Daniel Espino Has Successful First Career Start for Guardians

The overarching narrative from the Cleveland Guardians’ loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday will be that they let a pivotal game slip away, despite having a chance to climb back to the top of the American League Central.

That said, one storyline that can’t go untalked about is how Daniel Espino, technically, made his first MLB start

Cleveland’s plan was always to use Espino as an opener and bring in a bulk reliever.

In a perfect world, Espino could throw one inning of clean baseball before the Guardians turned it over to the rest of the bullpen.

That ideal scenario was exactly what transpired as Espino pitched two innings, didn’t allow a run, only gave up one hit, didn’t issue a walk, and struck out two batters. He did all of that while his fastball sat at 98.5 mph and generated four swings and misses.

The Guardians truly couldn’t have asked for anything more in this outing, even though the team ended up dropping the game.

“He was outstanding. We couldn't ask for anything more from Daniel,” manager Stephen Vogt said postgame.

Cleveland’s skipper also added that the original plan wasn’t to have Espino pitch multiple innings, but his first inning was so efficient that he had the pitches to go back out for the second.

It is only one game, but considering how much Espino has had to overcome to even have a chance at starting in a big-league game, this performance deserves recognition.

At the end of the day, though, Espino just wants to help the Guardians win in whatever role that may be.

“It's fun every time to go out there and pitch.” Espino said.

“I'm here to help this team. Today was as a starter; as an opener. Tomorrow it might be as a reliever, and that's what keeps it fun.”

Maybe even the more exciting part of all of this is that Saturday could be a glimpse at the future if Espino continues to head in the right direction with his health, which has always been the big question mark, not the talent.

He’s still only 25. Who’s to say Espino couldn’t still end up being a starter for Cleveland in the future? He made it clear after the game that he feels healthy.

“I'm healthy. I'm really happy with how my body feels right now, and I think that's just a testament of everything that I'm doing.”