The Guardians announced today that outfielder George Valera and right-hander Hunter Gaddis have each been reinstated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, outfielder/first baseman CJ Kayfus has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus and left-hander Kolby Allard has been designated for assignment. The Allard DFA drops their 40-man roster tally to 39.
Allard’s out-of-options status has squeezed him off the roster a few times. Last year, Cleveland ran him through outright waivers in early July, only to re-sign him five days later. He finished the season with the big league club and was waived again at season’s end. Allard returned on an offseason minor league deal and was called back up within the first week.
The southpaw was a valuable long relief piece for skipper Stephen Vogt last season. Allard managed 65 innings of 2.63 ERA ball despite sitting around 90 mph with his fastball and running one of the league’s lowest strikeout rates. He has tossed 8 2/3 frames over four low-leverage relief appearances this year. Allard has surrendered 10 runs on 16 hits, including a five-run outing over three frames in yesterday’s blowout loss at the hands of the Braves.
Cleveland will very likely place Allard back on waivers this week. There’s a decent chance he clears again, at which point he’d have the right to elect free agency. The Guardians like him as a depth arm given the number of times they’ve brought him back, so they’d presumably have interest in re-signing him to a minor league deal.
Gaddis returns from a minor forearm issue that bothered him early in Spring Training. He has quietly been one of the better relievers in MLB over the past two seasons. If he’s fully healthy, he projects as one of Cleveland’s top two setup arms (along with Shawn Armstrong) in front of Cade Smith. Gaddis’ fastball velocity was down a couple ticks to a 92.8 mph average during a five-game rehab assignment with Columbus. They might try to ease him back into action in medium-leverage situations in the early going.
Valera is also back from a season-opening IL stay. The 25-year-old corner outfielder suffered a mild calf strain late in camp. Valera hit well over eight games on a rehab stint. He’ll join Steven Kwan, Chase DeLauter, Angel Martínez and utilityman Daniel Schneemann in a lefty-heavy outfield. His return pushes Kayfus back to Triple-A after a .182/.280/.364 start over his first nine games.
Big opportunity for the Braves to have Joey Wentz, Jared Shuster, and Kolby Allard again… The lefties that could’ve been
They have whiffed on a lot of rd 1 arms, for sure.
Every MLB team has.
What do you mean again? I don’t think the braves like recycling retreads
How can anyone named KOLBY expect to be taken seriously in any walk of life?
That’s a cheesie comment
What you talkin about jack.
Gouda been a contender…
Really hope he sticks with the Tribe but will be rooting for Allard regardless.
This is a great chance for Valera and Gaddis to make a difference. Feels like it could go either way for both.
I felt bad for him, he got absolutely lit up last night. I understand why they left him but that was brutal.
Allard is garbage. Time to move on.
You shouldn’t call anyone garbage, it’s not right. I’m pretty sure that despite his difficulties, Allard still pitches better than you ever have. Just a hunch.
He’s a fringe bullpen arm. Certainly not a prominent role but not garbage. Every team has a guy or two like that.
The Guardians would be glad to have him clear and down in Columbus.
Heard in Tom Hamilton’s voice: “Kayfus had been scuffling in the early going, so he’ll head to Columbus.”
It’s not like Kayfus didn’t make a contribution to a couple of recent wins. He’s a far better runner than most on the team (certainly better than Valera) and a better defensive outfielder than George as well. I can only guess they’d rather have Valera atrophy on the bench than Kayfus, whose minor league numbers are superior.
As for the backend of the pen, Anthony Franco must have missed Erik Sabrowski, who has ascended to at least co-setup option. His numbers are dominating, whether facing left or right handed hitters. If the game is on the line late, Vogt would far prefer tabbing Sabrowski over Armstrong or a rehabbing Gaddis. It is potentially a wealth of options should they all get their act together, however.
Childish reply. This is a forum about major league baseball players. If you don’t like my comment, keep scrolling. (In a 3-year-old child’s voice) But but you never played in the big leagues! That was funny about 15 years ago. Do better.
I played in the majors once. I went in the 9th inning. They never hit it out of the infield. So I became a doctor