Ever since he made his MLB debut with the Cleveland Guardians in 2021, relief pitcher Sam Hentges has been an integral part of the bullpen.
He was bad in that debut season, but posted ERAs of 2.32, 3.61 and 3.04 in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively.
He hasn’t really pitched much this year, though, as he has been limited by shoulder woes.
He has been on the injured list since July 12 with shoulder inflammation and has been unable to overcome the ailment.
As a result, he will go under the knife and miss the remainder of the season.
That’s not the worst part: according to the timetable of the procedure, he also figures to miss most, if not all of 2025, too.
“Guardians reliever Sam Hentges will undergo shoulder surgery next week. He’s expected to miss 12-14 months,” Guardians insider Zack Meisel posted on X.
Guardians reliever Sam Hentges will undergo shoulder surgery next week. He’s expected to miss 12-14 months.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) September 10, 2024
Evidently, there wasn’t enough progress on Hentges’ shoulder to avoid the unwanted, but necessary surgical fate.
The Guardians bullpen is good and deep enough to withstand the loss of Hentges.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, though.
When he is healthy, Hentges is a perfectly solid reliever good enough to challenge the most talented lineups in baseball in short spurts.
He is also a left-hander, and a quality southpaw is always harder to come by than righties.
Still, the team has come a long way mostly without him, and they will try to keep doing that.
Unless he makes an impressive recovery, the best thing the Guardians can do is hope he can bounce back strong after a normal spring training in 2026.
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