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Xzavion Curry

Marlins Claim Xzavion Curry, Designate Shaun Anderson

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The Marlins have claimed right-hander Xzavion Curry off waivers from the Guardians, the teams announced Friday. Cleveland designated Curry for assignment earlier in the week. In order to open space on the 40-man roster, Miami designated righty Shaun Anderson for assignment.

Curry, who recently turned 26, was the organization’s seventh-round pick back in 2019. He made his big league debut in 2022 and has ranked as highly as No. 22 in the Guardians’ farm system on Baseball America’s prospect rankings. Despite that, however, he’s yet to find much success in the majors. He’s logged 129 innings and yielded a 4.53 ERA, including a particularly tough 5.84 mark in this year’s 24 2/3 innings. Curry has a strong 7.3% walk rate in the majors but a lackluster 15.2% strikeout rate. He’s seen both his 92-93 mph fastball and his curveball hit hard by big leaguers — particularly the latter (.321/.355/.607).

He hasn’t fared particularly well in Triple-A either, but Curry had solid numbers up through Double-A, has good command of the strike zone and is in the second of three minor league option years. He’ll give Miami some length in the bullpen or an option to step into a rotation that’s been depleted by myriad injuries and the deadline trade of southpaw Trevor Rogers.

Miami acquired the 29-year-old Anderson in a cash swap with the Rangers back in May. He’s been up and down a couple times with the Fish but been tagged for an ugly 13 runs in just 10 2/3 innings. The well-traveled righty has fared far better in Triple-A this season, with a 2.42 ERA and 45-to-11 K/BB ratio in 48 1/3 frames. The Marlins are Anderson’s seventh big league club. He’s pitched 149 2/3 innings in the majors but struggled to a 6.19 ERA in that time. Anderson has a nice Triple-A track record (3.66 ERA, 20.7 K%, 7.4 BB% in six seasons) but hasn’t managed to carry that over to the big leagues yet.

Now that the trade deadline has passed, Anderson will be placed on outright waivers or release waivers by next week.

Guardians Select Anthony Gose, Designate Xzavion Curry For Assignment

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The Guardians made a few roster moves today, with Mandy Bell of MLB.com among those to relay them on X. Left-hander Anthony Gose has been selected to the roster with fellow lefty Logan Allen optioned in a corresponding move. Righty Xzavion Curry was designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for Gose.

Gose, 33, has had one of the more remarkable career arcs among current big leaguers. Originally a second-round pick back in 2008 and a longtime top prospect as an outfielder, he was traded several times early in his career (most notably to the Astros in exchange for Roy Oswalt) while struggling to find his footing at the plate. Gose never did establish himself as the type of top-of-the-order speedster many felt he could become — though certainly not for lack of opportunity. In 1252 plate appearances between the Blue Jays and Tigers, he batted just .240/.309/.348 with a 28.2% strikeout rate.

After years of struggles in the batter’s box, Gose — a two-way star in high school who also drew draft attention as a pitcher — moved to the mound in 2017. By 2018, he’d become a full-time pitcher in the Rangers’ minor league ranks, and he landed with Cleveland on a minor league pact heading into the 2019 season. He spent several years working with the Guards’ highly regarded pitching development program, honing his mound skills and making it back to the big leagues in 2021, this time as a reliever brandishing a sizzling triple-digit heater.

From 2021-22, Gose pitched 27 2/3 innings with a 3.90 ERA, 31.9% strikeout rate and 13.8% walk rate. Command was still an issue, but Gose averaged 97.6 mph on his four-seamer, frequently topped 100mph and posted a tantalizing 15.1% swinging-strike rate in his new role. Unfortunately, he’s also become acclimated with one of the most grueling aspects of life as a pitcher: rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Gose suffered a torn UCL in 2022, had surgery, and inked a two-year minor league contract to return to the Guardians that winter.

Gose missed the entire 2023 season while recovering from surgery. He’s been healthy in 2024 though, logging 38 1/3 frames with a 3.29 ERA in Columbus. Command is still an issue for him, evidenced by a sky-high 14.3% walk rate, but Gose is also still missing bats in droves; he’s fanned 34.2% of his opponents and registered an eye-popping 17.8% swinging-strike rate.  With Sam Hentges currently on the injured list, Gose will give manager Stephen Vogt a second southpaw option alongside Tim Herrin in what has been the best bullpen in Major League Baseball this year.

