After mid-career turnaround with SF Giants, veteran hurler finds new home with the Guardians

Former SF Giants pitcher Jakob Junis found a niche during his two-year stint with the club. After a solid 2024 campaign split between the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers, he has landed a one-year, $4.5 million deal with the Cleveland Guardians, per Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.

After mid-career turnaround with SF Giants, veteran hurler finds new home with the Guardians

When the Giants added Junis before the 2022 season, he was seen as a depth alternative with a minor league option remaining. That roster flexibility appealed to the team given that the season is a long one and you never know when you might need to rely on your depth.

The veteran hurler posted a 4.82 ERA in five seasons with the Kansas City Royals. He was generally around the zone, recording a healthy number of strikeouts, but was a bit too prone to the long ball. When Junis came over to the Giants, he had a pretty large pitch mix headlined by a quality slider.

The Giants' coaching staff streamlined that pitch mix while increasing the usage of his slider. That paid pretty nice dividends as he tallied a 4.18 ERA across two seasons with San Francisco. This included a strong 2023 year in which he posted a 3.87 ERA in 40 appearances while working primarily out of the bullpen.

A shift to the bullpen saw his fastball velocity trend upward along with his strikeout numbers. Pitching in shorter stints turned out to be a nice career move for Junis. He left to join the Brewers in free agency due in part to the opportunity to re-enter the rotation that was likely not an option with the Giants.

The Brewers have had success at getting unheralded pitchers to perform and Junis kept the momentum going he had built up from his time with the Giants. He did miss some time with Milwaukee following a shoulder injury along with being struck in the neck by a baseball.

Nevertheless, the eight-year veteran still put up quality numbers in his brief time with the Brewers, posting a 2.42 ERA in 10 outings before a midseason trade sent him to the Reds. In total, Junis tallied a 2.69 ERA with 96 strikeouts against 21 walks in 67 innings split between Milwaukee and Cincinnati.

Junis now joins a Guardians team that has had similar success at pitching development as Milwaukee. Plus, the Guardians reached the ALCS before losing to the New York Yankees in the ALCS. This feels like a good landing spot for a pitcher who has had a mid-career turnaround.