Cleveland Guardians Land Former First-Round Pick in Intriguing Move

The Cleveland Guardians' starting rotation has been compromised by injuries this season, as Shane Bieber remains sidelined while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and now, Ben Lively will have to undergo the procedure himself.

That has left a bit of a gap in the Guardians' pitching staff, and while they can try to find some answers internally, they are also looking outward.

In response to the Lively news, Cleveland has claimed former Athletics pitcher Matt Krook off waivers, via Tim Stebbins of MLB.com.

Krook appeared in three games out of the bullpen for the A's this season, giving up two runs on five hints over 3.1 innings of work.

The 30-year-old was originally selected by the Miami Marlins in the first round of the 2013 MLB Draft. However, he opted to play collegiate baseball at the University of Oregon instead and was later chosen by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft.

Krook's major-league experience is very minimal. He didn't actually reach the big leagues until 2023, when he made four relief appearances for the New York Yankees. He then pitched in one game out of the bullpen for the Baltimore Orioles last year.

Through eight major-league outings overall, Krook has surrendered 16 runs (15 earned) on 14 hits across a small sample size of 8.1 frames.

Here's the thing, though: the Guardians are well known for being able to identify good pitchers, so perhaps they see something in Krook, who obviously had considerable potential at one point.

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