Former Guardians reliever has a chance to get revenge on Cleveland thanks to Royals call up

For four seasons, Anthony Gose hung around on the periphery of the Guardians’ bullpen. Even if he was never the biggest name in Cleveland’s bullpen, he still managed to record 32 innings around a mid-tenure Tommy John surgery. 

That said, almost all of that experience came in 2022 when he had a 4.71 ERA in 21 innings, which still stands out as the most action he’s had in a full season. 

While the fact Gose made it to an MLB bullpen is an impressive feat no matter, it’s even more impressive considering Gose started his career as an outfielder before transitioning to a pitcher in 2017. 

The Guardians ended up taking a chance on Gose in 2019 as a minor league free agent, and it ended up being a partnership that benefited both parties since Gose turned into a big league reliever and the Guardians got some big league innings out of him. 

Now Gose will get a chance to  add to his big league résumé at the Guardians expense thanks to the Royals adding him to their big league roster ahead of Kansas City’s three-game series against the Guardians that starts tonight. 

Anthony Gose is back in the big leagues with the Kansas City Royals

Although Gose first entered Cleveland’s system as a pitcher in 2019, he ended up signing another minor league contract with them in 2020 ahead of his big league (pitching) debut at the end of 2021. 

He pitched 6 1/3 innings with the Guardians at the end of 2021 before being a part of their big league bullpen in 2022 before his season came to an end due to Tommy John surgery. 

That surgery wiped out his 2023 season, but he returned in 2024 with 4 1/3 big league innings along with having a 3.22 ERA in 44 2/3 innings at Triple-A. He spent all of last season at Triple-A, and had a 4.62 ERA across 37 innings with the Mets and Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliates. 

He started this season with the los Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League before signing a minor league contract with the Royals in April. He’s spent all of the time since with Triple-A Ohama, where he’s posted a 4.89 ERA in 46 innings. 

Gose’s profile with Omaha is pretty similar to what it was with the Guardians. He’s had no problem generating some swing-and-miss (27.6% strikeout rate), but he still has the command problems that plagued him in Cleveland (13.8% walk rate). 

One new wrinkle is that Gose has gotten some work as a long relief option, which could make him a bit of an interesting weapon for a Royals team playing out the string. 

At the very least, he’ll be able to give them another matchup option since the only other lefty in Kansas City’s bullpen was Connor Thomas. 

He made his debut for Kansas City last night and pitched a scoreless ninth inning in their blowout win over the Blue Jays.

But even if Gose was able to fight his way back to the big leagues, he shouldn’t scare the Guardians too much given his up-and-down performance in the minors.

The Guardians left-handed heavy lineup has had some success against righties as of late, and it’s hard to imagine Gose or Thomas are going to have a ton of success as matchup options. 

But regardless of what happens in this series, Gose being back in Cleveland is a testament to the determination he’s shown throughout his career. 

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