Guardians Manager Provides Promising Update on Injured Players Ahead of Opening Day

Another day has passed, and both Hunter Gaddis and George Valera are still banged up.

But fortunately, manager Stephen Vogt provided promising updates on both players.

On Monday, March 23, Vogt spoke to the media and gave a deeper insight into what both player's timelines are looking like. Gaddis hasn't suited up for game action since the Guardians' opener in Spring Training, while Valera has been out for just a couple of weeks.

#Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said that George Valera played in a minor league game today and is "progressing well", but is not ready for games just yet.

Says he is hopeful that it is not an extended stay for him and Hunter Gaddis.#GuardsBall @WEWS
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) March 23, 2026

For the 25-year-old Valera, he doesn't seem to be in as bad a spot as Gaddis, whose injury has held him out for quite a good chunk of time already. Vogt said that he's "progressing well", but not yet ready to return back to the diamond for major league games.

Throughout the spring, Valera was one of the Guardians' best outfielders, slashing a strong .292/.333/.500 for an OPS of .833. He also tacked on seven hits, two doubles and one home run. If he had played more time, he probably could've ended up hovering around a 1.0 OPS.

For Gaddis, he hasn't reached live game action yet either, but he's been throwing, which is a good sign, a sentiment Vogt echoed.

"Yeah, he's thrown from, you know, backfield live BPs and things," Vogt said. "So he's progressing towards games. He's feeling good every time out, feeling better and better. So we just have to get him back healthy and into games and get him built up.

Gaddis has been dealing with forearm tightness, something that started occurring at the beginning of the month. Due to missing so much time, he will have to ease back into the taxing major league-level workload.

"I'm not sure what the buildup's going to be, I mean, obviously we need to make sure that he's ready to go back-to-back, you know, in his normal role," he said. "So, we need to get in as close to a spring training as possible. But the timeline of that, I'm unsure of, because he does have the built-up volume.

"You know, he didn't miss a ton. But we're going to be smart about this. It's a really long season."

Over the past two seasons, Gaddis has played in the second-most games of any pitcher in the entire league, coming in at an incredible mark of 124. That type of reliability is important for Cleveland, and something that they cannot afford to miss out on.

While they don't want to rush him back, they also don't want to play it too carefully and have him out long enough that he completely loses his groove.

Since transitioning into a full-time member of the bullpen, Gaddis has posted an average ERA of 2.29 with a WHIP of 0.962. He's not a strikeout machine, and he likely never will end up becoming one, but his ability to control the zone is what makes him so effective on the mound. He's only allowing an average of six hits and two walks per nine innings, all while rarely giving up the deep ball.

As both Gaddis and Valera continue to work their way back up to speed, the Guardians' coaching staff can feel comfortable and confident with the group they have built heading into a new season. There are countless players who can slide into their roles and still keep the Guardians competitive.