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Guardians Hire Corey Kluber As Special Assistant

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Corey Kluber is back in Cleveland. The Guardians announced that they’ve hired the two-time Cy Young winner as a Special Assistant of Pitching. Zack Meisel of The Athletic first reported the news this morning.

Kluber spent nine of his 13 MLB seasons in Cleveland. Acquired from San Diego as an unheralded minor league pitcher as part of a three-team deal involving Jake Westbrook and Ryan Ludwick, Kluber reached the majors in 2011. He didn’t establish himself until 2013 but broke out as arguably the game’s best pitcher one season later. He won his first Cy Young while leading the AL with 18 wins and firing 235 2/3 innings of 2.44 ERA ball.

That was the first of five straight seasons in which Kluber finished top 10 in Cy Young balloting. He placed among the AL’s top three on four occasions during that stretch. He won his second Cy Young while winning the ERA title in 2017. Kluber finished his nine-year tenure in Cleveland with a 3.16 earned run average and 98 wins during the regular season. He made another nine postseason starts, headlined by a 1.83 ERA across six outings during Cleveland’s pennant run in 2016.

Kluber ranks third on the organization’s all-time leaderboard with 1461 strikeouts. He’s second behind Shane Bieber in strikeout to walk rate and behind only Hall of Famer Addie Joss in WHIP. He’s eighth among pitchers in franchise history in Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement. The Guardians continue to benefit from that run, as they acquired Emmanuel Clase from the Rangers in the 2019 trade that ended Kluber’s tenure in Cleveland. Injuries wrecked his lone season in Texas, but he rebounded with decent seasons for the Yankees and Rays before struggling with the Red Sox in his final year.

Guardians Place Ben Lively On Injured List With Flexor Strain

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The Guardians placed Ben Lively on the 15-day injured list before the start of tonight’s game against Milwaukee. Lively was diagnosed with a flexor tendon strain in his forearm (relayed by Tim Stebbins of MLB.com). Righty Zak Kent was recalled to take his active roster spot.

Lively started Monday’s series opener against the Brew Crew. He made it through three scoreless innings but exited during his warm-up throws before the start of the fourth. Cleveland initially announced that he was dealing with forearm inflammation, and it seems subsequent evaluation revealed the flexor strain. That makes it highly unlikely that he’ll be back when first eligible a couple weeks from now.

The 33-year-old Lively is in his second season with the Guardians. He signed for barely north of the league minimum going into 2024. It has proven a very shrewd pickup. Lively turned in a 3.81 ERA across 29 starts a year ago. He was unexpectedly tabbed as the Opening Day starter this season after an illness ruled Tanner Bibee out for that assignment. Lively didn’t have a great outing, surrendering three runs over five innings in Kansas City. However, he has been Cleveland’s best starting pitcher through the season’s first month and a half.

Lively owns a 3.22 ERA across 44 2/3 innings. He and Bibee are the only Cleveland starters allowing fewer than four earned runs per nine. He’s succeeding despite a pedestrian 16.3% strikeout rate. He doesn’t throw hard or miss many bats, but he has tossed nearly 200 innings with a combined 3.68 ERA since landing in Cleveland.

The Guardians are off on Thursday, so they can get by without a fifth starter into the early part of next week. Slade Cecconi, who has been out all season with an oblique strain, got up to 68 pitches in a rehab start with Triple-A Columbus on Sunday. He could step into Lively’s rotation spot if the Guards don’t want to recall Doug Nikhazy, who surrendered six runs in three innings in a spot start during his big league debut earlier this year.

Guardians Option Brayan Rocchio

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The Guardians announced that outfielder Will Brennan has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus. Infielder Brayan Rocchio has been sent the other way, optioned to Columbus as the corresponding move.

Rocchio, 24, heads to the minors for the first time since the 2023 season. He spent the entire 2024 campaign in the big leagues as Cleveland’s primary shortstop. He appeared in 143 games and stepped to the plate 442 times. His offense wasn’t great, as he hit just .206/.298/.316 for a 79 wRC+, indicating he was 21% below league average on the whole. He did steal 10 bases, but was also caught six times. His glovework was well regarded, as he racked up 11 Defensive Runs Saved and six Outs Above Average.

