Guardians call up reliever Heuer

Heuer finds himself on the move for the second time in less than a week after heading to Milwaukee in the Bo Naylor trade over the weekend. The 30-year-old is merely organizational relief depth at this stage of his career.

Heuer has made 97 relief appearances in the majors since the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, including eight for the Guardians earlier this season. He’s purely a middle reliever at this stage of his career, but the Brewers didn’t really have to give up much to add him to their bullpen mix. He’ll basically replace the departing Yoho in their low-leverage equation. He’ll head to Triple-A Nashville for the moment, but should make it to Milwaukee once rosters expand.

This is a fascinating challenge trade between two savvy front offices and player development factories. FanSided’s Robert Murray adds that Blake Perkins is also in the deal. Naylor wound up back in the minors after Cleveland picked up defensive specialist Patrick Bailey from the Giants back in May. The 26-year-old former top prospect represents an interesting reclamation project of sorts for the Brewers as they’ll attempt to unlock his potential as more of a long-term gamble. It also seems to signal that they’re ready to move current backup catcher Gary Sánchez to another contender. Yoho has always been an intriguing relief prospect and he’s finally started to gain some traction at the highest level this season. He fortifies Cleveland’s bullpen as a solid middle relief arm, with the potential to grow into a more prominent fixture, for the next couple years.

Heuer is optioned to make room for a fresh arm in left-hander Will Dion. It seems likely that Heuer will be back as a mid-inning option for Cleveland at some point this summer.

A corresponding move will reportedly be made on Friday. Heuer allowed five earned runs in eight innings with the Guardians while striking out six and walking five. The 29-year-old will likely ride the Columbus-Cleveland shuttle again when the team needs a fresh arm.

Heuer replaces Erik Sabrowski, with Sabrowski placed on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation. Heuer will be a middle-inning option in this stint with the Guardians.

Heuer was up with the big league club for a couple of days while Peyton Pallette was away on paternity leave, now he’ll head back with Pallette rejoining the bullpen on Friday. The 29-year-old right-hander holds a 3.38 ERA, 1.50 WHIP and a 3/1 K/BB ratio across 2 2/3 innings in two appearances for the Guardians this season. He should get another opportunity at some point this summer.

Heuer returns to the big leagues with rookie Peyton Pallette away from the club on paternity leave for a couple days. The 29-year-old was just shipped to the minors prior to Monday’s series opener against the Tigers and probably didn’t even make it to Triple-A Columbus before turning around.

Heuer pitched two innings for the Guardians while he was up. He should get another chance for innings this summer.

Heuer has a 2.57 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and 12/7 K/BB ratio in 14 innings at Triple-A this season. The 29-year-old had the look of an impactful reliever when he made his MLB debut as a 23-year-old back in 2020. However, he battled injuries and didn’t make any MLB appearances between 2022 and 2024 before returning for just 4 2/3 innings in 2025. It would be a nice story to see him re-emerge as a solid bullpen piece.