CLEVELAND – Former Georgia Tech baseball standout and seventh-round pick Xzavion Curry (Atlanta, Ga./Mays) was promoted to the Cleveland Guardians’ Major League roster and will make his Big League debut Monday in the second game of Cleveland’s doubleheader against Detroit, the organization announced today.
One of six Yellow Jackets drafted in 2019, Curry has emerged as one of Cleveland’s most impressive prospects. In 38 appearances and 36 starts across the minor leagues, he’s recorded a 16-5 record and 2.90 ERA with 236 strikeouts in 198.2 innings.
The Atlanta native battled back from injury to play his first professional baseball in 2021 where he made 19 starts and recorded a 2.30 ERA and 8-1 record, catapulting to Double-A Akron by the end of the year. In 2022, the right-handed pitcher needed just 13 games with the Double-A Rubberducks – recording a 3.65 ERA with five wins – to be called up to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers.
In his six starts with the Clippers, Curry worked to a 3-1 record and 3.09 ERA over 32.0 innings of work, striking out 33 hitters and holding opponents to a .205 batting average. In his last two starts, Curry hasn’t allowed a run over 13.0 innings, allowing just five hits and striking out 10.
Over his three years on The Flats, Curry recorded 40 career starts and worked to a 4.53 ERA, throwing one complete-game shutout and three combined shutouts in 232.2 innings. Since 2002, he ranks third at Georgia Tech in most looking strikeouts (84) and fourth in overall strikeouts (241). Curry is still the only Yellow Jacket in the modern era (1973-present) to win three-straight Opening Day starts and only the second to start three-straight Opening Days, period.
Curry shined in 2019 to help lead Georgia Tech to a 43-19 record and No. 3 National Seed in the NCAA Tournament where Atlanta played host to the NCAA Regional. A third-team all-ACC selection, Curry finished with season with a 4.08 ERA and four wins before an injury would sideline him the rest of the way, not returning full-time until 2021 with Cleveland. Curry’s 2019 highlight came against then-No. 4 Louisville where he threw 8.0 innings of one-hit, one-run baseball, retiring 16-straight batters at one point and striking out nine for the win.
When Curry takes the mound on Monday afternoon, he’ll become the Yellow Jackets’ 73rd Major Leaguer in program history and the 31st player to make the Big Leagues under head coach Danny Hall.
The Guardians’ doubleheader will begin on Aug. 15 at 3:10 p.m. ET with Game 2 (a makeup of July 17’s postponement) beginning after the conclusion of the first game.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
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