As for Curry, he was a 2019 seventh-rounder who pitched his way up the organization’s prospect rankings and made his way to the big leagues in 2022. While he was never touted as one of the best pitching prospects in the sport, he did climb to No. 22 within Cleveland’s system as recently as last year, per Baseball America.

However, the results in the majors haven’t been there for Curry, who recently turned 26. He’s pitched 129 MLB frames and been tagged for a 4.53 ERA overall — including an ugly 5.84 mark in 24 2/3 innings this season. He’s displayed good command (7.3% walk rate) but struggled to miss bats (15.2% strikeout rate) against more advanced hitters, which was part of the concern with how he’d fare in the big leagues. Curry’s fastball generally sits 92-93 mph, and opponents have feasted on his curveball (.321/.355/.607). He’s also struggled in Triple-A (5.59 ERA in parts of two seasons) but posted strong run-prevention and K-BB numbers up through the Double-A level.

With the trade deadline having passed, the Guardians have no choice but to place Curry on waivers or release him. He’s in the second of three minor league option years, so a club in need of some optionable depth on the starting staff or in a long relief role could place a claim and hope that a change of scenery brings out a new gear. Granted, few organizations have better track records of optimizing pitcher performance than Cleveland, so perhaps it’s not reasonable to expect another team to unlock a new tier of performance. But there’s also little to no cost in rolling the dice, particularly for one of the many deadline sellers that saw several spots on the 40-man roster open up when trading veterans for young prospects.

Guardians Select Connor Gillispie

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The Guardians announced a series of roster moves this morning, headlined by the club selecting the contract of right-hander Connor Gillispie. The club also recalled righty Eli Morgan. In corresponding moves, rookie left-hander Joey Cantillo and right-hander Xzavion Curry were optioned to Triple-A.

Gillispie, 26, was a ninth-round pick by the Orioles back in 2019. He reached Double-A in Baltimore before being selected by the Guardians in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft this past winter. He’s swung between the rotation and bullpen for Cleveland at the Triple-A level since then, and he’s done so with decent numbers. In 89 2/3 innings of work across 20 appearances (11 starts), Gillispie sports a 4.01 ERA with somewhat concerning peripherals. The righty’s decent 23.3% strikeout rate is paired with an elevated 10.5% walk rate and a shocking number of home runs. As a fly ball pitcher who has seen 17% of his balls in the fly balls leave the yard for homers, Gillispie has surrendered a whopping 19 homers so far this season.

It’s not yet clear what role Gillispie will fill with the Guardians now that he’s on the big league roster, though it’s perhaps worth noting that the club has not yet announced a starting pitcher for tomorrow’s game against the Diamondbacks. Gillispie last pitched on July 26, meaning he’s had more than a week of rest since his last outing and should be able to provide length for Cleveland whether he winds up pitching out of the bullpen or the rotation, although the Guardians are surely hoping he can get his issues with the long ball under control in the majors.

Cleveland’s rotation currently features just four arms (Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Ben Lively, and Carlos Carrasco) but the move to option Curry also leaves room for a fresh long relief arm in the bullpen. Veteran right-hander Alex Cobb figures to join the rotation picture at some point in the near future for the club after being acquired from the Giants at the trade deadline, but he made what should be his final rehab starts in the minor leagues last night and won’t be available for a few more days.

Also joining the club’s active roster is Morgan, who has pitched to excellent results when in the majors despite middling peripherals. The right-hander sports a sparkling 1.98 ERA and 2.80 FIP in 13 2/3 innings of work at the big league level this year but has gotten by despite a paltry 17.9% walk rate thanks to an elevated 75% strand rate and zero home runs allowed in the majors so far this season. His numbers at Triple-A have been solid as well, however, as he’s posted a 2.70 ERA with a more palatable 22.9% strikeout rate in 16 2/3 innings of work in the minors. Prior to this year, Morgan has been a valuable reliever for the Guardians since converting to the bullpen full time with a 3.69 ERA and 3.73 FIP in 134 innings over the past two years.

