CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS FALL BY ONE RUN, GET SWEPT BY RANGERS
The Cleveland Guardians suffered a heartbreaker on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Field, falling to the Texas Rangers by a 6-5 margin after surrendering 4 runs in the 8th inning…Cleveland has dropped all 3 games to start the second half, as the Guardians were swept in a series for the second time this season (May 19-21 at NYM)…Cleveland has gone 8-5-1 over club’s last 14 series since May 26 (24-20 record since 5/26). » Trailing 5-2 entering the bottom of the 8th, the Rangers Offense erupted for 4 runs off TREVOR STEPHAN (0.1IP, 3H, 4R-ER, 2BB), who threw just 11 of his 23 offerings for strikes…a pair of one-out walks set the table for 3 consecutive run-scoring hits – an RBI-single by Nathaniel Lowe, an RBI-double by Adolis Garcia and a 2-run single by Josh Jung…the late set back burned a quality start by
TANNER BIBEE, who exited with a 3-2 lead after holding Texas to a pair of tallies (6.0IP, 5H, 2R-ER, BB, 6SO, HR, 98 pitches)…Bibee gave up a lead-off solo homer to Marcus Semien (12) in the bottom of the 1st and later a one-out walk to Semien that preceded a pair of singles in the 3rd, the latter by Lowe to drive in a run…STEVEN KWAN opened the contest with his first career lead-off homer (3), lefty-on-lefty crime against Texas starter Martin Pérez (5.0IP, 5H, 3R-ER, 4BB, 2SO, HR, 86 pitches)…Kwan added a 2-run single with the bases loaded in the 3rd…DAVID FRY connected for a 2-run homer (2) off Cody Bradford in the 8th, scoring JOSH NAYLOR (lead-off double).
Cleveland (45-48) sits in 2nd place in the AL Central standings, 2.5 games behind 2nd-place Minnesota (48-46) and 3.5 games head of 3rd-place Detroit (-6.0G, 41-51)…the club entered the All-Star break in 1st place for just the fourth time across Terry Francona’s tenure (2013-23), as Cleveland also did so in 3 consecutive campaigns from 2016-18…Guardians have still won 13 of 23, 20 of 36 and 23 of last 42, though have also dropped 42 of last 78 overall since starting the year 9-6.
ARRRGH YOU READY, KIDS?
Cleveland and Pittsburgh are set to face off in their 17th regular season series all-time…they last met in 2021 in Pittsburgh, with the Pirates taking 2 of 3 contests…the clubs are gridlocked at 24- 24 all-time against each other, with the Guards holding an 11-16 record all-time in Pittsburgh…Cleveland’s last series win against the Pirates was September 25-27, 2020 when they took 2 of 3 in Cleveland…the Guards last series win at PNC Park was August 18- 20, 2020 when they swept the Pirates in 3 games…Cleveland is 6-9 in road Interleague games and 12-18 in Interleague play this year.
LEADIN’ WITH STEVEN
In yesterday’s game at Texas, STEVEN KWAN went 4-for-5, falling a triple shy of the cycle, and drove in 3 RBI…Kwan started the game with his first career leadoff home run and Cleveland’s first leadoff home run in 260 games (last 8/16/2021 at TEX, Straw)… with the 4-hit performance, he became Cleveland’s first hitter to
reach the 100-hit mark this season.
Since making his MLB debut in 2022, Kwan ranks among MLB leadoff hitters in leadoff singles (38, 3rd) and leadoff hits (50, 5th)… he also ranks among all MLB hitters since 2022 in PA/SO (9.72, 2nd), swing-and-miss rate (9.9%, 2nd-lowest), singles (203, T3rd), infield hits (38, 4th), 3+hit games (23, T5th), 4+hit games (5, T6th), triples (9, T6th), hits (268, 10th) and pitches faced (4,323, 10th).
