The Guardians announced this morning that theyve completed a pair of trades for pitching depth. Cleveland acquired right-hander from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash and acquired righty from the Rangers in exchange for international bonus pool space. Arizona designated Strzelecki for a signment earlier in the week. Both pitchers will be added to the Guardians 40-man roster, which had two vacant spots but is now at capacity. Now 29 years old, Strzelecki broke into the majors as an unheralded 27-year-old rookie with the 2022 Brewers and quickly became a vital part of their bullpen that season. The undrafted righty made 30 appearances out of the pen and to sed 35 innings with a 2.83 ERA, 27% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate in 35 innings. As an extreme fly-ball pitcher (31.1% ground-ball rate) in Brant Hurter Jersey a hitter-friendly park whod had some good fortune in terms of home runs (0.51 HR/9, 5.3% homer-to-flyball rate) there was always some potential for regre sion, but Strzelecki stumbled in 2023 for what appeared to be different reasons. While Strzelecki managed to continue yielding home runs at a much lower rate than the average pitcher, he also lost more than a mile per hour off his fastball and saw his strikeout rate drop notable, from 27% to 22.7%. He offset some of that drop in whiffs with more grounders (38.1%) and fewer walks (7.4%), but his earned run average still jumped to 4.38 in last years 37 frames. Metrics like FIP (2.94 in 2022, 3.93 in 2023) and SIERA (3.47 in 22, 3.93 in 23) felt his jump in ERA was deserved, though perhaps not quite to the extent it actually increased. The Brewers sent Strzelecki to the D-backs in a deadline swap that brought veteran lefty back to Milwaukee. Arizona only gave him 1 1/3 innings in the big leagues following that trade, and Strzelecki was designated for a signment earlier this week when a spot on the 40-man roster was needed for backup catcher . The right-hander still has a minor league option remaining and is controllable for five more seasons if he can get back on track in his new surroundings. Kent, 26, was the Rangers ninth-round pick back in 2019 but climbed into the middle tiers of the Rangers top 30 prospects and was selected to the 40-man roster following the 2022 season. At the time, the move was made to protect Kent from being selected in that years Rule 5 Draft which seemed quite likely to happen had he gone unprotected. Kent had just wrapped up a 2022 season that was split between Double-A and Triple-A, wherein he pitched a combined 109 2/3 innings of 3.94 ERA ball with roughly average strikeout and walk rates. Baseball America credited him with a plus heater and slider in addition to a solid-average curveball but below-average command. Kent mi sed time in 2022 with back, hip and oblique injuries, and health troubles (oblique and shoulder i sues) hindered his 2023 season even further. He pitched just 40 2/3 frames last year plus another 16 2/3 in the Arizona Fall League. He showed slightly improved strikeout and walk rates when healthy, though he was still hit hard during AFL play. Kent appeared in three spring games for the Rangers but was tagged for five earned runs with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two) in 3 2/3 innings. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining. The Guards are opening the season with righty on the injured list and will be without frequently injured pitching prospect Daniel Espino for the entire season. They also lost setup man to Tommy John surgery, while relievers (elbow) and (finger) are on the injured list as well. Strzelecki and Kent arent likely to step right onto the active roster, but theyll give Cleveland some additional depth to help navigate that slew of injuries to begin the season. Denny Mclain Jersey