The Padres have designated lefty Troy Patton and infielder Chris Nelson for assignment, MLB.com’s Corey Brock reports on Twitter. Like many of the day’s other DFAs, these moves are related to the team’s September call-up plans.
Patton, 28, was picked up from the Orioles in the deal that sent Nick Hundley to Baltimore. He had been a reasonably effective reliever before struggling out of the gate this year for the O’s. Over 7 1/3 frames in San Diego, Patton actually showed quite well, allowing just two earned runs and striking out eight and walking only one. Over his career, Patton has limited lefties to a .633 OPS while also managing right-handed batters reasonably well (.718 OPS-against).
Nelson, also 28, has bounced around quite a bit in recent years. This season, he spent time at Triple-A with both the Reds and Pads, posting a combined .279/.355/.389 slash over 363 plate appearances. He failed to hit the .300 mark in any of those categories in his 81 trips to the MLB dish this year for San Diego.
I feel like Patton as a southpaw will get picked up by somebody…Roch told me over Twitter that Orioles won’t put in a claim.
Obviously small sample size, but he did good work the Padres in his limited time. Hard to believe they let him go in my eyes.
You won’t find a nicer guy in Chris Nelson.
The O’s should get Patton back. Worth having an extra lefty for September. It’s not impossible that they could catch the Angels for the best record.
They have Saunders, Miller, Britton, and Matsuz (sp?). How many lefties do they need?
Not only is it Chris Nelson’s birthday today, but Troy Patton’s. Happy birthday, guys. You’ve been DFA’d
Additionally, Chris Nelson just got back from paternity leave.