The Cleveland Guardians are off to their best start in years, and so far have been able to do it by patching together the bullpen without Sam Hentges.
Hentges has been a crucial member in the bridge leading to closer Emmanuel Clase and the Guardians bullpen has done a stellar job without him so far, but Hentges’ return could be just around the corner after his most recent rehab outing.
Hentges started the season on the IL due to a swollen middle finger, but according to analyst Justin Lada, Hentges threw 17 pitches for Columbus and got up to 95 mph.
Sam Hentges threw 17 pitches tonight for Columbus in 0.2 IP (H, BB, K). Was up to 95 today. So for those that had velo concerns, he continues to ramp back up.
Would guess he's not quite done yet but I'd bet he's close.
— Justin (BSky – jlbaseball) (@JL_Baseball) April 27, 2024
The report says that while he isn’t quite ready yet, he’s getting close.
Cleveland’s bullpen has been dominant without him, with Clase, Hunter Gaddis, Cade Smith, Tim Herrin, Nick Sandlin, Scott Barlow, and Eli Morgan all posting an ERA under 3.75 so far.
The team is sixth in the league in ERA and third in strikeouts thus far and will see an already elite bullpen get even stronger soon with Hentges’ return.
Hentges has appeared in 113 games over the last two seasons and had a 2.32 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 2022 that regressed slightly to a 3.61 ERA last season.
Herrin has been the main lefty out of the bullpen so far and has been exceptional with a 0.77 ERA in 11.2 innings, but Cleveland doesn’t have much behind him in terms of left-handed relief.
Hentges will be back soon to provide exactly that and round out one of the league’s most complete bullpens.
NEXT: Jose Ramirez Continues To Climb Up Elite Franchise List