Put all together, FanGraphs considered him to be worth 1.1 wins above replacement on the season, with Baseball Reference a bit more generous at 1.9. That’s obviously not outstanding production but fine value for a guy making modest pay since he’s in his pre-arbitration years.

It was enough for him to open the 2025 season back in that role, but his performance has tanked and he has gradually ceded playing time to others. Through 102 plate appearances this year, Rocchio is hitting .165/.235/.198. His .208 batting average on balls in play is quite low but he’s also not hitting the ball with much authority. His average exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate are no higher than the 11th percentile of qualified hitters, per Statcast. His 4.9% walk rate is less than half of last year’s 10% clip. The defensive metrics have also soured on him, with OAA having him at league par and DRS at -3.

In recent days and weeks, Gabriel Arias has been taking more of the shortstop time. He has a .264/.319/.416 line and 110 wRC+ on the year, with solid defense to boot. Presumably, he will take over as the regular shortstop now that Rocchio has been optioned. Arias and Daniel Schneemann had previously been sharing second base, so perhaps Schneeman will get more playing time at the keystone as he’s hitting .273/.356/.532 for a 154 wRC+ this year. Ángel Martínez and Will Wilson are on hand to step in to the middle infield, if needed, though Martínez is currently the club’s regular center fielder.

For Rocchio, instead of sitting on the big league bench, he can get some regular playing time with Columbus as he tries to get out of his recent funk. Getting his offense back to a more acceptable level could put him in position to return to the majors when an opportunity arises. He is still young and it’s certainly possible that there are better days ahead for him.

How long he spends on this optional assignment could impact his financial position in the future. He came into 2025 with one year and 37 days of service time. That put him on track to qualify for arbitration after 2026 and free agency after 2029, though those timelines will no longer be possible if he ends up spending several months down on the farm. He also has just one option season left, so he’ll be out of options next year if he spends at least 20 days in the minors this season.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Guardians Outright Vince Velasquez

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The Guardians outrighted Vince Velasquez back to Triple-A Columbus, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Cleveland had designated the right-hander for assignment when they acquired Matt Festa last week.

Velasquez signed a minor league contract in February. He was rehabbing from an elbow surgery that had cost him the second half of 2023 and the complete ’24 season. He’s started four games with Columbus, allowing 11 runs (10 earned) on 16 walks in 15 innings. Despite the mediocre numbers, Cleveland called him up to serve as a long relief option at a busy part of the schedule. Velasquez didn’t make it into a game during his three days on the big league roster, but he secured a prorated $1.5MM salary by reaching the majors.

As a player with over five years of major league service, Velasquez has the right to decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency. It’s unclear if he’ll test the market, though he’d be limited to minor league offers if he did. He may decide to simply head back to Columbus and hope that an improved performance can earn him a less fleeting look later in the year.

Cleveland has one of the weaker rotations in MLB. Their starters entered play Monday with a 4.59 earned run average that ranks 27th in the majors. Only the Orioles, Rockies and Marlins have gotten worse run prevention from the rotation. Cleveland’s 20.1% strikeout rate and 11% walk percentage are each in the bottom third. Gavin Williams and Luis Ortiz have missed bats at above-average rates, but they’ve each struggled to throw strikes. Ben Lively, Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee have reasonable earned run averages with mediocre strikeout rates. It has been an especially underwhelming start from Bibee, who was easily the team’s best starter a year ago.

The Guardians are hopeful that Shane Bieber and John Means can contribute later in the season as they rehab UCL surgeries. Slade Cecconi has been out all season with an oblique strain, though he began a rehab assignment last week. Doug Nikhazy is the top healthy depth starter on the 40-man roster. Kolby Allard and Joey Cantillo are working out of the big league bullpen but could theoretically stretch out as rotation options as well.

Guardians Designate Vince Velasquez For Assignment

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The Guardians announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Matt Festa from Triple-A Columbus. Fellow righty Vince Velasquez has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

It was reported earlier this week that the Guardians had acquired Festa from the Rangers. He had signed a minor league deal with Texas but recently had the ability to opt out of that deal if not in the major leagues. Based on the trade, it seemed like the Guards were willing to give him the roster spot that the Rangers would not, and that has come to pass today.

