hentges has been a valuable member of the Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen since his MLB debut in 2021.
He had a terrible first season, but his ERAs in 2022, 2023, and 2024 were 2.32, 3.61, and 3.04, respectively.
However, he hasn’t pitched much this year due to shoulder issues.
He has been on the disabled list since July 12 with shoulder inflammation and has been unable to recover.
As a result, he will have surgery and miss the rest of the season.
That isn’t the worst part; according to the procedure’s timeline, he will also miss the majority, if not all, of 2025.
“Guardians’ reliever Sam Hentges will have shoulder surgery next week.” “He’s expected to miss 12-14 months,” Guardians source Zack Meisel wrote on X.
Evidently, there was insufficient improvement on Hentges’ shoulder to avoid the undesirable but required surgical outcome.
The Guardians bullpen is strong and deep enough to endure the loss of Hentges.
That’s not to say it doesn’t hurt.
When healthy, Hentges is a perfectly solid reliever capable of challenging baseball’s most skilled lineups in brief bursts.
He is also a left-hander, and good southpaws are always more difficult to find than righties.
Still, the team has come a long way, primarily without him, and they intend to keep doing so.
Unless he makes a miraculous recovery, the best the Guardians can hope for is a good comeback after a typical spring training in 2026.