Making room for Morgan and Gillispie on the 40-man roster are Cantillo and Curry, both of whom are headed to Triple-A for the time being. Cantillo, 24, looked good in eight appearances (seven starts) at the highest level of the minors this year before being promoted to the majors last week, but he’s struggled to a 7.36 ERA across two starts in his first taste of big league action. He’ll take that experience back to the minors and prepare for his next opportunity to establish himself properly as a major leaguer. As for Curry, the 26-year-old impressed last year with a 4.07 ERA in 95 innings as a multi-inning reliever and swing man for the Guardians but has struggled in a similar role this year with a 5.84 ERA and 5.20 FIP in seven appearances, including four starts. He’ll head to Triple-A to act as a versatile depth option for the time being, though it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get another shot to re-establish himself later this year.

Guardians Place Carlos Carrasco On Injured List

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The Guardians announced to reporters, including Zack Meisel of MLB.com, that right-hander Carlos Carrasco has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to an acute neck spasm. Fellow righty Xzavion Curry has been recalled in a corresponding move. Carrasco was slated to pitch tonight but Curry will take the ball instead.

Carrasco, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Guardians this offseason and was able to crack the Opening Day roster. To this point in the season, he has tossed 45 1/3 innings over nine starts with a 5.16 earned run average. His 17.2% strikeout rate is well below league average, but his 9.1% walk rate is around par while he’s getting grounders at a decent 47.2% clip.

That’s obviously not elite performance, but it will nonetheless add to the pile of injuries in the rotation that are creating a challenging situation for the Guards. Shane Bieber required Tommy John surgery in April and is out for the year. Gavin Williams has been on the IL all season due to some elbow discomfort and has hit some speed bumps in his attempts to get back to the club.

With Carrasco now joining those two on the injured list, the Guards will be down to Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee, Triston McKenzie and Ben Lively in their rotation. McKenzie has a 3.23 ERA this year but is quite lucky to have that figure as low as it is. His 20.1% strikeout rate and 14.1% walk rate are both subpar but a .224 batting average on balls in play is helping keep runs off the board. That’s why his 4.88 FIP and 5.16 SIERA suggest regression is forthcoming. Meanwhile, Allen has a 4.91 ERA.

Despite those rotation issues, the club is 31-17 and sitting atop the American League Central. Carrasco wasn’t exactly dominating opponents but removing him from the roster nonetheless thins out the starting depth a bit more. It’s not currently clear how long the club expects him to be out of action.

Curry will step in for now, though his results might dictate whether it’s a spot start or a longer stay. He made one spot start earlier this year and was able to throw five shutout innings against the Red Sox, but he has an ERA of 8.79 in Triple-A this year.

Last year, Curry tossed 95 innings for the Guards in a swing role with a 4.07 ERA. His 7.4% walk rate was strong but he struck out just 16.6% of opponents. In 2022, he threw 122 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 4.06 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate.

If the club decides to replace Curry in the weeks to come, they have options on the 40-man roster, though there are issues with each. Zak Kent has been on the minor league injured list for the past month due to an elbow strain. Wes Parsons hasn’t lasted four innings in any outing yet this year. Darren McCaughan has an ERA of 5.67 over his six Triple-A starts so far this season. Joey Cantillo hasn’t pitched yet this year due to a hamstring strain. Daniel Espino is expected to miss the entire season due to yet another shoulder surgery. Adam Oller is a somewhat intriguing non-roster option as he is striking out 26% of batters faced at Triple-A this year, but a 15% walk rate and some home run troubles have pushed his ERA to 6.85.

Guardians Notes: McKenzie, Lively, Curry, Martinez

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Triston McKenzie has had a rough start to the season, allowing 11 runs over his first 13 innings. The lanky righty has issued 12 walks with just five strikeouts. His swinging strike rate has plummeted to 5.6% while his velocity has backed up. McKenzie’s average fastball has sat at 90.9 MPH, down from its standard 92-93 range.

McKenzie entered the season hoping for a rebound after his 2023 campaign was mostly lost to injury. He began last year on the shelf with a teres major strain in his throwing shoulder. He returned in June, made two starts, and then was shut back down after spraining the UCL in his throwing elbow. That initially led to concern that he might go under the knife, but he opted for non-surgical rehab. McKenzie made it back for a pair of appearances in the final week of the season.