He certainly did his best to earn the opportunity. He tossed 14 2/3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Round Rock to start this year. His 11.3% walk rate was a bit high but he punched out 32.2% of batters faced and kept 47.1% of balls in play on the ground. His big league track record is more middling, with a 4.60 ERA, 25% strikeout rate, 10.3% walk rate and 34.9% ground ball rate in 117 1/3 innings, but the Guards will see if his hot start this year can be carried over.

That will unfortunately lead to Velasquez losing his roster spot without pitching in a game. His last major league appearance was almost two years ago now, occurring with the Pirates on May 27th of 2023. UCL surgery wiped out the rest of that season and his entire 2024.

He signed a minor league deal with the Guards coming into 2025 and started this year in Triple-A. He tossed 15 innings over four starts with an ERA of 6.00, a 14.7% strikeout rate and 21.3% walk rate. Those are awful numbers in a small sample but the club wanted a fresh arm earlier this week. Last Friday’s game was rained out, which led to a Saturday doubleheader, meaning Cleveland was to play 13 games in 12 days. They added Kolby Allard on Saturday and Velasquez on Tuesday, two arms capable of pitching multiple innings, but didn’t use Velasquez in any of the past three games.

Velasquez will likely be placed on waivers shortly. Based on his rough early-season numbers and recent injury absence, he will likely clear. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency instead.

If he ends up on the open market, he could perhaps re-sign with the Guardians or look for opportunities elsewhere. He has 763 2/3 career innings in the big leagues with a 4.88 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Guardians Acquire Matt Festa From Rangers

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1:57pm: Festa indeed had an opt-out opportunity in his minor league deal tomorrow, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. It seems likely the Guardians will bring him to the big leagues soon, though the team has not yet announced as much.

9:35am: The Guardians announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired right-hander Matt Festa from the Rangers in exchange for cash. Festa isn’t on the 40-man roster at the moment, although given the timing of the move, it’s fair to wonder whether this trade was prompted by an opt-out or upward mobility clause in his minor league deal with Texas. If that’s the case, he’ll likely be selected to the major league roster in the next day or two.

Festa, 32, has pitched in parts of five big league seasons between the Mariners, Mets and Rangers. He carries a career 4.60 ERA in 117 1/3 MLB frames, during which he’s punched out one-quarter of his opponents and issued walks at a 10.3% clip. Festa has shown promise at times, most notably with the 2022 Mariners, but he’s yet to find consistency in the majors. Injuries have played a notable role, particularly a 2020 Tommy John procedure that wiped out his entire season and sidelined him for most of the 2021 campaign as well.

Entering the 2024-25 offseason, Festa was on the Rangers’ 40-man roster. He lost his spot when Texas signed Chris Martin. The Cubs picked him up in exchange for cash following that DFA. Chicago ultimately designated Festa for assignment as well, after which he cleared waivers, elected free agency and returned to the Rangers on a minor league deal.

Festa is now Cleveland-bound and will head to the Guards on the heels of a dominant showing in Triple-A. The right-hander has rattled off 14 2/3 shutout innings, striking out 32.3% of his opponents against an 11.3% walk rate. Festa has kept the ball on the ground at a hearty 47.1% clip and done a terrific job avoiding hard contact (85.9 mph average exit velocity, 23.5% hard-hit rate). He hasn’t made any big changes to his arsenal or seen a noticeable change in velocity, but the results are impressive nonetheless.

Cleveland’s bullpen has been solid but not up to its usual level of excellence. Guardians relievers have combined for a 3.72 ERA, and that includes three rough innings from position players Austin Hedges and Will Wilson in mop-up work. However, former All-Stars Emmanuel Clase and Paul Sewald have both struggled, with each sporting an earned run average north of 6.00.

Quality contributions from Cade Smith, Joey Cantillo, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin and Jakob Junis have helped to offset those troubles, and Festa could soon get a crack at chipping in himself. The Guardians currently have veterans Vince Velasquez and Kolby Allard in the bullpen, both of whom signed minor league deals. Neither can be optioned to Triple-A, but their presence speaks to the unsettled nature of Cleveland’s final couple bullpen spots.

