Guardians reliever Sam Hentges has been shut down due to a shoulder issue and will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis moving forward, manager Terry Francona announced this morning (link via Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer). Hentges felt discomfort after his most recent spring outing, and a subsequent MRI revealed inflammation.
“Week-to-week” is an ominous designation for Hentges, who quietly broke out as one of the best lefty relievers in the league last season. The 26-year-old logged 62 innings of 2.32 ERA ball for Cleveland in 2022, fanning a hefty 29.4% of his opponents against a better-than-average 7.8% walk rate and a mammoth 61.5% ground-ball rate. He allowed just three home runs on the season and, in addition to dominating left-handed batters (.143/.194/.176), held right-handers in check as well (.215/.301/.315).
It was a remarkable transition for Hentges, a former fourth-round pick (2014) who’d made his MLB debut in 2021 but struggled as both a starter and a reliever during that rookie campaign. Hentges pitched nearly the same number of innings in ’21 (68 1/3) but was rocked for a 6.68 ERA with vastly inferior strikeout (21.4%), walk (10.1%) and ground-ball rates (45.8%) to the ones he recorded in ’22. Hentges scaled back the usage of his four-seamer, slider and curveball during his sophomore season in Cleveland, instead leaning heavily into his sinker. He also saw his average velocity jump considerably — from 94.8 mph to 96.1 mph on the four-seamer and from 93.3 mph to 95.7 mph on the sinker — when working exclusively in shorter stints.
Hentges wasn’t limited to one-inning stints during that breakout showing, either. He worked more than one inning in 26% of his appearances in 2022 and on six occasions completed two or more frames. That prevented him from ever working on three consecutive days, but he was still a vital cog in what was one of MLB’s best bullpens in 2022; Guardians relievers worked to a collective 3.05 ERA — the fifth-best mark in the Majors. The Cleveland bullpen also ranked sixth in strikeout rate, seventh in home-run rate and ninth in walk rate.
As it stands, Hentges is the only lefty projected for a spot in Francona’s bullpen to begin the season. Tim Herrin is the lone southpaw reliever elsewhere on the 40-man, though lefty starters Joey Cantillo or Konnor Pilkington could potentially be called upon as bullpen options if needed. Lefties Phillip Diehl and Caleb Baragar signed minor league contracts with non-roster invites over the winter, and homegrown southpaw Andrew Misiaszek also got an invite to camp.
There’s no indication at this time that Hentges is in jeopardy of missing a substantial chunk of the regular season, but if the Guards want to add some insurance, the free-agent market still has a few notable names. Zack Britton, Will Smith and old friend Brad Hand are all currently unsigned.
Stinks for them. Shoulder issues tend to linger.
Yeah, shoulder issues concern me even more than forearm or elbow because pitchers have a better record coming back even from TJ as compared with shoulder / surgery. That said, hey, “week to week” is better than “month to month” ha.
Really too bad. He’s the ace of the staff. This should bump the Indians down to 4th place in the division.
Tough way to start the year. Hopefully it isn’t major. Hentges had a really good season.. especially in the last few months. It looked like he really settled into that relief role and was dominant.
ABSOLUTELY NO!!! to Brad Hand
Indians should have never let go of their primary backstop in Austin Hedges. His absence affects the Indians pitchers as well.
Beating a dead horse again, are we?
Will Smith would be a good fit for the Guardians
Steve, “either” doesn’t need a comma before it FFS
That comment was unnecessary FFS
The comma was unnecessary and necessitated the comment. No comma, no comment. FFS.