The Guardians will start an ALDS matchup against the White Sox on Saturday but right-hander Colin Holderman won’t be on the roster. He told reporters, including Tim Stebbins of MLB.com, that he will undergo right wrist surgery and won’t be able to rejoin the club at any point in October.

Holderman says his wrist has been an issue for four years. While with the Pirates, he had a few stints on the injured list related to that wrist. In June of 2023, right wrist inflammation put him on the shelf for 15 days. In August of 2024, a right wrist sprain put him out for about three weeks.

With Cleveland this year, more inflammation in that wrist put him on the IL on September 4. With about a week left in the season, it was relayed that he had received an injection and was going to try to ramp up throwing. It seems that plan didn’t work out, so he’ll now have a date with the scalpel and will miss the club’s playoff run.

For the Guardians, it’s a hit to their bullpen for October. After being non-tendered by the Pirates, the Guards scooped up Holderman with a $1.5MM deal and got a bounceback season out of him. He had an awful 7.01 earned run average for Pittsburgh last year but finished 2026 with a 2.73 ERA in 52 2/3 innings for Cleveland. His 22.5% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate were close to average but he induced ground balls at a strong 53.9% clip. He was trusted enough to earn a save and 11 holds.

Cleveland will still have a strong bullpen. As a team, their relievers had a 3.54 ERA on the year, sixth-best in the majors. But four of the five teams ahead of them are still alive and could be potential postseason opponents. Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis and Erik Sabrowski are still around and will try to lock down the late innings in Holderman’s absence.

Holderman can be retained for two more seasons via arbitration. Based on his strong campaign, the Guards should be willing to give him a raise and keep him around as long as he’s healthy. Holderman didn’t specifically say he would be healthy by spring training but he also didn’t say anything about his recovery impacting him next year.

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images