With the Guardians having been eliminated from the postseason, some details about their offseason are now coming to light. Per Tim Stebbins of of MLB.com, right-hander Nic Enright will undergo Tommy John surgery in the coming weeks. That will mean he’ll miss the entire 2026 season. Also, designated hitter David Fry will be undergoing surgery for a deviated septum and a fractured nose. His timeline was not specified.
It’s a challenging situation for Enright, a young player who has already been through a lot. He announced in February of 2023 that he was undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He had been with the Marlins at that time after that club took him from the Guardians in the Rule 5 draft a few months earlier. He was returned to the Guardians in June of that year.
In 2024, a lat strain limited him to just 17 Triple-A innings, though the results were good. He only allowed two earned runs on nine hits and five walks while racking up 32 strikeouts. The Guards gave him a 40-man spot in November of that year, to prevent him from being scooped up in the Rule 5 yet again.
That allowed him to make his major league debut this year, which went quite well. While frequently being shuttled to Triple-A and back, he logged 31 innings in the big leagues with a 2.03 ERA, 23.6% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate. He also had a 1.38 ERA in 13 Triple-A frames.
He was placed on the major league injured list in September due to right elbow/forearm inflammation. Presumably, he has spent the past month exploring his options, which has led him to the surgeon’s table. If the Guardians keep him on the 40-man roster through the winter, he could spend all of 2026 on the 60-day injured list. However, there’s no IL in the offseason, so he would need to hold a spot until then.
More to come.