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Hunter Gaddis Trending in the Right Direction for the Guardians
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- Hunter Gaddis Trending in the Right Direction for the Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians have had one of the top bullpens in baseball over the last few seasons, not just because of who they had pitching in the ninth inning, but also because of the pitchers they could call upon leading up to the save, too. One of those arms is Hunter Gaddis .
That's why there was some real concern for Gaddis and Cleveland's reliever core when he missed just about all of spring training and started the regular season on the injured list with what the team was calling forearm tightness.
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The concern for Gaddis only grew even after he made his season debut.
Gaddis got off to a rough start to the season after coming off the injured list. In his first seven appearances out of the bullpen, he owns a 9.64 ERA, a 2.36 WHIP, and has an opponent average exit velocity of 91.7 mph. Those stats include two home runs and a .429 BABIP (batting average on balls in play).
These stats understandably raised many concerns about the impact of Gaddis's elbow discomfort and how it could continue to affect him in the long term.
It looks like those concerns about Gaddis can be put to rest, at least for now, because he's looking much better on the mound over the last couple of weeks and is certainly heading in the right direction.
Cleveland Guardians pitcher Hunter Gaddis (33) throws against Detroit Tigers during the ninth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, May 21, 2026.
Since May 6, Gaddis has appeared in eight games, and he looks like the lockdown setup man that the Guardians have grown to know over the last few seasons. In this stretch, Gaddis has allowed one earned run (1.17 ERA) and a walk rate of 6.7 percent, too.
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It sure does look like the command that made Gaddis such an efficient pitcher is back.
Plus, these outings and successes have come in some big moments for the Guardians. Gaddis has four holds in May, including in Cleveland's series-clinching victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
In the rubber match, Gaddis pitched 1.1 innings of clean baseball and didn't allow a runner, shutting down the start of a Phillies rally in the seventh inning.
"He had a little bit of a blip there. We talked about it. He didn't get a normal buildup. He didn't put in normal spring training," explained manager Stephen Vogt on Sunday. "But now we're starting to see the shapes coming back, the velo is there. He's always gonna have that presence."
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Having Gaddis back as a reliable, high-leverage reliever is a huge boost for the Guardians and a reminder that it can take players time to get back to being themselves after an injury.
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