Guardians Assistant GM Provides Update On Daniel Espino

For years, Cleveland Guardians prospect Daniel Espino has tantalized scouts and fans with his vast potential.

Stuff-wise, there are very few pitchers like him in the minor leagues.

However, injuries have punished his body and crushed his hopes time and again in recent seasons.

The last pitch he threw in a minor league game came in 2022: it will be three years when he throws his next competitive pitch.

The last we heard from him was in mid-March, when he underwent shoulder surgery to repair an injury to his shoulder capsule and rotator cuff.

His last sample of healthy baseball was magnificent, back in 2022: a 2.45 ERA, a 0.71 WHIP, and a 35/4 K/BB ratio in 18.1 innings (four starts) for Double-A Akron.

He had shoulder capsule surgery in 2023, as well.

Guardians reporter Justin Lada (@Justin_L on X) interviewed James Harris, the team’s assistant general manager, and Espino was one of the topics he discussed.

The pitcher is, per Harris, ‘starting a throwing program’.

“If you know Daniel, you know, he’s going to come every single day and give his best effort towards getting healthy. We want him to be healthy and he wants to be as healthy as he possibly can. He’s starting a throwing program now. As far as projection for 2025, we won’t know until earlier in the year but he’s starting that throwing program now, and so far so good,” he said.

If he is already throwing, even if it is at low intensity and distance, he might be in line for a return to pro baseball at some point in 2025.

At this point, and after losing almost the last two seasons with shoulder woes, all he needs next year is to return to full health and pitch competitive games on a minor league mound.

If Espino manages to return to Akron or Columbus at some point in 2025, that would be a win for the Guardians.

Then, we will have to look at his stuff (velocity, sharpness of breaking balls, etc.) and command upon returning, but first things first: return to a minor league mound should be his goal for next year.