Daniel Andres Espino (born January 5, 2001) is a Panamanian

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

for the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB).

Amateur career

Espino was born and raised in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. He came to the United States during the summer of 2016 with the Albany Paulies Baseball Program in

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia m ...

which helped him to find an opportunity to move to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

as a sophomore in high school. He began attending Georgia Premier Academy in

Statesboro, Georgia Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. Statesboro is home to the flagship campus of Georgia Southern University and is part of the Savannah–Hine ...

. As a senior in 2019, he went 9-0 with a 0.32 ERA. He committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Professional career

Espino was drafted by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

in the first round, with the 24th overall selection, of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addit ...

. He signed for $2.5 million and made his professional debut with the

Arizona League Indians The Arizona Complex League Guardians are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is c ...

. After pitching to a 1.98 ERA over six starts, he was promoted to the

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were a ...

. Over nine starts between both teams, Espino went 0-3 with a 3.80 ERA, striking out 34 over innings. Espino did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the season. Espino split the 2021 season between the

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinna ...

and the

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following ...

, starting twenty games and going 3-8 with a 3.73 ERA and 152 strikeouts over innings. He was assigned to the Double-A

Akron RubberDucks The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,6 ...

to begin the 2022 season. He made 4 starts for the team, recording a 1-0 record and 2.45 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 18.1 innings pitched. He was placed on the injured list in May with patellar tendinitis, and did not make another appearance in 2022. In December, it was announced that Espino had missed the remainder of the year due to a sore right shoulder. On February 20, 2023, Espino was shut down from throwing for eight weeks after suffering a right shoulder strain and additional muscle tear in the same shoulder. On May 3, it was announced that Espino would miss 12-to-14 months after undergoing a right shoulder anterior capsule repair surgery. The Guardians selected Espino's contract on November 14, 2023, adding him to their 40-man roster. On March 14, 2024, it was announced that Espino had undergone another surgery to repair new shoulder capsule damage and his rotator cuff. The procedure was expected to prevent him from pitching during the 2024 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espino, Daniel 2001 births Living people Baseball players from Panama City Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the United States Baseball pitchers Arizona League Indians players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Lake County Captains players Lynchburg Hillcats players 21st-century Panamanian people Akron RubberDucks players