In a surprising turn of events, the Guardians have made the decision to designate left-handed pitcher Justin Bruihl for assignment, as announced by the team. This move has cleared a spot on their 40-man roster, allowing them to welcome right-hander Shawn Armstrong, who was signed earlier this week.
Just days ago, Cleveland acquired Bruihl from Toronto in exchange for cash considerations after the Blue Jays also designated him for assignment. Toronto's reasoning behind this move was to clear space for a new reliever, which involved designating Bruihl following their signing of Tyler Rogers.
Bruihl originally joined the Blue Jays as a minor league free agent back in March. Over the course of 42 impressive innings pitched at Triple-A, he earned himself a promotion to the major leagues. The 28-year-old made 15 appearances with Toronto, compiling a 5.27 ERA across 13 and two-thirds innings. Although Bruihl managed to strike out 27.7% of the batters he faced, he also dealt with a 10.8% walk rate. His brief time in the big leagues was enough to secure him a place on the postseason roster, where he made an appearance in the ALDS. Unfortunately, he struggled, giving up a couple of runs on three hits while only recording one out. After the series against the Yankees, he did not remain on the postseason roster.
Throughout his career, Bruihl has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons for four different teams, notching a career ERA of 4.72 over 94 appearances. His journey began with the Dodgers in 2021, where he established a consistent role in the bullpen for the following three seasons. In August 2023, he was traded to the Colorado Rockies and subsequently had brief tenures with both the Rockies and Pirates before landing in Toronto.
Interestingly, during his time with the Blue Jays, Bruihl underwent a significant change in his pitching approach, shifting his focus to emphasizing his sinker instead of his cutter. Traditionally, he had relied heavily on his cut fastball, although he did utilize his sweeper as a primary pitch during his stint with Pittsburgh. Prior to this season, he had never thrown his sinker more than 31.7% of the time in the major leagues; however, he dramatically increased that percentage to 51.1% this past season while nearly abandoning the cutter altogether, using it just 7.3% of the time. The sinker-sweeper combination is not typically known for generating swings and misses, yet it is intriguing that Bruihl achieved the highest strikeout rates of his career. It appears that the Toronto coaching staff may have discovered key adjustments in terms of pitch sequencing or location that contributed to these improved strikeout numbers.
