Former Cleveland Guardians Pitcher Passes Away

A former Cleveland Guardians pitcher has tragically passed away.

Jun 27, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view a Cleveland Guardians hat and glove on the dugout railing before a game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images | Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

Former Cleveland Guardians pitcher Scott Sauerbeck has passed away at the age of 53 as a result of a heart attack, via Pittsburgh Baseball Now.

Sauerbeck died in Bradenton, Fl. on Tuesday.

The left-hander spent parts of two seasons with the Guardians as a reliever between 2004 and 2006, although he did not pitch at all in 2004 due to injury.

Sauerbeck made 58 appearances out of the bullpen in 2005, pitching to the tune of a 4.04 ERA while allowing 35 hits and registering 35 strikeouts over 35.2 innings of work. The following year, he pitched in 46 games and logged a 6.23 ERA in a small sample size of 13 frames.

Cleveland released him in June 2006.

Overall, Sauerbeck spent time with four different major-league teams. He broke into the bigs with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1999 and spent the first four-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Pirates, enjoying a couple of terrific campaigns with Pittsburgh in particular.

He posted two seasons of sub-3.00 ERA baseball with the Pirates and also set the team's single-season record for most appearances with 78 in 2002, when he tallied a 2.30 ERA. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox midway through 2003. He ended his career with the Oakland Athletics in 2006.

The Cincinnati native recorded a 3.82 ERA while averaging a solid 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings over the course of his big-league career. He was originally selected by the New York Mets in the 23rd round of the 1994 MLB Draft.

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