The Cleveland Guardians need a boost from their bullpen, and pitching prospect Franco Aleman could be the solution.
Last October, the Cleveland Guardians knew the bullpen would need attention heading into the offseason.
In fact, Chris Antonetti and company admitted that, shortly after the season ended, they would need to go outside the organization, at a minimum, to get more depth from their reliever core.
The front office did make some moves to add external arms, including Shawn Armstrong, Connor Brogdon, and Colin Holderman, but the group is still incredibly thin, and it’s starting to show in the first month of the season.
Cleveland owns a bullpen ERA of 4.55, which ranks 20th in MLB. That’s not an area the Guardians are used to being in, and it's time to turn to some of the prospect arms to help reinforce the group.
If the Guardians are going to call up one of their pitching prospects to add some depth and a high-leverage arm, their best option right now is clearly Franco Aleman.
Let’s start with this: Aleman likely would have made his debut in 2025 if the 25-year-old hadn’t suffered an injury early in the season, and struggled even after returning to the mound. In his 37 appearances last season, Aleman owned a 7.85 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP.
However, Aleman looks healthy to begin 2026 and is back to being the ultra-efficient pitcher who had fans calling for him to be promoted to the big leagues at the end of the 2024 season.
The right-hander has appeared in 10 games (8.0 innings pitched) and has yet to give up a run while pitching to a 0.63 WHIP. Aleman also has a strikeout rate of 42.3 percent and a walk rate of 11.5 percent.
Aleman’s most recent outing came on Sunday when he struck out two hitters and allowed just one base runner, crediting him the win, too.
Will that be sustainable once Aleman eventually, at some point, reaches the big leagues? Probably not. But even if the Guardians get half of that, he’ll be a boost in the bullpen, and one that’s needed at that.
There’s even an argument to be made that it should have been Aleman who should have been promoted over Colin Holderman when Shawn Armstrong landed on the injured list on Sunday.
The 25-year-old is one of the 40-man roster already, so it’s only a matter of time before he’s on his way to Cleveland.
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