Daniel Espino Should Be in the Big Leagues Sooner Rather Than Later

The clock continues to tick.

And the Cleveland Guardians are still one of baseball's best teams.

But through nearly 70 games of the 2026 MLB regular season, the Guardians have had their fair share of ebbs and flows. They aren't fully polished yet, and while that is okay, the front office should be looking at ways to somewhat finalize what they want the roster to look like by the end of the season.

One of the few areas that needs improvement is the bullpen.

Anchored by arguably the best closer in baseball, Cade Smith, Cleveland's bullpen is riddled with talented high-leverage arms. Alongside Smith, they also sport guys like Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski, who, on their best days, can hang with Smith pitch for pitch.

But through the ups and downs, the team has shown that it needs more stability. Trotting out Rule 5 picks and inconsistent arms isn't going to get the job done.

If Cleveland truly wants to reach its ceiling and be prepared when win-or-go-home games arrive, Triple-A arms like Daniel Espino should be getting opportunities on the mound at Progressive Field.

Espino’s Path to a Big League Appearance

The 24th pick back in the 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft has had a pretty strong campaign this year in Triple-A Columbus.

Across 21 outings, he has given up zero runs in 15. His ERA does sit at a relatively high mark of 5.40, but is pushed up by a few tough outings. Routinely, though, he is sending batters down and pitching efficiently.

His advanced metrics tell the deeper story of just how impactful his arm is.

He sits in the 90th percentile or higher in Whiff%, Z-Contact%, Fastball Velocity, tjStuff+, Hard-Hit% and Swinging Strike%, all of which indicate that his stuff would translate to the next level of the game.

The only stats that aren't above average or in the great category are Strike% and Zone%, both of which are fine when his other marks are so high, and Barrel% and Ground Ball%, which, again, are okay when he is limiting contact and just sending batters down with strikeouts.

TJStats, Daniel Espino Advanced Metrics — TJStats

He has shown that he can hang with some of baseball's better bats, and now, it's just about staying healthy.

This past offseason, major league manager Stephen Vogt shared that the organization is excited about the growth Espino has had and hoped that he would be with the big league roster at some point.

“I'm just happy he's healthy,” he said. “We’ve got to be mindful of how we build him up to see what he'd be capable of to help us. We need to do that for Daniel's future and for us right now. He’ll continue to work through a progression. We want him to impact our big league team this year. That’s all of our goals. We have to do that together."

And unless a blockbuster trade is in the near future, one that immediately gives the Guardians a go-to crunch-time arm, Espino should be given a shot to show what he has in the tank, especially as the current unit faces questions moving forward.

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