The Guardians announced that they have selected left-hander Anthony Gose to their roster. He had recently elected free agency but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Lefty Logan Allen was optioned in a corresponding move. The club already had a 40-man vacancy and won’t need to make a corresponding move in that regard.
Gose, 34, has been on and off the Cleveland roster all year. This is the third time his contract has been selected. Since he is out of options, the two previous stints resulted in him being designated for assignment fairly quickly. The first instance resulted in him accepting an outright assignment. The second time, as mentioned, he elected free agency but quickly re-signed on a fresh minor league pact.
A former outfielder, Gose switched to pitching a few years ago. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a late convert, control has been an issue but he has racked up some tantalizing strikeout numbers. In 2022, he tossed 21 innings for the Guards, punching out 30.4% of batters faced. But he also gave out walks at a 15.2% clip, leading to a 4.71 earned run average.
He required Tommy John surgery at the end of that year, which led to him missing the entire 2023 season. The Guards signed him to a two-year minor league pact, which covered that lost year as well as the current campaign. Around his transactions, he has managed to throw 39 Triple-A innings this year with a 3.46 ERA. The 15% walk rate is still high but he’s also still getting the Ks, with a 32.9% rate this year.
The Guardians have Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee scheduled to start their next two games but then have an off-day on Thursday. By optioning Allen, they can add one extra bullpen arm to a relief mix that is fairly taxed after yesterday’s double-header. Given the way they’ve treated Gose this year, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is designated for assignment again once the club needs another fresh bullpen arm or a fifth starter.