Guardians Select Vince Velasquez

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The Guardians made a series of roster moves today, as relayed by Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. Right-hander Vince Velasquez has been selected to the roster and left-hander Joey Cantillo has been recalled. To make room for those two on the active roster, righty Cody Bolton has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus and righty Paul Sewald lands on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain. To open a 40-man spot for Velasquez, righty Shane Bieber has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Sewald departed last night’s game with shoulder inflammation. It’s unclear how long the Guardians expect him to be out of action but this move means it will be at least a couple of weeks. The Guards signed the former closer this winter, a $7MM guarantee on a one-year deal. That was a bet on a bounceback after he posted a 4.31 earned run average in 2024.

The early results have been mixed, with his ERA up to 6.17 in the early going. He has already allowed three home runs in 11 2/3 innings. However, his 31.3% strikeout rate and 4.2% walk rate are both excellent figures. If it weren’t for a .357 batting average on balls in play and a 64.8% strand rate, fewer runs would have crossed the plate, which is why his 4.35 FIP and 2.94 SIERA look far nicer in the small sample. If Sewald is going to get back on track, it will have to wait.

Thanks to a rainout on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday, the Guards are now in a stretch where they play 13 games in 12 days. Yesterday, starter Gavin Williams only lasted two innings against the Twins. The bullpen then had to cover the remaining seven, though position player Will Wilson absorbed two of them. Still, they used four traditional relievers, including Sewald and Bolton, with the latter throwing 40 pitches over his two innings.

The need for fresh arms will get Velasquez back to the majors. He signed a minor league deal with the Guards in February and has been pitching for out of the rotation at Columbus. He had missed the 2024 season due to UCL surgery but had a 4.88 ERA in his career prior to that.

The results haven’t been pretty so far this year, with an ERA of 6.00 through 15 innings and four starts. He has allowed 16 walks and hit one batter while only striking out 11 opponents. Regardless of the quality, Velasquez is at least stretched out and could cover multiple innings if the Guards find themselves in another blowout. He tossed four innings on Thursday and should therefore be able to take on a decent chunk of work out of the bullpen.

If they want to remove him from the roster in the coming days or weeks, he would have to be removed from the 40-man entirely. As a veteran with far more than five years of major league service, he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.

As for Bieber, he’s still working his way back from last April’s Tommy John surgery. His 60-day clock is retroactive to when he landed on the 15-day IL at the start of the season. That means he can be reinstated from the IL in late May. That doesn’t seem to be a possibility since he still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Even if he were to start such an assignment today, he would presumably need a month to six weeks to get ready, effectively a delayed Spring Training.

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Triston McKenzie Accepts Outright Assignment With Guardians

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Triston McKenzie has passed through waivers unclaimed. He has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus. Tim Stebbins of MLB.com was among those to pass along the news.

Cleveland designated McKenzie for assignment last week. That the right-hander cleared waivers points to how far his stock has fallen as he’s battled injuries over the past couple seasons. McKenzie is a former top prospect who seemed to break out as a high-end starter in 2022. He posted a 2.96 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning over 31 appearances three years ago. He seemed to be a mid-rotation arm at the very least with a chance to develop into a #1 or #2 starter.

Clearly, that’s not how things have played out. McKenzie barely pitched in 2023. A teres major strain in his shoulder shelved him for a couple months to begin the season. He returned in June but quickly suffered a UCL sprain in his throwing elbow. McKenzie avoided surgery but did not return until the final week of the season.

Hopes for a rebound last year did not materialize. McKenzie’s fastball velocity dropped to a career-low 91.1 MPH. Opponents blitzed him for a 5.11 ERA across 16 starts, and he spent the second half of the season on optional assignment to Columbus. The results weren’t any better in the minors, as he allowed 5.23 earned runs per nine while walking almost 14% of his opponents. That was his final minor league option season.

Cleveland signed him to a $1.95MM arbitration contract in November. That indicated they had some hope that he could turn things around, as his out-of-options status meant he’d need to stick on the active roster or be exposed to waivers. He worked out of the bullpen through the season’s first few weeks. McKenzie’s average fastball speed has jumped closer to 94 MPH in short stints, but neither the command nor the results were there. He allowed seven runs on as many hits through 5 1/3 innings. He walked seven batters and threw three wild pitches while recording just four strikeouts.

