The Cleveland Guardians bullpen has been a point of emphasis over the last week, with some shaky outings overall for the reliever core. Now, the Guardians will be down a reliable veteran reliever after Cleveland’s latest roster moves on Sunday. 

The Guardians placed Shawn Armstrong on the 15-Day injured list ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays with a right groin strain. 

Armstrong was Cleveland’s big offseason acquisition, signing the veteran pitcher to a one-year, $5.5 million deal for the 2026 season. After a successful and productive season with the Texas Rangers a year ago, the Guardians envisioned him as another high-leverage arm they could use in the seventh or eighth innings.

So far, Armstrong's second tenure in Cleveland hasn’t gone necessarily as planned. In 12 outings, Armtsong has given up five earned runs (4.22 ERA) and has a 1.41 WHIP.

Yes, the 35-year-old has a strikeout rate of 27.7 percent, but he’s also giving up a ton of hard contact and has walked 14.9 percent of the batters he faced. 

Hopefully, once Armstrong is healthy, he can get back to being the reliever he was during the back half of 2025.

The timing of this injury could be worse, though. Thankfully, the Guardians recently got Hunter Gaddis back from injury, who will serve as the team’s setup man, and Erik Sabrowski has still been a reliable reliever, too.

Of course, Armstrong’s injury hurts Cleveland’s overall reliever depth, but the Guardians do still have some options for high-leverage situations. 

Taking Armstrong’s spot on the Major League roster and in the bullpen is RHP Colin Holderman, who was recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Sunday.

Holderman actually broke camp with the Guardians and was on the team’s Opening Day roster. However, he had a rough opening week with Cleveland, giving up two earned runs, including a home run, in 3.0 innings. 

When Gaddis was ready to come off the injured list, the Guardians optioned Holderman to the Minors, where it has been much better for the right-hander. 

Holderman has appeared in six appearances with the Clippers and owns a 7.45 ERA in 9.2 innings. That said, he hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last four outings, so maybe he made an adjustment that allows him to execute his pitches better. 

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