In 2023, Kwan ranks among MLB leadoff hitters in both leadoff singles (16, T3rd) and leadoff hits (24, 5th)…he also ranks among all MLB hitters in swing-and-miss-rate (11.2%, 2nd-lowest), singles (73, 5th), PA/SO (8.69, 6th), pitches faced (1,680, 9th) and hits (100, T12th).
RUMBLE, YOUNG MAN, RUMBLE
Cleveland is one of 2 MLB teams (also Oakland) to have 7 different rookies throw 20.0+ innings this season (no other team has more than 4); TANNER BIBEE (76.0IP) LOGAN ALLEN (62.1IP), XZAVION CURRY (47.1IP), PEYTON BATTENFIELD (34.2IP), HUNTER GADDIS (31.1IP), GAVIN WILLIAMS (29.2IP) and TIM HERRIN (22.1IP)…37% of Cleveland’s innings pitched this season (308.2IP/834.1IP) have come via rookies, 2nd in MLB behind Oakland (40.8%)…the Guards rookies have 14 wins this season, tied with Oakland for most in MLB…Curry’s outing today will mark the Guardians 44th start by a rookie arm in 2023, 2ndmost in MLB behind Oakland (46)…the Guards 275 strikeouts from rookies this season trails just Oakland (328)…Cleveland possesses the youngest average age of pitchers (26.2) among MLB clubs this
season, ahead of Miami (27.2).
THE DYNAMIC DUO
The Guardians offense has been led by the duo of JOSH NAYLOR and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ this season…Naylor and Ramírez have combined for 119 of Cleveland’s 348 RBI this season, accounting for 34.2% of the Guardians run production… the 34.2% rate is the highest of any MLB combo of 2 teammates for their respective team, ahead of New York-NL’s Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor (30.5%)…Naylor currently leads MLB with 21 go-ahead RBI while Ramírez’s 20 are T3rd in MLB…the pair is also top-3 in game-winning RBI, as Naylor is 2nd with 12 and Ramirez is T3rd with 11.
Since May 30, Naylor has raised his batting average .82 points from .226 to .308…he’s hitting .397 (58-for-146) over that span, leading MLB ahead of MIA’s Luis Arraez (.385)…Naylor is one of 10 MLB hitters with a batting average above .300 this season…of those 10 hitters, only LAA’s Shohei Ohtani (73) and Naylor (66) have 65-or-more RBI…the last Cleveland hitter with a .300-or-better average and 65-or-more RBI through the club’s first 93 games was Victor Martinez in 2007 (.321, 71RBI)…the above table shows how Naylor ranks in MLB since May 30.
Since June 6, Ramírez has hit safely in 26 of 33 games with 12 multi-hit outings…is hitting .321 (42-for-131) with 8 home runs and 23 RBI during the stretch…entering today, Ramírez (555) is 2 extra-base hits away from passing Hal Trosky (556) for 4th-most in franchise history…is also tied with Larry Doby for 13th-most 3+hit games (92) in club history.
GUARDIAC KIDS
The Guardians lead MLB with 55 games decided by 2-orfewer runs (28-27 record), rank T1st with 14 extra-inning games (8-6 record), and rank 2nd with 37 one-run games (17-20 record) out of their 93 contests this season…through the first 93 games of a season, the Guards 55 contests decided by 2-or-fewer runs are T6th-most in club history (most since 1967) and T4th in the Wild Card Era (since 1995)…Cleveland’s 37 one-run affairs are T5th-most in club history (most since 1966) through 93 games and T5th-most in the Wild Card Era among MLB teams…under Terry Francona (since 2013), Cleveland has MLB’s 3rd-best win percentage in games decided by 2-or-fewer runs (392-324, .547) and 5th-best win percentage in one-run games (225-197, .533).
