Guardians, Zach Plesac reportedly avoid arbitration with one-year, $2.95 million deal

One down, several to go

The Cleveland Guardians and starting pitcher Zach Plesac have avoided arbitration with a one-year, $2.95 million deal according to MLB insider Robert Murray.

This was Plesac’s first year of arbitration eligibility after pitching four full seasons with the Guardians. Last year, he started 24 games with a 4.31 ERA, 10.9 K-BB%, and was worth 0.9 fWAR. While certainly still an effective back-end pitcher, he’s a long way away from the 3.81 ERA he posted in his rookie year and 2.28 ERA in the abbreviated 2020 season.

It’s not the numbers that hurt Plesac, though, but what seems to happen between pitches.

First, he and former teammate Mike Clevinger broke COVID protocol while in Chicago in Aug. 2020 — he proceeded to blame the media in a video recorded while he was driving.

Then, in 2021, he injured his thumb while “aggressively” removing his shirt in the locker room following a rough outing against the Twins.

Finally, in August of last season, he broke his hand when he punched the mound in frustration. He only pitched 4.2 innings down the stretch and one inning in the playoffs.

Rumors have circulated since last year’s trade deadline that the Guardians might trade Plesac, though nothing has made it too far into the public eye. If he does remain a Guard all season long, he is projected by Steamer to regress further and finish 2023 with a 4.60 ERA in 24 starts and 137 innings.

With Plesac under contract for 2023, the Guardians still have Amed Rosario ($9 million estimate, according to MLB Trade Rumors), Shane Bieber ($10.7 million), Cal Quantrill ($6 million), Josh Naylor ($3.5 million), Aaron Civale ($2.2 million), and James Karinchak ($1.4 million) to sign before arbitration hearings start happening in February.