Highly-touted prospect Daniel Espino's time is ticking with the Cleveland Guardians

Daniel Espino came in as one of the top prospects in the Cleveland Guardians' minor league system.

But only expectations and excitement can last so long.

The heat-throwing right-hander has continued to suffer countless injuries throughout his professional career, limiting his development and timetable on playing with the major league roster. After suffering a knee injury in 2022, he ended up going an insane 1,250 days without throwing pitches.

Finally, he returned to the mound for the organization with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers in late 2025.

However, the time is starting to tick for the once generational pitching prospect.

The front office only has so long they can sit on a prospect and give high-level looks to an injury-riddled player. Especially with the organization, hopefully, going through changes heading into the upcoming campaign, taking their time on aging pitching prospects can't be on their agenda.

The story of Espino and his journey is tough to swallow

Drafted in the first round of the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft, Espino quickly rose up the ranks of the Guardians' minor league system.

At just 18 years old, he played in nine games for the Guardians with Mahoning Valley and the Indians Red minor league teams. He finished his first year with the organization with a 3.80 ERA across 23.2 innings. One of his impressive metrics was the arsenal of pitches he could throw, but also his inability to give up walks or home runs.

He allowed just two home runs and 10 walks while striking out 34.

Fast forwarding to 2021, Espino returned back to the mound in the minors.

He marked a 3-8 win-loss record, amassing an ERA of 3.73 across 91.2 innings. His per nine innings marks were elite, with his home runs at 0.9, walks at 3.8 and strikeouts at an unreal 14.9. To say that Espino was being effective on the mound would be an understatement; he was showing why he could be a future ace in the major leagues.

But, injuries hit and knocked him off his high-horse.

After jumping up to the Akron Rubberducks in Double-A for the 2022 season, he pitched in four games. His ERA was on pace to be a career high, coming in at 2.45 with 35 strikeouts across 18.1 innings. His efforts on the mound were good enough for a 51% mark of batters struck out that he faced, to a low 5.9% walk rate.

Then, the injury that kept him out for over 1,000 days occurred.

He started dealing with right patellar tendonitis and shoulder soreness, holding him out of the 2022 season. Then, he noticed more soreness at the start of 2023, before needing to have surgery to repair the anterior capsule in his shoulder. But that wasn't it. In 2024, it looked like he would finally return back to the mound, but yet again, he needed surgery on the same anterior capsule in his shoulder.

After dealing with one of the craziest setbacks in minor league baseball history, a near three-year stretch of injuries, Espino came back to play for the team this past season.

In 2025, he pitched just 0.2 innings for the team in what was an emotional and highly-awaited return for the 24-year-old. He struck out one batter and allowed three runs. It wasn't the picture-perfect movie moment that many were looking forward to, but it was promising.

Espino's speed was there, his ability to place the ball in different knack's of the zone was right where it used to be and most importantly, he kept the consistency of his various pitches.

2026 is set to be a season where the native of Panama, Panama, gets back on the mound as a routine starter for the Clippers. If he can impress and get back into rhythm, there's a real world where he gets called up to the major league roster late in the season.

However, those injuries he suffered may have slightly chopped down the clock on his career. Not only does he have to pick up a lot of missed development time, but the longevity of his career may be slightly less.

Espino's comeback story is through the first few chapters, but now we are reaching the point where the real test begins: the part where talent meets endurance and belief must turn into results.

This next stretch will determine whether this is simply a return or a full-on redemption arc for the former first-rounder.