Guardians Provide Promising Update on Erik Sabrowski's Recent Injury Scare

The Cleveland Guardians are going to be without left-handed reliever Erik Sabrowski for a few weeks following an injury to his throwing arm that has placed him on the injured list.

Aug 19, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Erik Sabrowski against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Erik Sabrowski has been placed on the 15-day injured list.

The 28-year-old left-handed reliever has served as one of the Cleveland Guardians' high-leverage arms to begin the 2026 MLB regular season. Across 21 innings pitched and 25 contests, he has a 1.71 ERA and 0.952 WHIP, all while sitting on an impressive 16.7 strikeouts per nine innings mark.

But practically out of the blue, the team announced that he would be out for a few weeks due to left elbow inflammation. At first, such a report causes major concern. Sabrowski's injury history hasn't been kind to him, as he's already undergone two Tommy John surgeries.

When Guardians manager Stephen Vogt addressed the injury for the first time, he specified that the team was going to play it safe.

"With Erik, especially with his history, the right thing to do is to put him on the IL right now," Vogt said before Monday's series opener against the Washington Nationals.

Just a day later, on Tuesday, May 26, he provided a further update in his pregame press conference. Sabrowski was able to get an MRI done and further evaluation on the state of his elbow.

"I think it was probably the best case scenario, the findings came back with inflammation, and that's about the best news you can get for somebody like Erik," Vogt said. "So, he's very optimistic about it, JD and the medical staff are very optimistic about it, so good news."

#Guardians manager Stephen Vogt provided an update on reliever Erik Sabrowski's left elbow inflammation:

"I think it was probably the best case scenario, the findings came back with inflammation, and that's about the best news you can get for somebody like Erik. So, he's very…

— Cade Cracas (@CracasCade) May 26, 2026

Apparently, over the past day or so, the medical staff deemed that Sabrowski needed to get a shot, though. MLB.com's Tim Stebbins went on to ask Vogt if there was a reason that Sabrowski had to have that done.

"Obviously, they [the medical staff] felt that they needed an injection to help," he said bluntly through a laugh.

If Vogt knows anything further on the state of Sabrowski's recovery, he wasn't willing to give up such information.

Sep 30, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Erik Sabrowski (62) delivers against the Detroit Tigers in the eighth inning during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images

In a move to help bolster the bullpen in the meantime, the Guardian front office called up left-handed pitching prospect Will Dion. He isn't Sabrowski, at least not yet, but he will be able to add another lefty to the bullpen to avoid becoming too top-heavy with right-handed pitchers.

"You know, Will's been a very dynamic pitcher the whole time through the minor leagues, starter, bullpen, short stints, long, just gives us a variety of options and abilities to use him. And what a great story, developed from within, and he gets to make his major league debut this week, so really excited for him."

Dion will have a chance to impress and begin filling the void of Sabrowski at some point this week, with the Guardians playing host to both the Washington Nationals and Boston Red Sox at home.