Zach Plesac’s baseball journey has taken another odd turn, and this one came in a place few Guardians fans probably expected to see him: right field for the Gary SouthShore RailCats.
On Tuesday, Plesac turned up in an American Association game for Gary and logged two at-bats in a 25-2 rout of the Chicago Dogs. Even stranger, the former Cleveland right-hander picked up a hit against former big league outfielder Aaron Altherr.
That’s a long way from Sept. 10, 2019, when Plesac looked like he might be one of Cleveland’s next front-line arms. The rookie went nine innings against the Angels, gave up only four hits and helped push the Guardians to a win that left them just a half-game out of a Wild Card spot. Cleveland ultimately missed that playoff berth, but Plesac finished that season as one of the team’s brightest spots and looked like a key piece of the rotation going forward.
His latest appearance for Gary was his second with the club since signing at the beginning of August. His first outing was more in line with what fans would expect from him: two scoreless innings on the mound.
Plesac’s stop with the RailCats also marked his second affiliated action of the year. He opened the season with Charros de Jalisco in the Mexican League.
The path from promising rookie to independent ball has been a rocky one. In 2020, Plesac and Mike Clevinger violated COVID policy by going out in Chicago after a game, and the episode changed the direction of his career. He returned at the end of September and pitched well, but that was the end of his dominant stretch.
He did pile up a career-high 142 2/3 innings in 2021, though his ERA climbed to 4.67. That season also included time missed because of a thumb injury the team said he suffered from taking off his shirt. The next year, he punched the mound after allowing a home run against the Mariners and fractured his hand.
Plesac made five appearances for the Guardians in 2023 before being designated for assignment. He then logged three games for the Angels in 2024 and has since bounced through independent leagues and minor league stops.
There is still a path back for some players who go through independent baseball, but Plesac’s road looks steep. He did earn a minor league deal with the Cardinals after a productive run with the Long Island Ducks last season, but he was hit hard there and finished with a 7.67 ERA in 58 2/3 innings.
Still, no matter where the rest of his career goes, this latest detour gives him another unlikely memory: a hit off Altherr in a professional game in 2026.
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For Cleveland, it also turned into a reminder of the trade that sent Wilkinson away, especially because he lined up against a pair of familiar faces from his High-A Lake County days. Angel Genao and Travis Bazzana were among the batters he handled in that outing, a small detail that only sharpened the sense that the Guardians were watching a player they once developed begin his career somewhere else. [Read more 🡒]