The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed left-handed pitcher Joey Wentz off waivers from the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.
Wentz had a 5.37 ERA in 55.1 innings this year with Detroit, putting up a 9.76 K/9 and a 4.39 BB/9 in relief. He’s in his age 26 season, and has zero options remaining, but has five years of control beyond this season. His numbers so far haven’t warranted long-term outlooks, but he does have some interesting swing and miss trends.
With a combined 30.2% whiff rate and a 30.7% chase rate, Wentz rates above average to among the best in the game at forcing bad swings. His three secondary pitches have improved this year, with a 35% whiff rate or higher on his curveball, cutter, and changeup. Those three pitches were his best last season, but none were above 31.8% whiffs.
The problem for Wentz is that his fastball has been hit hard. It averages 93.8 MPH and gets up to 96, but has a .438 wOBA against. That is improved over the 2023 season, when the fastball had a -23 run value on the season, or -2.9 runs every 100 times he threw the pitch.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Wentz had a 3.48 ERA during the month of August, with all of his runs allowed coming in one outing on August 22nd. That was the only time during the month where he pitched on back-to-back days. He’ll get the final month of the year to show what he can do in the Pirates’ bullpen.
There was an open spot on the 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was made. The Pirates will make a corresponding move to the 28-man roster when Wentz joins the team.
Minor Moves
- Altoona ended the season of catcher Abrahan Gutierrez, transferring him from the 7-day IL to the 60-day IL.
- Veteran third baseman Jose Rojas was released from Indianapolis on Monday.
- LHP Josh Hartle, drafted in the fourth round, was assigned to Bradenton, where he made his pro debut on Monday.