McKenzie has between three and five years of major league service time. That means he could decline an outright assignment but would have needed to forfeit the approximate $1.6MM remaining on his salary to test free agency. The 29 other teams all passed on a chance to add him to their big league roster, suggesting he probably would’ve been limited to minor league offers if he hit the market. That made accepting the assignment to Columbus an obvious call. He’ll try to work his way back onto Stephen Vogt’s staff and would become a minor league free agent at the end of the season if the Guards don’t call him up before then.

Guardians Select Kolby Allard

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The Guardians announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Kolby Allard from Triple-A Columbus.  Left-hander Erik Sabrowski was moved to the 60-day injured list and right-hander Zak Kent was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding moves. As reported yesterday, Cleveland also called up Doug Nikhazy as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader with the Red Sox.

Allard signed a minor league deal with the Guards back in February, after the Phillies outrighted the southpaw off their roster following the 2024 season and Allard elected free agency.  It was essentially an early non-tender move for Philadelphia, as Allard was arbitration-eligible and projected to earn $1.1MM in 2025, though the Phils still opted against paying this modest sum.

The veteran didn’t make a sterling case for himself in posting a 5.00 ERA in 27 innings for the Phillies last year, with only a 19.7% strikeout rate but a solid 6.8% walk rate.  Allard’s 4.18 SIERA was notably better than his ERA, and it was the second-best SIERA Allard has posted during a seven-year MLB career that has seen the lefty post a 5.99 ERA across 272 innings with three different teams.  Allard hasn’t posted particularly good numbers as either a starter or as a reliever, but his ability to work in both capacities as a swingman has kept getting him opportunities at the big league level.

Yesterday’s rainout gave the Guardians an unexpected off-day, and it lines up a busy upcoming stretch of the schedule.  Cleveland will now play 13 games over the next 12 days, so having a versatile innings-eater like Allard on hand is a useful way to help the pitching staff cope with this increased workload.  It remains to be seen exactly how long Allard might stick on the Guardians’ roster, however, and since he is out of minor league options, the Guards would have to first designate him for assignment and expose him to waivers before outrighting him back to the minors.  Allard would again have the ability to opt for free agency over an outright assignment, should this situation play out.

Sabrowski began the season the 15-day IL after elbow inflammation kept him from pitching during Spring Training.  A move to the 60-day injured list counts as no surprise since Sabrowski will still need a lengthy ramp-up period to make up for the lack of his regular prep time, though it means his 2025 debut will be held off until late May at the earliest.  (As a reminder, the clock for a 60-day IL placement starts at the time of an initial IL placement, not from the time a player is officially moved to the 60-day.)

Guardians To Promote Doug Nikhazy

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The Guardians list left-hander Doug Nikhazy as their probable starter for the second game of tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Red Sox. Cleveland already added him to their 40-man roster over the offseason. Teams are permitted to carry an extra player on the active roster during a doubleheader, so they won’t need to make any corresponding moves.

It’ll be Nikhazy’s major league debut. Cleveland drafted the Ole Miss product in the second round in 2021. The 6’0″ southpaw has turned in generally solid numbers over four minor league seasons. He owns a 3.87 earned run average across 346 1/3 professional innings. Nikhazy turned in a 2.98 ERA through 123 2/3 frames divided between the top two minor league levels last year. He punched out a little more than a quarter of opponents while issuing walks at a slightly elevated 10.8% clip.

Baseball America ranked Nikhazy as the #16 prospect in the Cleveland system over the offseason. BA writes that he features a four-pitch mix that’s headlined by his slider and changeup. He doesn’t throw hard, averaging 90.9 MPH on his fastball this season. The secondaries have generally missed bats, though Nikhazy’s fringe command means he’s not quite a pitchability lefty.

Nikhazy has worked 18 1/3 innings across four starts at Triple-A Columbus this year. He has allowed nine runs, seven earned, with 22 strikeouts and seven walks. Tomorrow’s start will probably be a one-off enabled by the extra roster spot, but his solid minor league track record means he could be up and down as rotation depth over the course of the season.

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