Daniel Espino worked a clean sixth inning Friday night, a small but meaningful step in Cleveland’s 12-9 victory over the Royals. One night after opening a clinching win at Fenway Park, the right-hander took the ball again for the first back-to-back appearance of his professional career.
The result
The Guardians had already secured a postseason berth Thursday with a 1-0 win over Boston, when Espino started as an opener for Joey Cantillo and threw a scoreless first inning. The 25-year-old was part of the champagne celebration afterward, a moment that carried particular weight after two right shoulder operations and a stretch in which most of the 2022 through 2025 seasons were lost to recovery.
Espino had spent years picturing September and October games in a Cleveland uniform. For a while, simply getting back on a mound had to come first.
“Three years ago, this seemed a long way off,” Espino said. “I’m grateful to be with this organization, with such great teammates and leadership.”
Friday in Kansas City supplied another encouraging checkpoint. Espino needed 13 pitches to get through the sixth, retiring Kyle Isbel on a popout, Carter Jensen on a fly ball and Bobby Witt Jr. on a called strikeout. The pitch to Witt was a 99.1 mph four-seam fastball.
It was a different test from his work as a starter in the Minor Leagues before his shoulder trouble began in April 2022. Cleveland has kept Espino in relief roles at both the Major League and Minor League levels this season, carefully managing his workload and monitoring how his arm responds.
His 17-pitch inning against the Red Sox gave the club enough comfort to use him again the following night. Earlier in the year, Espino said he would not have been ready for that turnaround.
“As a reliever, pitching on consecutive days is the way you find out where you stand,” Espino said. “I had been waiting all season for that chance. To get the result, feel good and see how I bounced back means a lot, especially now.”
His confidence began to build in midsummer. Espino threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings against the White Sox on July 2, was optioned to Triple-A Columbus the next day, then pitched again two days later.
“I’ve felt good the day after all year, and that gave me confidence,” he said. “It became a mental battle: realizing I could do it.”
The rotation next
Cleveland may still pair Espino with Cantillo as an opener in October, a role Espino has handled three times this month. But Friday’s appearance offered manager Stephen Vogt another possible use for him: a late-inning reliever who can be available on consecutive days when the postseason bullpen workload starts to pile up.
“He’s a high-level pitcher,” Vogt said. “Because of everything he has gone through, we will remain careful and keep looking after him. But this is the time of year when it matters most. He understands that, and he wants to be in it.”
The Guardians have leaned hard on relief pitching in each of the past two postseasons, and the next few weeks will again demand trustworthy arms with the flexibility to cover more than one type of assignment. Espino’s return has become more than an uplifting recovery story; it has given Cleveland another live arm for the games ahead.
He enjoyed the celebration in Boston, but Espino made clear that the clinch was not the finish line. Cleveland is still chasing the division and the larger October goal.
“We’re focused on what is ahead,” Espino said. “We want to win the division, reach the World Series and win it. There is a lot left to do. We have to take each day as it comes, rely on one another and go after that day.”