TONIGHT’S STARTER – #44 XZAVION CURRY RHP
CURRY ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-0 4.03 11 0 22.1 25 11 10 3 16
Career 1-0 4.03 11 0 22.1 25 11 10 3 16
CURRY’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 3-0 3.04 23 0 47.1 45 18 16 10 32
Career 3-1 3.49 25 2 56.2 58 25 22 16 35
TONIGHT’S START
The 24-year-old right-handed pitcher is scheduled to make his first start of the season, third of his career, in the opener of this 3-game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates…making his first start since September 3, 2022 vs. Seattle (L, 4.1IP, 5H, 4R/3ER, 5BB, 0SO)…is making the start after SHANE BIEBER was placed on the Injured List with right forearm irritation…pitching on 2 days’ rest from his last relief outing…has a 1-0 record with a 3.18 ERA (2ER/5.2IP), 5 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts in 3 career appearances on 2 days’ rest.
Curry has served mainly as a reliever this season, owning a 3-0 record with a 3.04 ERA (16ER/47.1IP) in 23 appearances…also made 2 starts for Cleveland in 2022, going 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA (6ER/9.1IP).
Was selected in the 7th round (220th) of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Georgia Tech…made his Major League Debut on August 15, 2022 against the Detroit Tigers, allowing 3 runs (earned) on 8 hits with 3 strikeouts and one walk.
COOKING WITH CURRY: LAST TIME OUT
Curry last appeared in a game 2 nights ago at Texas…he relieved MICHAEL KELLY in the 7th inning…struck out Mitch Garver and Leodys Taveras before allowing a Marcus Semien single and inducing a Corey Seager groundout…finished with 1.0 inning, one hit and 2 strikeouts on 20 pitches/14 strikes.
THE X-FACTOR
Curry’s 47.1 innings of relief this season lead all Cleveland relievers and ranks T5th among all AL relievers…has also faced 195 batters, 5th-most among AL relievers…leads Cleveland relievers with 1.90 BB/9, which ranks T9th among all AL relievers… per StatCast, he ranks in the 91st percentile with a 5.1 BB%…
is averaging 31.9 pitches per game this season, the 10th-most among AL relievers…has inherited 8 runners and allowed only one runner to score, giving him a 12.5% IRS%.
In 3 appearances this July against 2 of MLB’s top-3 run-producing offenses in Texas (551 runs, 1st) and Atlanta (514 runs, 3rd), Curry has tossed 4.2 scoreless innings with 3 hits allowed and 5 strikeouts.
RISPY BUSINESS
In 2023, Curry is holding hitters to a .156 (7-for-45) average with RISP and .083 (2-for-24) clip with RISP and 2 outs…he ranks among pitchers with RISP (min. 45AB) in OBP (.188, 3rd in the AL/4th in MLB), average (.156, T4th in the AL/T8th in MLB) and OPS (.410, 3rd in the AL/5th in MLB).
CURRY’S ARSENAL
In 2023, Curry utilizes a traditional 4-pitch arsenal, primarily relying on his 4-Seam Fastball, adding in a Curveball and Slider as secondary offerings, and occasionally mixing in a Changeup:
2023 XZAVION CURRY PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch #pitches RHB/LHB %usage AVG. velo BAA 4-Seam FB 367 188/179 50.1% 92.9 .225 (20-for-89)
Slider 246 177/69 33.6% 85.4 .254 (15-for-59)
Curveball 94 37/57 12.8% 75.4 .269 (7-for-26)
Changeup 26 1/25 3.5% 88.3 .375 (3-for-8)
Curry’s 4-Seamer has 12.8 inches of vertical drop, 2.5 inches more and 16% more than the average pitcher…per StatCast, his -10 run value on his 4-Seamer is the best of any Cleveland pitcher’s 4-Seamer, ranking 10th among AL pitchers and 14th among MLB pitchers (min. 50PA)…StatCast defines run value as the run impact of an event based on the runners on base, outs, ball and strike count.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES: Wwere swept by the Giants this past weekend in their first series following the All-Star break…Have lost each of their last four series since sweeping San Diego here at PNC Park from June 27-29…Have had five separate winning streaks of at least four games this season, including a season-high seven-game
winning streak from 4/17-23.
