The Cleveland Guardians placed Slade Cecconi on the injured list and recalled Franco Aleman before their series against the Chicago White Sox.
The Cleveland Guardians will start a must-win series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday evening.
Here are the roster moves the Guardians made heading into this critical three-game set.
Slade Cecconi Placed on Injured List
Slade Cecconi has had an up-and-down season up to this point, and now he's facing another obstacle as he's been placed on the 15-day injured list with right forearm fatigue.
After Cleveland traded for Foster Griffin ahead of the deadline, the Guardians opted to move Cecconi to the bullpen.
The right-hander looked solid in that role in his first outing, throwing 2.2 innings on Tuesday against the Mets. However, his most recent appearance as a reliever was not as promising, as he gave up four earned runs without even recording an out.
Clearly, something was affecting him, though.
With Cecconi landing on the 15-day IL, the earliest he'd be able to come off of it is on August 22, although he'll likely need some sort of rehab assignment to get built back up.
Even though Cecconi was establishing himself as a bullpen arm over the last few days, an injury like this is exactly why the Guardians needed to address their starting-pitching depth.
Still, now the concern heading into the deadline is once again at the forefront: Cleveland doesn't have much starting pitching depth to work with now that Cecconi is injured.
Jul 28, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians pitcher Slade Cecconi throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn ImagesFranco Aleman Recalled From Triple-A
Taking Cecconi's spot in the bullpen and on the big-league roster is RHP Fracno Aleman, who the Guardians recalled from Triple-A in their corresponding move.
Aleman was initially optioned to Triple-A just three days ago to fit Griffin on the 26-man roster, but he is eligible to be recalled earlier than the typical 10 days because he's taking the spot of an injured player.
Even though Aleman has bounced between the Majors and Minors in 2026, he's actually been one of the pitchers with the highest ceiling coming out of Cleveland's bullpen.
The 27-year-old right-hander owns a 3.77 ERA in 14 appearances this season, with his three-earned-run outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks as an outlier.
Aleman is one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in Cleveland's bullpen with an average fastball velocity of 96.4 mph and has a strikeout rate of 28.3 percent, which ranks well above average.
It'll be interesting to see what type of role the Guardians use Aleman in as they need another high-leverage arm to rely on in the back of the bullpen.
