Cleveland Guardians Lose Important Minor League Pitcher to Season-Ending Surgery

Just prior the start of spring training, the Cleveland Guardians were dealt some unfortunate news.

On Thursday, Feb. 5, it was announced that minor league starting right-handed pitcher Aaron Davenport will potentially end up missing the entire 2026 campaign. Davenport had recently undergone Tommy John surgery.

Just a few days ago, he was named as a non-roster to spring training, but now, he won't be able to suit up for the Guardians. Many players have already made their way to Arizona for camp, with the opening public workouts occurring in just under two weeks.

It's a tough situation for Davenport, who, at 25 years old, is at a pivotal point in his professional development. After steadily climbing the minor league ladder over the last five years, the right-hander was positioning himself for a potential major league call-up and firmly land in the future plans for the organization.

The Guardians drafted Davenport back in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB June Amateur Draft. He joined the organization out of the University of Hawaii.

While the switch-up from the hot, tropical weather of Hawaii to the questionable, ever-changing weather of Ohio had to have been a shock, Davenport worked his way through the minor league system with very few hiccups.

Cleveland Guardians 25-year-old RHP prospect Aaron Davenport will miss the 2026 season as he underwent TJ surgery today, per @CleGuardPro #GuardsBall pic.twitter.com/ZISyh19v5L
— SleeperGuardians (@SleeperGuards) February 5, 2026

Why Davenport's Injury is so Detrimental

When Davenport joined the organization back in 2021, he was immediately thrust into action with the Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats. In his first four games, he showed some good control on the mound, recording a 3.27 ERA across 11 innings. He gave up just five hits while striking out 15 batters.

It wasn't anything flashy, but it was enough to give the front office confidence they might have found a good mid-draft arm.

In 2022, 2023 and 2024, Davenport played each season with a singular team, giving him a chance to become comfortable with who he was suiting up for. Across back-to-back seasons in High-A, he posted a 4.99 average ERA, a sizeable dip from Single-A, but followed up those struggles with a bounce-back Double-A campaign in 2024.

That year, he went out and played really well. He recorded a 2.85 ERA with a major jump occurring in his walks per nine innings, dropping it to just slightly about three. In years past, he had gotten that statistic as high as 5.1 in High-A.

2025 marked the first year that Davenport had earned a mid-season promotion, making the move from Akron to Columbus to join the Triple-A squad. In 20 games on the mound this past season, he put up a 5.32 ERA. Yes, it's not the best performance he's put together, but as his track record shows, it takes him a bit of time to adjust to the jump in competition level.

That being said, 2026 would've been the perfect season for him to play entirely in Triple-A and hopefully receive a late-season call-up to the big leagues. He's certainly not ready for everyday major league time yet, but this could've been one of Davenport's biggest years for development.

The hope now is that not only can Davenport's timeline for development, while being delayed, remain intact heading into 2027, but that the Tommy John surgery doesn't have any lasting impacts. It has been seen from time-to-time that pitchers post-surgery end up never being able to return to their previous form.

For now, Cleveland can only hope one of their young arms can take the time to recover and suit back up for the organization next year.