Tim Herrin took a 104 mile-per-hour comebacker off his throwing arm on Thursday, and by some combination of luck and modern medicine, he walked away with nothing worse than a bruise.
The Cleveland Guardians reliever had to leave the game against the Minnesota Twins after Royce Lewis scorched a line drive back up the middle that caught Herrin square on the arm. He crumpled pretty much immediately. Manager Stephen Vogt and trainer Chad Wolfe came out to check on him, and Herrin was pulled from the game.
But the news after the game was about as good as it could have been.
“It was kind of the best-case scenario,” Herrin told MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins. “X-rays were negative. It’s just a bruise. It squared it up, though. So it’s a little sore right now.”
Sore is manageable. A fracture would have been a much different story.
Herrin admitted that getting hit in the throwing arm is about as bad as it gets for a pitcher, short of taking one to the head or face. The ball caught him flush. For a moment, anyone watching probably assumed the worst.
The Guardians bullpen has been one of the steadier parts of a team that sits at 47-46, good for second place in the AL Central and one game behind the Chicago White Sox. Herrin has been a reliable piece of that group. In 41 appearances this season, he’s 1-4 with a 3.06 ERA, 14 holds, and just one blown save. Not flashy numbers, but solid work from a lefty arm the team counts on in high-leverage spots.
Cleveland’s bullpen as a whole ranks tenth in MLB with a 3.82 ERA. All-Star closer Cade Smith has anchored things with 26 saves. Losing Herrin for any extended stretch would have been a real problem.
For now, it looks like the Guardians dodged one. Herrin is day-to-day, and the team will monitor the soreness over the next couple of days. They finish their series with Minnesota on Thursday afternoon, trying to avoid a sweep.
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