Guardians Skipper Shares Thoughts on Cleveland's Bullpen Additions

The Cleveland Guardians made it their mission to fortify the reliever core when the offseason started last October, and the front office has done just that.

At this point, Cleveland can confidently say it feels good about its ability to cover the innings needed over a 162-game season. 

Certainly, the biggest and most notable addition the Guardians made to their bullpen was signing Shawn Armstrong, and skipper Stephen Vogt is excited about how he’ll fit in with the existing group.

“Shawn Armstrong obviously brings us a veteran back-end reliever, coming off a phenomenal year,” said Cleveland’s manager.

“Coming back to Cleveland, [he] wanted to come back here, wanted to be with our pitching group to continue his career. Adding him in the mix of ours leverage arms gives us that third righty to throw in leverage.”

Armstrong is coming off an outstanding 2025 season with the Texas Rangers, in which he owned a 2.31 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP over 74 innings pitched. Time will tell whether that production can continue into his age-35 season, but the advanced metrics suggest he'll still a strong, reliable arm.

The other two pitchers who will be in the conversation for opportunities coming out of spring training are Colin Holderman and Connor Brogdon. 

Even though they don’t have the same track record as Armstrong, there is still potential for them to have productive years in Cleveland, given their skill set and what the Guardians search for in external additions. 

“Those are two guys with big stuff. And getting together with our pitching team, put it together to add to the length of our bullpen,” said Vogt.

With the combination of this new trio and the returning arms of Matt Festa, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis, Cade Smith, and more, Vogt feels “this is the deepest bullpen that we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

In Vogt’s mind, the addition of Armstrong, Holderman, and Brogdon isn’t minor moves.

“I wouldn’t call them that,” emphasized Cleveland’s skipper. “These are really good bullpen arms that are going to add to the depth of our already strong bullpen.”

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