When the Cleveland Guardians needed to promote an outfielder last week, they went through multiple candidates before they eventually decided to call up Petey Halpin. They did not, however, consider CJ Kayfus, who actually broke camp with the team before being demoted in April.
Kayfus, who is hitting .310 (9-for-29) with five RBI and a 114 wRC+ at Triple-A Columbus, hasn’t been in the lineup since April 24, which sparked curiosity and concern among fans wanting to know if he was healthy.
The team hadn’t provided any updates until Monday, when assistant general manager James Harris offered some useful information about him. As it turns out, there is a health-related issue going on with him.
“CJ came back to Columbus from Cleveland where he wasn’t playing every day. We were playing him every day at Columbus, and he started to get sore, mostly in the oblique area,” Harris said. “He should be back in the lineup in the next couple of days. He’s hitting, playing defense, lifting weights, doing all those things.”
That’s obviously good news for Cleveland. Had he reported an oblique strain, he could have been out for weeks, even months, depending on the severity. The Guardians will only be without him for a few more days, though.
Kayfus was one of the team’s best players in their September run last year, with a 145 wRC+. He finished the 2025 season with a 96 wRC+ and four home runs in 44 games as a rookie.
He got a chance to be on the Guardians as a member of the Opening Day roster this year, but struggled to an 82 wRC+ in 25 plate appearances, while also being shaky on defense and striking out almost a third of the time, in 32 percent of his trips to the plate.
He was playing well in Columbus before getting hurt. After being out of the lineup for a few days, he will return to action soon and restart his way up to the majors.
He is good enough to help Cleveland later down the road, but he needs to be more consistent at the plate and on the field.
For now, the Guardians have to be thankful it wasn’t an injured-list situation and that he will get to return relatively soon. It could have been much worse.
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