Guardians Top Reliever Is Finally Rounding Into Form

Back in late May, Cleveland Guardians reliever Erik Sabrowski was diagnosed with left elbow inflammation and was placed on the injured list. He had been phenomenal up until that point, with a 1.71 ERA that ranked among the best in the American League.

The injury, however, kept him out of action until June 19, and he struggled to find his form immediately upon returning. From that day until July 31, a span of about a month and a half, Sabrowski had a horrible 8.10 ERA in 10 innings, with nine walks and 13 punchouts. He often lost the plate, and his numbers reflected this issue.

As you can probably imagine, it takes time for the body to adjust to throwing close to triple digits after nursing elbow inflammation. However, baseball is an unforgiving sport, especially when you play for a top American League contender, and expectations are sky-high. For a while, some fans turned against Sabrowski.

Sabrowski, however, is finally turning a corner. He is looking like one of the best relievers in the junior circuit again, and that’s been the case for a while now. The stats, as always, don’t lie.

Since the start of August, the star left-hander hasn’t allowed any earned runs. He has pitched 11.1 innings since that date, posting an immaculate 0.00 ERA with four walks and 15 strikeouts. He was incredible on Friday, giving the Guardians two scoreless innings when they needed them the most and allowing the offense to come back in the game and earn a walk-off win against the Detroit Tigers.

If fans criticized Sabrowski for failing to produce good numbers and give the bullpen a reliable arm in June and July after coming back from elbow inflammation, they should at least acknowledge the fact that he is now back to his very best.

In fact, the entire Guardians’ bullpen is producing at the moment, with Cade Smith, Daniel Espino, Hunter Gaddis, Matt Festa, and others, including Sabrowski, pitching well. If they can keep it up, Cleveland will be very hard to beat, and its inconsistent offense won’t be under as much pressure.