The Cleveland Guardians can’t afford to lose key reliever Hunter Gaddis. Since his ascent to stardom in 2024 after a role change, the right-hander has accumulated a 2.29 ERA in 141.1 innings.
Since making one spring appearance in late February, however, Gaddis hasn’t pitched in any additional Cactus League games. He was diagnosed with right forearm tightness after that February 27 appearance.
Guardians fans can have some peace of mind because manager Stephen Vogt revealed that Gaddis underwent an MRI after reporting the forearm tightness, and it came back clean, per Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. His return to play isn’t imminent, though.
The skipper said that they would use Thursday to re-assess the situation and ‘build him back after that.’ It means that Gaddis doesn’t have to restart his entire throwing program, but still needs at least a few days.
“No, it’s just getting him back into throwing and building him up to get into games,” Vogt said, per Hoynes. “Like all of our guys, we go one day at a time. The good news is everything came back clean.”
Fortunately for Vogt and Cleveland, Gaddis doesn’t have any structural damage and is a reliever.
The buildup process for starters tends to take a bit more time, but relievers can get themselves in game shape relatively quickly as long as they are healthy, which seems to be Gaddis’ case.
Expect him to be ready for Opening Day if he doesn’t experience more setbacks. Gaddis is, besides Cade Smith, the Guardians’ highest-profile bullpen arm.
The dropoff beyond those two is notable, and they have been experiencing some physical issues these days. Both are expected to be fine for Opening Day, especially with Vogt’s discourse focusing on building Gaddis up to get into games.
It’s always wise to take things slow with forearm tightness in spring training, so don’t expect Gaddis to pitch in official Cactus League games for at least a few days.
The Guardians’ hopes of handling the late innings effectively this year rest on these two talented arms, so any health scares are definitely felt by the fan base. Cleveland’s bullpen is solid and has more weapons, but it doesn’t take a specialist to know that Gaddis is one of the go-to guys alongside Smith.
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