Why Khal Stephen should see major league action with Guardians in 2026

The Cleveland Guardians decided to make a blockbuster move at the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline.

In a deal that sent starting pitcher and fan favorite Shane Bieber to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Guardians received a promising pitching prospect in Khal Stephen. Just days following the move, there were many throughout the MLB analyst world who believed the move was rocky. Former MLB executive Jim Bowden deemed this a steal for Toronto's front office.

"The 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner, who has a career record of 62-32 with a 3.22 ERA, could be a difference maker this October - if all goes well." Bowden wrote in an article via The Athletic. "In addition, Bieber gives the Jays another strong starter for 2026, though he could decline his player option. This was a steal."

Such a decision to move on from Bieber came as a bit of a surprise for the Guardians, especially considering he was just turning a page in his career and becoming healthy again.

However, while many doubt the value in the trade, the team could see Stephen up with the major league roster in 2026.

And then, he will be able to prove why this trade paid off for the Guardians.

Stephen started his career back in the 2025 season, just a year removed from being picked in the second round of the 2024 MLB June Amateur Draft. Coming out of Mississippi State of the SEC in his final collegiate season, he was tossing heat. He put up a 3.47 ERA on the mound with a win-loss record of 8-3. His WHIP was impressive at 1.010 with a strikeout per nine innings mark at 10.0.

The best part? He was allowing a measly 2.0 walks per nine innings,

Stephen was framing pitches perfectly, he was sending batters down and he was putting his name on the map as a future major league starter.

In his first year with the Blue Jays he worked his way through three different systems, Single-A, High-A and Double-A ball. He looked sharp at the lower two levels, but suffered a bit of a setback in Double-A.

In just one game with the Blue Jays, he put up a 9.0 ERA before joining the Guardians' minor league system in Double-A as well. With the Akron Rubberducks, he had his fair share of bumps in the road, primarily due to a mid-season trade that resulted in him having to learn a whole new system.

At 22 years old, he capped off his 2025 year with a 6.35 ERA with the Rubberducks across four starts. His WHIP was at a career high 1.676 and his strikeouts per nine innings were a career low, minus his one game on Toronto's Double-A team. However, he was dealing with a few injuries when coming to Cleveland.

But, while Stephen looks to work out many kinks in his game, the Guardians have him locked down for six years when he ends up making his MLB debut.

With such a youth-filled starting pitching rotation and a rocky bullpen, there's a very real case to be made that his debut comes in 2026.

He's young, but if he can come out hot and show what made him such a promising prospect coming out of college, he may be able to work his way up to Triple-A. That would give him a much higher chance of coming up for a few innings in the big leagues.

A future lineup of Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen, Parker Messick and Stephen, would make a run for being the best young group of pitchers in the league. Only time will tell if Stephen gets a chance in the big leagues in 2026, but he's poised for it if he returns to consistency.