Cleveland Guardians prospects Daniel Espino and Chase DeLauter will both miss significant time with injuries.
Spring Training games officially start on February 25 but at this point, most of the team is at Goodyear preparing themselves for the upcoming season. This includes some of the team's highly-ranked prospects in the Cleveland Guardians system.
However, two of the team's highest-ranked prospects received some negative injury news under a week ago away from the first Spring Training game.
Daniel Espino
Cleveland fans are very familiar with the name Daniel Espino. He's been moving up the team's list of top prospects for the last few years and has shown the potential to be the future ace of the Guardians' pitching staff.
He's currently ranked as the team's number-one prospect and is at the Double-A level. There was a slim chance that the 22-year-old would make his MLB debut in 2023, but that little hope fell even more on Monday as the team announced he would miss significant time with a shoulder injury.
Espino was diagnosed with a strain and tear of multiple muscles in his shoulder. The timetable hasn't officially been set for his return but he won't throw for at least eight weeks.
Chase DeLauter
The Guardians selected Chase DeLauter in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft. Since then he's got limited playing time on the field, but it'll be a while before he gets any more.
The outfield prospect has surgery on his foot on January 10 to repair a toe injury. His timetable has been placed at 4-5 months.
DeLauter is ranked by MLB.com as the Guardians' seventh-ranked prospect. He's nowhere near making his MLB debut, but this injury could push it back even further.
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