The Guardians announced today that they have acquired right-hander Darren McCaughan from the Marlins. The latter club, who designated the righty for assignment on the weekend, receive cash considerations in return. The Guards optioned McCaughan to Triple-A Columbus and transferred Gavin Williams to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot.
McCaughan, 28, spent his entire career with the Mariners until he was designated for assignment in February. He was traded to the Marlins for cash and was sent to Triple-A Jacksonville to start the year. He made five starts there with poor results, posting a 6.14 earned run average despite average-ish peripherals. He struck out 22.2% of batters faced with an 8.1% walk rate, but with a .338 batting average on balls in play and 52.8% strand rate.
The Marlins called him up to the big leagues last week. In Saturday’s game against Oakland, Trevor Rogers allowed eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. McCaughan came in for some long relief, throwing 4 2/3 but also allowing eight earned runs on the way to a 20-4 loss. McCaughan was designated for assignment the next day.
The Guardians are undoubtedly interested in McCaughan based on his work in previous seasons. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 408 2/3 innings for Triple-A Tacoma, in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He had a 4.98 ERA in that time as well as a 21.4% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate.
Cleveland has less pitching depth than other recent seasons. Shane Bieber required Tommy John surgery while Williams has been on the IL all year due to elbow soreness. Their rotation currently consists of three youngsters in Triston McKenzie, Logan Allen and Tanner Bibee, as well as two veterans in Carlos Carrasco and Ben Lively. McKenzie hardly pitched last year due to a sprain of his UCL and is currently getting by with diminished stuff. Allen has a 6.41 ERA on the year, Bibee 4.91 and Carrasco 5.67. Lively is down at 2.08 in only four starts. He was at 5.38 last year with the Reds, his first MLB action since 2019.
Despite the lackluster results from the rotation, the club is 24-13 and leading the American League Central. To help keep things afloat, they have been actively trying to bolster the starting depth. They acquired Zak Kent from the Rangers on Opening Day and later grabbed Wes Parsons from the Blue Jays, sending international bonus pool space away in both cases. With the acquisition of McCaughan, they have now added three optionable starters to their system in the past two months.
As for Williams, as mentioned, he’s been on the injured list all season due to elbow soreness. This transfer is backdated to his initial IL placement, meaning he’s ineligible return until late May. He recently resumed a throwing program but will need to build up a full starter’s workload and isn’t going to be ready in the next month or so regardless.