ROSTER MOVES: The Pittsburgh Pirates today selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester from Triple-A Indianapolis and recalled catcher Endy Rodríguez and infielder Liover Peguero from Triple-A…Outfielder Josh Palacios, right-handed pitcher Cody Bolton and catcher Jason Delay have been optioned to Triple-A to make room on the active roster…In addition, outfielder Travis Swaggerty has been designated for assignment to make room for Priester on the 40-man roster.
YOUNG BUCS: Five of Pittsburgh’s top 10 prospects according to MLB Pipeline are currently members of the club’s 26-man active roster following the promotions of Quinn Priester, Endy Rodríguez and Liover Peguero today…MLB Pipeline ranked Pittsburgh’s minor league system as the eighth-best among all organizations entering 2023…This is also the fifth straight year that Pittsburgh’s minor league system is ranked in the top 10 by MLB Pipeline.
ON Q: Prior to his promotion to the big leagues, 22-year-old Quinn Priester went 6-0 with a 3.31 ERA (68.0ip/25er) in his last 13 starts with Indianapolis…Since his winning streak began on May 4, his six wins are tied for the most in the International League along with teammate Kent Emanuel, Iowa’s Bailey Horn and Scranton-Wilkes Barre’s Mitch Spence.
CATCH THIS: When Quinn Priester and Endy Rodríguez make their big league debuts tonight, they will become the first Pirates starting battery to make their MLB debuts on the same day since October 3, 1943, when Cookie Cuccurullo (starting pitcher) and Hank Camelli (starting catcher) did so…Special thanks to the Elias Sports Bureau.
THE FUTURE IS NOW: Catcher Endy Rodríguez was Pittsburgh’s All-Star Futures Game representative this year in Seattle (he started at first base for the National League)…The 23-year-old Rodríguez ended his time at Triple-A hitting at a .373 clip (22-for-59) with a 1.027 OPS in his final 14 games prior to his promotion to the big leagues.
LOVE FOR LIOVER: Liover Peguero played in one game for the Pirates last year after being promoted from Altoona on June 18… At 21 years old, he became the youngest Pirates player to appear in a game since Aramis Ramirez, who was 19 years and 335 days old at the time of his debut on May 26, 1998…At the time of being recalled today, Peguero ranked second among all Pirates minor leaguers in total bases (144) and extra base hits (35), tied for third in home runs (13), fifth in slugging (.462) and second in both hits (81) and doubles (20).
THE HOT CORNER: Jared Triolo has hit safely in nine straight and 10 of his last 11 games (12-for-40, .300)…Triolo’s nine-game hitting streak is tied for the second-longest by a Pirate this season along with Bryan Reynolds from March 30 to April 9…The only two National League players with a longer active hitting streak coming into today are Williams Contreras and Lars Nootbaar (10 games apiece).
GETTING ON: Since making his big league debut on June 19, Henry Davis ranks fifth among all rookies in MLB with a .372 on-base percentage… The only four rookies in MLB with a higher OBP during that time are Texas’ Corey Julks (.443), Minnesota’s Royce Lewis (.425), Boston’s Masataka Yoshida (.380) and Zach Remillard of the Chicago White Sox (.375)…Davis’ 23 hits since his big league debut are tied for the secondmost among all NL rookies (Elly De La Cruz leads with 29).
SETTING UP THE SERIES: The Pirates are 13-8 all-time at PNC Park against Cleveland (the Bucs took two of three games in the last series from June 18-20, 2021)…Pittsburgh is 24-24 all-time against Cleveland since the two teams began meeting during interleague play in 1997…A total of seven runs have separated the two teams in those 48 games (the Bucs have outscored the Guardians 217-210).
STARTING PITCHER – #64 – RHP QUINN PRIESTER
QUINN PRIESTER: The 22-year-old righthander will make his Major League debut tonight after being promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis today.
VS. CLEVELAND: Has never faced the Guardians.