While he was able to get back to the mound, McKenzie clearly hasn’t been operating at peak form. The 26-year-old candidly admitted to Zack Meisel and Jason Lloyd of the Athletic that he’s still unsure whether his decision not to undergo surgery was the correct one. McKenzie told The Athletic that he’s not pitching through pain but conceded the possibility of a serious injury is “always in the back of (his) head.” While he said that hasn’t changed his approach or effort level on the mound, he clearly hasn’t found his best stuff.

Meisel’s and Lloyd’s piece is worth a full perusal, as they also speak with former Cleveland reliever Bryan Shaw and Guards starter Shane Bieber about the health and contractual considerations a player weighs when deciding whether to undergo surgery. Bieber, of course, opted for non-surgical rehab for elbow inflammation last season. After two excellent starts this year, he required Tommy John surgery — a brutal development six months before his first trip to free agency. McKenzie has three seasons of remaining arbitration control and won’t get to the open market until the 2026-27 offseason.

Bieber’s absence makes it all the more significant that McKenzie is able to get back on track in short order. The Guardians have also been without Gavin Williams thus far after the second-year righty experienced elbow discomfort of his own this spring. McKenzie has been joined Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee and Carlos Carrasco in the rotation. Of that quartet, only Carrasco has an ERA below 4.82 so far.

The Guardians have nevertheless gotten out to a great start behind an excellent bullpen and a surprisingly potent offense. They enter today’s series finale against the Red Sox with a 12-6 record. Still, the rotation will feel tenuous — at least until Williams’ return — if McKenzie’s struggles continue.

In the short term, it seems journeyman righty Ben Lively will hold down the #5 spot. He somewhat surprisingly landed a major league contract from Cleveland after being waived by the Reds last winter. Lively started the season on the IL after being delayed by an illness, but he was activated for his team debut last night. The 32-year-old worked five innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts in a loss to Boston.

Lively is out of options, so the Guardians need to keep him on the big league club or put him on waivers. That perhaps gave him the edge over Xzavion Curry, who was optioned back to Triple-A Columbus as the corresponding move for Lively’s reinstatement. Curry had returned from his own virus-related IL stint to make his season debut on Monday. He worked five scoreless frames with a trio of strikeouts and could be the top depth option if anyone from the current rotation suffers an injury.

In other Guardians news, the team placed infield prospect Angel Martínez on the 60-day injured list yesterday. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, Martínez is undergoing surgery to repair a hamate fracture in his wrist. The 22-year-old has yet to make his MLB debut. He split last season between the top two levels of the minors, hitting .251/.321/.392 with 14 homers.

Guardians Place Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale On Injured List

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3:22pm: Manager Terry Francona tells reporters that the team believes Plesac suffered the fracture in his last start, when he punched the ground in frustration after surrendering a home run to Jake Lamb (Twitter link via Mandy Bell of MLB.com).

That’s the second time in his career that Plesac has sustained an injury while expressing frustration. He broke his right thumb last May when “aggressively” tearing off his shirt following a poor outing against the Twins. Plesac was also disciplined by the team in 2020 after violating the club’s Covid-19 protocols and subsequently voicing his frustration in a since-deleted Instagram video.

2:54pm: Plesac has a fractured fifth metacarpal (pinkie finger) in his right hand, the team announced.

2:47pm: The Guardians have placed right-handers Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale on the injured list — Plesac due to a fractured right hand and Civale due to forearm inflammation. Right-hander Cody Morris, just reinstated from the 60-day injured list yesterday when rosters expanded to 28 players, will make his Major League debut and start tonight’s game in place of Plesac. Cleveland has recalled right-hander Xzavion Curry and lefty Kirk McCarty from Triple-A Columbus to take the spots of Plesac and Civale on the active roster.

Plesac, 27, is fourth on the Guardians in games started (23) and innings pitched (127). He’s worked to a 4.39 ERA with an 18.1% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 40.7% grounder rate. ERA alternatives like FIP (4.50) and SIERA (4.40) generally agree with that assessment of his work so far in 2022. It’s not in line with the form that Plesac displayed in his first two seasons, when he logged a 3.32 ERA through his first 29 big league starts, but he’s settled in as a viable back-of-the-rotation option in Cleveland over the past couple seasons.

