CLEVELAND, Ohio (WKBN) – The Cleveland Guardians set their 40-man roster ahead of Tuesday’s 40-man roster protection deadline.
The team selected the contracts of the following players from Triple-A Columbus, adding them to the 40-man roster: right-handed pitcher Franco Aleman, right-handed pitcher Nic Enright, outfielder Petey Halpin and left-handed pitcher Doug Nikhazy from Triple-A Columbus.
The team also designated the following players for assignment: right-handed pitcher Connor Gillispie, right-handed pitcher Peter Strzelecki and outfielder George Valera.
Aleman posted a 1.99 ERA across 24 relief appearances at Triple-A Columbus this season. He missed three months with a right lat strain. The 24-year-old was selected in the tenth round pick (306th overall) in the 2021 MLB Draft. The 6-6, Cuban-born, right-hander owns a career Double-A and Triple-A ERA of 0.96 since July of 2023.
Enright pitched 17.0 innings in 2024, sporting a 1.06 ERA with a .155 opponent batting average. He was originally drafted by Cleveland in the 20th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Virginia Tech. He was later selected by Miami in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft, missing a portion of the 2023 campaign after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma that offseason. After beginning the season on the 15-day Injured List, he was offered back to the Guardians organization on May 31, recording a 5.45 ERA in 23 appearances at Triple-A Columbus to close out 2023.
Halpin spent the past four seasons in the Cleveland organization, posting a batting average of .254 with 38 doubles, 21 home runs and 83 RBIs across three levels. The 22-year-old spent the 2024 season at Double-A Akron, posting career-highs in home runs (12) and RBI (45) over 90 games. He was named the best defensive outfielder in Cleveland’s system by Baseball America entering the 2023 season. He was Cleveland’s third-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft out of Saint Francis High School (CA).
Nikhazy posted the second-lowest opponent average (.192), sixth-lowest ERA (2.98) and seventh-most strikeouts (124) in the Player Development system across 29 appearances between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus. He was Cleveland’s second-round pick (58th overall) in the 2021 MLB Draft out of the University of Mississippi.
