The Cleveland Guardians are off to a nice start in 2026 and will look to wrap up a season-opening series win at the Seattle Mariners on Sunday to move to 3-1. The star of the show so far has been young outfielder Chase DeLauter, who homered in each of his first three regular season games and is looking every bit like the future star this fan base hoped he’d be.
While the offense has shown signs of improvement, the bullpen has had a few hiccups. Hunter Gaddis’ eventual return would help everyone in the pen settle in a bit more, and MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins recently provided an update on that front.
Stebbins shared on X that Gaddis threw a scoreless inning of work in his first rehab appearance for Triple-A Columbus. He walked one and struck out one and should now be getting rather close to a return to the bigs.
“Hunter Gaddis threw a scoreless inning in his first rehab appearance today, with Triple-A Columbus. One walk and one strikeout,” said Stebbins.
Hunter Gaddis threw a scoreless inning in his first rehab appearance today, with Triple-A Columbus. One walk and one strikeout.
— Tim Stebbins (@tim_stebbins) March 29, 2026
Gaddis is working his way back from a minor forearm injury and this bullpen won’t be complete until he does return. He has appeared in 151 games over the past two years and had a 1.57 and 3.11 ERA in 2024 and 2025.
His ERA nearly doubled last season, and he’ll certainly be eager to dial it back closer to 2024’s number. Upon returning, he’ll likely step back into a prominent setup role to bridge the gap to Cade Smith, who is in his first full season replacing Emmanuel Clase as the closer.
There are still a few moving parts in the bullpen that need to settle in, but when that all happens, this should once again be one of the best bullpens in baseball. Gaddis’ return will go a long way to accomplishing that goal, and it’s great to hear that his first rehab appearance went smoothly.
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