Cleveland

Guardians

The 31-year-old hurler was designated for assignment last weekend but he passed through waivers unclaimed and accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A. He’ll continue to function as extra bullpen depth for the Guardians and should get another opportunity with the big league club at some point this season.

He also stole two bases, bringing his season total to eight. Martínez was leading off on a rare day off for Steven Kwan today. There’s a good argument for the Guardians making a more permanent switch in the leadoff spot with Kwan hitting just .206/.311/.265, but Martínez probably isn’t the right man for the job; he’s walked only five times in 143 plate appearances this season and has a .281 career OBP (.300 this season). Still, it’d make Martínez a pretty attractive option in shallow leagues if he could convince the Guardians to bat him first or second regularly. He has started eighth of the team’s last 10 games.

Facing right-handers exclusively today, the left-handed Messick allowed only four hits on an average exit velocity against of 81.8 mph. He’s eighth in the majors with 58 strikeouts, 12th with a 0.99 WHIP and 15th with a 2.35 ERA. His next start is likely to come Tuesday in Detroit.

Smith was a little shaky early on this season, but he seems to have really settled in of late. In his last seven outings, he’s fanned 14 and walked none over 7 2/3 innings.

Aleman has thrown 2 2/3 innings out of the bullpen over the last three days, so the Guardians are just trying to get a fresh arm in the bullpen. He should get another chance in the near future.

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.

Kwan continues to struggle this season, slashing .206/.311/.265. His hard-hit rate is down to 9.5 percent, and his average exit velocity has fallen to 82.4 mph. He’s still making a tremendous amount of contact and not chasing outside of the zone at all; however, he may be too passive overall. Kwan’s swing rate has fallen by six percent, and he’s swinging at pitches in the heart of the strike zone almost eight percent less than last year while taking four percent more called strikes overall. This feels like the same hitters we’ve come to know but just one whose being too passive and second-guessing himself. We expect Kwan to snap out of his funk, but for Wednesday, David Fry will play left field and bat fifth.

Martínez homered off Angels starter Walbert Ureña in the third inning and nearly went deep for a second time in the contest his next time up, but was robbed at the right-field wall by a fantastic grab from Jo Adell. The 24-year-old power-hitting corner outfielder snapped a 15-game homerless drought in this one and is up to six round-trippers through 40 games this season. He’s also chipped in six steals as well. Martínez offers enough power/speed combo production that he’s a worthwhile middle infield option in extremely deep mixed leagues.

Smith got the call to protect a one-run lead in the eighth inning with the tying run already on-base and managed to strike out Sebastián Rivero to extinguish the threat. He came back out for the final frame and needed just four pitches total to retire Zach Neto and Mike Trout before winning an eight-pitch battle against Nolan Schanuel, getting him to chase a splitter in the dirt to end it. The 27-year-old elite fantasy stopper has converted 12 of 14 save opportunities and is tied with Mason Miller for the major-league lead this season.

Cecconi gave up five hits, walked one batter and needed 89 pitches to complete four frames, which prevented him from sticking around long enough to pick up a win. The seven punchouts were a season-high and just the fourth time in nine starts that he’s collected five or more this season. He’ll bring an underwhelming 5.60 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 38/17 K/BB ratio across 45 innings into a road matchup against the Tigers on Monday to open a two-start week.