Sam

Hentges

The 28-year-old southpaw is expected to miss the entirety of the 2025 season while recovering from shoulder surgery. The Guardians hope that he’ll make it back stronger and better than ever to be a major contributor in their bullpen once again for the 2026 season.

The expectation now is that Hentges will miss not only the rest of 2024, but also 2025 as the estimated recovery time is 12-14 months according to Zack Meisel of The Athletic. The 28-year-old has been out since July with his shoulder issue, and not enough progress was made to avoid the surgery. He’ll compete for a bullpen spot in 2026, but obviously that long of delay makes things tricky.

Hentges quickly experienced a setback after beginning a rehab assignment earlier this month, and it’s unclear if he’ll be able to contribute again this season. The move to the 60-day officially rules him out until Sept. 9.

It had appeared as though Hentges was nearing a return to the Guardians’ bullpen, but that plan is completely on hold until the club finds out what’s going on with his balky shoulder. Expect the team to provide another update on his status over the weekend.

It’s the first run that he’s allowed during his minor league stint. The Guardians shout soon activate him after a month-long absence due to shoulder inflammation.

Hentges has a 3.04 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 25 appearances out of the bullpen for Cleveland this year. This is his second trip to the injured list this year after spending over a month on the shelf with a finger injury.

Hentges will be back in Cleveland’s bullpen for Friday’s series opener against the Twins. The 27-year-old lefty has made three scoreless appearances since returning from the injured list following a five-weeks absence due to left middle finger inflammation.

Hentges will miss 1-3 days. He’s pitched 3 1/3 hitless innings over three appearances since returning from a finger issue that cost him the first five weeks.

The left-hander was dealing with inflammation on the middle finger of his pitching hand as was placed on the 15-day IL at the end of March. He now figures to be back as a main contributor for the Guardians out of the bullpen. Hentges had a 3.61 ERA and 17 holds in 52 1/3 innings out of the bullpen last season. Peter Strzelecki was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

The 27-year-old will be on the bump Friday for the Akron Rubberducks. This will be Hentges’ first live action since being shut down with inflammation in his left middle finger and should be back with the Guardians’ roster in the coming days barring any setbacks.