In 2024, the Cleveland Guardians had the best bullpen in baseball and advanced to the ALCS, where they were defeated by the New York Yankees.
Emmanuel Clase had one of the most dominant seasons of any closer in MLB history and wound up finishing third in Cy Young voting.
At the same time, he also had plenty of help from the guys leading up to the ninth inning, most of whom are under contract for 2025 and beyond.
One man who got lost in the shuffle of this dominant bullpen is Erik Sabrowski, who made his unlikely debut as a 26-year-old rookie after September call-ups and was just as dominant as all his peers, surrendering no runs in his 12.2 innings over eight appearances, which was enough to land him a spot on the postseason roster where he posted a 1.69 ERA across five appearances.
In an article recently shared on MLB.com, Sabrowski opened up about the difficult road that led him to this point and had an honest admission about the Guardians organization as a whole.
“That was another thing that helped me get through the rehab,” Sabrowski said. “There’s an organization out there – and it’s Cleveland of all teams, the pitching factory – that believes they can see something in me and believe that they can help me get there.”
After two Tommy John surgeries, Sabrowski was ready to call it quits after never getting past High-A ball before turning 25, but he kept going and has now likely solidified a spot in this bullpen in 2025.
How can you not be romantic about baseball?
NEXT: Former Guardians Postseason Hero Signs With The Padres
