The Guardians signed veteran left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki to a minor league contract, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. The ISE client was released by the Giants back in early June. He hasn’t pitched in a game setting in a couple months. It’s common for pitchers in this situation to head to a lower level affiliate for a tune-up before reporting to their new club’s Triple-A team.
The 32-year-old Borucki is a veteran of parts of nine major league seasons who reached seven years of MLB service earlier this season with San Francisco. He logged a 4.94 ERA in 23 2/3 innings with the Giants before being designated for assignment. Borucki has now pitched in each of the past nine big league campaigns. His best year came with the 2023 Pirates (2.45 ERA in 40 1/3 innings), and he sports a lifetime 4.34 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate in 280 major league frames.
Borucki’s sinker peaked around 95 mph during that run with the Bucs. He was sitting 93.5 mph with the Giants earlier this season. The left-hander’s 14.4% strikeout rate with the Giants was a career-low, but he notched a sharp 8.7% walk rate and an above-average 44.9% grounder rate during his time in orange and black.
Cleveland’s bullpen currently has three lefties: Tim Herrin, Erik Sabrowski and the recently recalled Will Dion. Herrin and Sabrowski both have mid-3.00 ERAs but more questionable marks from metrics like SIERA and FIP due to poor walk rates. Dion has a 4.58 ERA in 17 1/3 frames thanks to a sky-high .426 BABIP and poor strand rate, but he’s notched excellent strikeout and walk rates. Borucki gives the Guards some extra depth, but given the long layoff from pitching and the options they presently have, he’s not likely to be an option in the big league bullpen in the near future.
