Sam Hentges

Sam Hentges

26-Year-Old PitcherRP
Cleveland Guardians
2023 Fantasy Outlook
After struggling during his rookie campaign, Hentges bounced back in a big way. The southpaw became a reliable bullpen arm for Cleveland, adding velocity on all four of his pitches while throwing more sinkers (26% pitch usage compared to 9% in 2021). This led to a 61.5% groundball rate that was one of the highest among relievers. Hentges' strikeout rate (29.4%) also spiked by eight percentage points, while also improving his walk and home run rates. He was especially dominant in the second half, producing a 36:5 K:BB ratio, 0.30 ERA and 0.57 WHIP over his final 29.2 innings. He didn't rack up a ton of holds (eight), but more can be expected in 2023 as Hentges is very clearly the top lefty in the Guardians bullpen. Don't completely dismiss the possibility of a return to the starting rotation, though, as the lefty was brought up as a starter in the minors. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#600
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Guardians in March of 2023.
Activated from injured list
PCleveland Guardians
May 5, 2023
Hentges was activated from the 15-day injured list Friday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
Hentges will join the Guardians' bullpen Friday night against the Twins after missing the first five weeks of the 2023 regular season due to shoulder inflammation. The 26-year-old lefty broke out to the tune of a 2.32 ERA and 72:19 K:BB over 62 innings of relief with Cleveland in 2022.
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Pitching Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2023 MLB Game Log
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Scoring
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
15
Last 10 Games
15
Last 5 Games
17
How many pitches does Sam Hentges generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Sam Hentges generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2021
 
 
-38%
BAA vs LHP
2023
 
 
-100%
BAA vs LHP
2022
 
 
-33%
BAA vs LHP
2021
 
 
-23%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2021vs Left .180 184 51 11 30 5 0 1
Since 2021vs Right .290 416 99 45 107 23 0 12
2023vs Left .000 12 3 2 0 0 0 0
2023vs Right .273 25 7 3 6 2 0 0
2022vs Left .143 99 34 3 13 3 0 0
2022vs Right .215 146 38 16 28 4 0 3
2021vs Left .258 73 14 6 17 2 0 1
2021vs Right .336 245 54 26 73 17 0 9
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2021
 
 
-42%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-100%
ERA at Home
2022
 
 
-10%
ERA at Home
2021
 
 
-43%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2021Home 3.34 1.16 72.2 3 2 1 10.9 3.0 1.0
Since 2021Away 5.78 1.63 67.0 1 4 0 8.3 4.3 0.7
2023Home 0.00 0.60 5.0 0 0 0 12.6 1.8 0.0
2023Away 6.75 2.00 4.0 0 0 0 6.8 9.0 0.0
2022Home 2.20 0.80 32.2 2 1 1 11.8 2.5 0.8
2022Away 2.45 1.16 29.1 1 1 0 8.9 3.1 0.0
2021Home 4.89 1.57 35.0 1 1 0 9.8 3.6 1.3
2021Away 8.55 1.99 33.2 0 3 0 8.0 4.8 1.3
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Sam Hentges compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
2.00
 
K/9
10.0
 
BB/9
5.0
 
HR/9
0.0
 
Fastball
95.7 mph
 
ERA
3.00
 
WHIP
1.22
 
BABIP
.281
 
GB/FB
7.00
 
Left On Base
72.7%
 
Exit Velocity
81.4 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
2.4%
 
Spin Rate
2257 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
31.0%
 
Swinging Strike
11.3%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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More Fantasy News
Likely to be activated Friday
PCleveland Guardians
Shoulder
May 4, 2023
The Guardians are expected to activate Hentges (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list ahead of Friday's series opener with the Twins, MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Set for rehab assignment
PCleveland Guardians
Shoulder
April 18, 2023
Hentges (shoulder) will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Akron on Wednesday, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Throwing again
PCleveland Guardians
Shoulder
April 10, 2023
Guardians manager Terry Francona said April 4 that Hentges (shoulder) had progressed to throwing off a mound, MLB.com reports.
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Put on 15-day injured list
PCleveland Guardians
Shoulder
March 30, 2023
The Guardians placed Hentges (shoulder) on the 15-day injured list Thursday.
ANALYSIS
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Making progress
PCleveland Guardians
Shoulder
March 9, 2023
Hentges (shoulder) showed progress in his medical evaluation Wednesday, Paul Hoynes of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
ANALYSIS
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