The Cleveland Guardians added to their reliever depth on Wednesday, signing RHP Connor Brogdon to a major league deal for the 2026 season.
Adding to the bullpen was always a priority for Cleveland this winter, and now they’ve done just that. However, Brogdon’s addition does raise a new question: How will the right-hander fit into the Guardians’ pitching staff?
Considering Cleveland’s current bullpen right now, Brogdon will fill a need that this reliever core has needed, and has the potential to be a high-leverage type pitcher with the Guardians if the righty reaches his full potential.
That said, Brogdon will likely start his Guardians career as a middle-innings reliever for the team. With Jakob Junis and Kolby Allard free agents, the Guardians desperately need to bring in a pitcher they can use in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, whether the Guardians have a lead or not.
Actually, the majority of Brogdon’s appearances last season came in the seventh through ninth innings (25.1 innings pitched), so this shouldn’t be a role that he’s not prepared for.
Stephen Vogt could also use Brogdon in situations when he’s desperate for a strikeout. He had a strikeout rate of 24 percent and a whiff rate of 29 percent last season. This was definitely something the Guardians were missing in their bullpen in 2025, ranking 15th in baseball in terms of strikeouts.
While it’s not something the 30-year-old has done a ton of, Brogdon could be a multi-innings reliever for the Guardians at times. He pitched more than one full inning in 10 of his 43 appearances in 2025.
Brogdon has the potential to be a late-innings arm for the Guardians if they can help him address some of his command issues.
Actually, last year, Brogdon had a fair amount of success under pressure. The right-hander faced 23 batters in high-leverage situations and had a 1.50 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and a 17.4 percent strikeout rate.
Yes, this is definitely a small sample size, but it’s something.
While Brogdon does have some encouraging metrics, for example, his swing and miss potential, he’s still struggled with giving up hard contact and had an ERA of 5.55 during the 2025 season.
