Pitcher Xzavion Curry remains work in progress in first stint with Columbus Clippers
Xzavion Curry would be the first person to tell you that he’s not a finished product, just like his pitching windup.
When the starting pitcher was selected by the Cleveland Guardians in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB draft, his throwing motion was not traditional: a jerky motion with an overhead snap that allows the ball to explode out of his right hand, something he’s smoothed out since becoming a professional.
“I was an athlete that transitioned to the mound,” Curry said. “My motion on the mound was not generic. It was just the motion I developed at a young age.”
While Curry is still a work in progress on the mound, it hasn’t prevented his fast rise through the Guardians organization, taking the field with the Clippers in Triple-A for the first time in the middle of his second professional season.
Through his first six starts with the Clippers, Curry, the No. 20 prospect in the Guardians organization, has a 3.09 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP, striking out 33 batters in 32 innings pitched. His success is just a continuation of the success he’s had at each stop he’s made in the Guardians organization, posting a 2.90 ERA in 198.2 innings pitched in two seasons.
Now, Curry's getting his chance at the next level.
Curry was called up to the Guardians Sunday to start the second game of their doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers Monday.
But Curry’s been on the big stage before, having pitched three seasons for Georgia Tech. It was an experience, he said, that made him comfortable from the first time he stepped on a minor league mound.
"That’s what minor league baseball really is about is the reps,” Curry said. “I kind of got those reps at Georgia Tech under great coaching, so just learning the game more, being around the game and studying the game and just having fun playing the game at Georgia Tech just brought me closer to the game of baseball.”
Xzavion Curry's path to the Clippers was untraditional
But his first reps of professional baseball didn’t come exactly as planned.
After being drafted in 2019, Curry’s first appearance in the minor leagues didn’t come until 2021 after the minor league season was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
During 2020, Curry continued to work, sending videos of him throwing to coaches with the Guardians, continuing to tinker and perfect his throwing motion while getting into the gym to get stronger.
“It was kind of a point in my life where I was without baseball and it was kind of rebuilding myself from the ground up,” Curry said. “I feel like that quarantine period, even though I was like, ‘Dang, I’m missing out on this time to play,’ I was like this is the time I can get better. I just kind of dove into myself physically and mentally and did what I felt I had to do to transform myself into the baseball player I wanted to be.”
It was progress Rigo Beltran was impressed by when he watched Curry throw in spring. The Clippers pitching coach said he was impressed with the pitcher’s ability to attack, calling him mature for a player who was in A-ball a year ago.
Now, with Curry on his staff at the Triple-A level, Beltran sees a pitcher who knows he still has work to do and who continues to tighten up his curveball and slider while developing a changeup that complements a fastball that can cut to all four quadrants.
“The fact that he’s here, he’s still competing, performing and the fact that he still has an open mindset is refreshing,” Beltran said. “To have youth that still know they have some development left, but are still performing out there.”
Curry knows progress has been made. But he knows there’s still work to do.
The Triple-A level is something the right-hander is still getting comfortable with, facing older players with better approaches at the plate, something he will see even more with the Guardians at the major-league level.
Curry’s mindset is not changing, though. He’s still attacking the plate and trusting himself that what brought him to the Clippers will bring him success at the next level.
“I kind of look back at video and I see how much I have grown,” Curry said. “But I’m my biggest critic. I even tell my friends after outings that I feel I have to be so much better, so much stronger. I watch the pitchers in the majors. They just elevate to the next level.
“I give myself credit for the growth and the progress that I have made, but I always remind myself that I’m nowhere near the finish line.”
Mud Hens at Clippers
When: 7:05 p.m, Tuesday
Radio: 920 AM
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Xzavion Curry, Cleveland Guardians prospect, joins Columbus Clippers
