Cleveland Baseball Insider

Guardians And Diamondbacks Swap RHP Prospects in Vargas For Carver Trade

Cleveland Guardians open up a 40-man roster spot trading Carlos Vargas to the Arizona Diamondbacks

Todd Paquette

In this story:

The Cleveland and Arizona swapped 23-year-old right-handed pitching prospects Tuesday with the Guardians sending Carlos Vargas to the D-Backs for Ross Carver.

Carlos Vargas - RHP

Vargas signed as an International Free Agent for $275,000, the largest signing bonus of the Cleveland's 2016 class. He didn't make his pro-debut until 2018 in the Arizona Rookie League after missing the 2017 with an elbow strain. In 2019 he pitched for Mahoning Valley. After the 2020 minor league season was canceled and the shortened MLB season ended, he was added to the Guardians 40-man roster despite never pitching in a full minor league season to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft. Vargas injured his elbow during spring training the following year and underwent Tommy John surgery in April of 2021.

Vargas made his 2022 debut June 19th for Double-A Akron against Hartford in his new role out of the bullpen throwing a scoreless inning striking out one and while touching 101 mph on the radar gun.

He made 19 appearances at Akron with mixed results posting a 4.81 ERA over 24.1 innings while striking out 21 batters. He did allow 25 hits and 12 walks in his time with the RubberDucks posting a 1.52 WHIP.

Vargas was promoted to Columbus on September 3rd and made his Triple-A debut the next night throwing two scoreless frames against Iowa striking out three batters.

He made eight appearances overall with the Clippers allowing just one run on eight hits and five walks over 10.0 innings striking out 16 batters while posting an 0.90 ERA.

Vargas has absolutely electric stuff when healthy. His fastball usually sits between 94-97 mph with some run and sink. He has been clocked as high as 101 mph in the past. Vargas slider might be his best pitch though sitting in the mid to upper 80s that touches low 90s with a sharp break it grades as a plus to plus plus pitch. His third pitch is a changeup that he utilizes against left-handed hitters that needs further development.

One concern is that he can struggle with the command which hopefully as he develops, he can refine over time. Part of the problem stems from the fact that he creates so much movement on his pitches. Vargas control however is average and not terrible despite struggling with location.

Ross Carver - RHP

The Diamondbacks selected Ross Carver in the 20th Round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the out of Dallas Baptist University.

Carver made his pro-debut in 2021 making just eight appearances in Low-A ball coming out of the bullpen. He struck out 33 batters in just 22.0 innings of work while posting a 4.09 ERA.

In 2022 Carver was assigned to High-A Hillsboro and placed in their starting rotation. He made 15 starts, posting a 3.10 ERA, while striking out 97 batters over 81.1 innings. He was promoted to Double-A Amarillo on July 26th.

In nine starts at Double-A Amarillo Carver was roughed up for a 9.50 ERA over 36.0 innings pitched. He did strikeout 31 batters but also allowed 15 walks. One caveat to his rough stretch was he pitching at home in the most homer friendly park in all the minor leagues and one of the best hitter friendly environments.

Carver offers a four-pitch mix in his repertoire. He attacks hitters with his fastball that sits 93-94 mph with arm-side run and has touched 96 mph. He throws two breaking pitches, in a low-80s slider, and a hammer curveball. His curve that more often makes hitters look silly, especially those sitting on the high fastball. Carver’s fourth pitch is his changeup which is average to below average. He will need to continue to develop it to face tougher left-handed bats if he wants to stay a starter.

For the future it looks like Carver has enough quality offerings to be a potential back end of the rotation type starter especially if can improve the changeup. If not, he could carve out a spot in a relief role coming out of an MLB bullpen.

-----

Read More:

Steven Kwan Loses Out On AL Rookie Of The Year

Will Austin Hedges Return To The Guardians?

Guardians' Jose Ramirez Wins Silver Slugger Award

Emmanuel Clase's Contract Extension Proving To be A Success For Guardians

Cleveland Baseball Insider's 2022 Guardians Top 50 Prospects Update, No. 49 OF Jorge Burgos

-----

Be sure to stay locked into Cleveland Baseball Insider all the time!

SUBSCRIBE to the CBI YouTube channel

Follow Cleveland Baseball Insider on Twitter: @CBI_FanNation

Published
Todd Paquette
TODD PAQUETTE

Home/News