It was one of those stats that catches your eye immediately.
Cleveland Guardians right-handed pitcher found himself in a historical parallel to Danny Salazar. And for fans of Cleveland baseball, there had to be a tinge of pain with that one.
First, we’ll break down the feat, and then we’ll dig into it further.
Daniel Espino’s Tiny History
Espino got the start for the Guardians on Friday night against the Athletics. He wasn’t going to be going a long distance, but instead serving as the opener.
It wasn’t a good opening, though.
Espino went 1.0 innings, allowing just one hit but walking three and giving up a three-run home run to Zack Gelof for a 3-0 A’s lead.
The righty did strike out one.
It was a starting pitcher stat line that had only been thrown three times ever — rarely is a guy going to go that short unless he’s hurt.
The last time? Danny Salazar in 2016:
No Pitchergami.
Daniel Espino | ATH @ CLE
1.0 IP | 1 H | 3 ER | 3 BB | 1 K
This stat line has been thrown 3 times before. The last time this was thrown was on 2016-08-18 by Danny Salazar.
— Pitchergami (@pitchergami) September 19, 2026
A Painful Comparison
Cleveland baseball fans remember Salazar.
He arrived in the majors loaded with hype, and he had some of the best stuff that had ever stepped onto the mound in a then-Indians jersey.
For a time, Salazar was dominant, and it looked like the sky was the limit.
And then his right arm started getting hurt, and kept getting hurt. His stuff declined. He pitched less and less. He eventually faded out, not going out like a shooting star but instead like a fire that ran entirely out of kindling.
Espino, with the same first name, once had a case for having the best stuff in the entire Guardians’ system even when he was in the low minors.
But then Espino, even earlier than Salazar, started getting hurt.
For a time, it didn’t even look like Espino would stay on the mound long enough to ascend to the major leagues in any capacity.
It’s inspirational in some sense that Espino is in MLB, but it’s scary to see the crazy comparison to Salazar.
Espino probably won’t ever have the chance to be a full-time starter in the majors. It’s too much of a risk based on his injury history. So he’ll never quite be Salazar, in any capacity.
But Danny and Daniel generated tons of hype in the Cleveland organization about a decade apart, and neither of them seem likely to reach their fully destined potential. Instead, they’ll both be big “What if?” players for what their careers didn’t become.
Guardians’ Pitcher Makes Eerie History Compared to Danny Salazar