Guardians notes: Cleveland adds starting pitching depth, acquiring RHP Spencer Howard from Giants

CLEVELAND — The Guardians added starting pitching depth Friday, acquiring right-hander Spencer Howard from the Giants in exchange for cash hours before the teams opened a three-game interleague series at Progressive Field. Howard, 27, owns a lifetime 4-12 record with a 6.93 ERA over five major league seasons — 45 games (31 starts) — with the Phillies, Rangers and Giants. He was signed by San Francisco prior to the season, appeared in seven games (two starts) and posted a 1-1 record and 5.63 ERA before being designated for assignment Sunday. Most of Howard's appearances have come at Triple-A Sacramento, where he accumulated a 5.90 ERA with 57 strikeouts over 39⅔ innings. Cleveland designated right-hander Wes Parsons to clear room on the 40-man roster, and Howard is expected to join the 26-man roster when he reports to the club in the coming days. "Starting pitching is at a shortage in our industry," manager Stephen Vogt said. "It's hard to throw and keep your stuff for 80-100 pitches every night. That's why the best ones in the world get what they get. But for us, we feel fortunate that we have a number of length options in our organization and obviously adding another one was really important." The trade deadline is weeks away and the Guardians will likely be on the hunt for more help in the department. Vogt favors the direct approach with players on the subject. "I like to talk about the elephant in the room. We know what's coming up in a few weeks and I don't know what we're going to do," he said. "No team knows what they're going to do at this point, but if anybody ever has a question, I'll talk to them. "We have 26 guys in the building right now that can win and we're going to have those tomorrow and the next day. Whatever we add, whatever we subtract, it doesn't change our mentality. It's the 26 guys here are going to go out and try and win tonight. And that's the mentality that I want our guys to have." Parsons, 31, pitched in two games for the Guardians in April, tossing four scoreless innings and striking out five before being optioned to Triple-A Columbus. Doctor's office Right fielder Will Brennan (rib cage inflammation) appears on schedule to leave the 10-day injured list possibly as early as Sunday's series finale against the Giants. "He had a really good day (Thursday). He's progressing," Vogt said of Brennan, who is batting .256 with eight homers and 24 RBIs in 68 games. "We're hoping to have him back before the All-Star break (July 15-18)." + Center fielder Tyler Freeman (right wrist soreness) was out of the lineup for the third straight game, but Vogt said he expected him back Saturday. Larry Legend The Guardians celebrated the anniversary of Larry Doby breaking the color barrier in the American League by making his MLB debut July 5, 1947. "I think it's so neat for us to be able to do that and to honor him," Vogt said. "I think the groundbreaking, that's kind of the phrase that comes to mind for him, and not knowing a whole lot about him, growing up in California, but my dad would talk about him all the time and what he meant, so it's a really special day for me and for us." Mentor moment It was another walk down memory lane for Vogt, who played five seasons for Giants manager Bob Melvin in Oakland from 2013-17. "We've already played against a lot of the people that I was honored to play for or work with, but what Bob Melvin means to me is something deeper than the others," Vogt said. "Five years with him and kind of the manager that shook my hand for the first time and said, 'Congratulations, you're officially a big leaguer,' after the (2013) playoffs. 'You've made it.' "For him to give me the opportunities that he did and allow me to take them and run and to constantly push me to be at my best and to be a leader. I learned so much from him in my playing career, but also being able to be in this seat now. I owe a lot of that to the experiences I had with Bob." Vogt spent the 2019 season playing for the Giants, posting a career-high .804 OPS over 99 games. "I grew up a Giants fan, so it was like a 2-year-old kid's dream," Vogt said. "The big leaguer I pretended to be in the front yard, I got to be for a year. And so, getting to wear that uniform was really special. It was really special to play that year, and (manager Bruce) Bochy's last year, getting to be (catcher) Buster Posey's backup, you name it, everything was really cool." Roundin' third Cleveland is hosting San Francisco for just the third time (2008 and '22) since interleague play began in 1997. Cleveland's 5-17 all-time record (.227 winning percentage) against the Giants — 1-6 at home — is its worst against any MLB opponent. Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.