Civale, also 27, is making his third trip to the injured list this season. He’s missed time with a glute injury and a sprained right wrist, but this is his first forearm-related issue on the season. While Civale’s overall 5.40 ERA is an obvious eyesore, he’s pitched quite well of late. Since returning from that wrist injury in late June, he’s taken the ball on nine occasions and worked to a 3.68 ERA while striking out exactly a quarter of his opponents and issuing walks at a tidy 6.1% clip.

It’s a poorly timed pair of injuries for the Guardians — not that there’s a “good” time to place 40% of a rotation on the injured list — as they’ve already dropped back-to-back games and seen the Twins climb back to within one game of the AL Central lead. The White Sox, meanwhile, have picked up back-to-back wins and trimmed their own deficit to a manageable four games. The AL Central, at this point, is the only division in Major League Baseball with three teams legitimately vying for the division crown.

With two vacancies in the rotation, the Guardians can turn to Morris and Curry as alternatives in the short-term. The 25-year-old Morris could potentially have been in the rotation right now had he not suffered a strained teres major back in Spring Training — an injury that shelved him until early August. He was selected to the 40-man roster in November after posting a dominant 1.62 ERA and 93-to-20 K/BB ratio in 61 minor league innings last year, and he’s been outstanding on his minor league rehab stint thus far. Between the 2021-22 seasons, Morris has 52 innings of Triple-A ball under his belt, during which he’s posted a 1.90 ERA with a huge 40.6% strikeout rate against an 8.9% walk rate.

Curry, meanwhile, made his MLB debut earlier this season, allowing three runs in a five-inning spot start against the visiting Tigers. The 24-year-old is generally ranked between Cleveland’s No. 10 and No. 20 prospect on various evaluations of the system. He’s been hit pretty hard in two Triple-A starts since being sent back to the minors, but his overall numbers between Double-A and Triple-A this season remain solid: 4.00 ERA, 25.9% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate in 108 innings.

Guardians To Select Xzavion Curry

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The Guardians will turn to right-handed pitching prospect Xzavion Curry to start the second game of today’s doubleheader, manager Terry Francona announced (Twitter link via Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga). He’ll need to have his contract formally selected to the 40-man roster, which is currently at capacity.

Curry, 24, was Cleveland’s seventh-round pick back in 2019 and has enjoyed a strong season between Double-A and Triple-A, working to a combined 3.48 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate over the life of 101 innings (17 starts, two relief appearances). Curry didn’t post dominant numbers in his college days at Georgia Tech and was listed at “just” 5’10”, which might’ve contributed to him landing in the seventh round of his draft. However, he’s had little to no problems adapting to professional ball, posting strong results at every minor league stop — culminating in a career 2.90 minor league ERA.

FanGraphs tabs Curry 12th among Guardians farmhands in an absolutely stacked system, and he lands 18th on Baseball America’s midseason rankings. Scouting reports on Curry note that even though his heater sits in the low 90s, its huge spin and his deceptive delivery help it play up as a plus pitch that can miss bats in bunches. His secondary offerings don’t garner as much praise, though his slider is regarded as a potentially above-average pitch — and Curry’s outstanding command helps all of his pitches exceed expectations at times. He’s walked just 46 off the 795 hitters he’s faced as a pro (5.8%).

Curry will give Guards fans their first look at the latest rotation option to step out of the organization’s pitching factory. Cleveland seems to grow viable big league starters on trees, with both Curry and righty Peyton Battenfield (drafted two rounds after Curry) the latest unheralded prospects to surge through the system and position themselves as potential big league contributors. The Guardians’ five-man rotation is presently full, thanks to the presence of Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, Aaron Civale, Zach Plesac and Cal Quantrill, but both Curry and Battenfield have seemingly pitched their way to the upper levels of the organization’s depth chart.

Success in routinely turning out promising arms is one of the many reasons the Guardians have regularly been able to trade from their Major League pitching staff to keep the minor league system stacked without needing to dive headlong into a tedious, years-long rebuilding effort in recent seasons. Cleveland was reportedly open to trade offers on some controllable arms prior to the deadline — Plesac’s name was most commonly speculated upon — and promising late showings from arms like Curry who make their debuts this season will make it easier for the Guardians to renew any of those conversations this winter if they choose.

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