The Royals announced that they have claimed right-hander Nick Tepesch off waivers from the Athletics and optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. Oakland had designated Tepesch for assignment over the weekend. Kris Medlen has been moved to the 60-day disabled list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Tepesch, 27, lost his roster spot when the A’s selected the contract of corner infield prospect Ryon Healy. The former Rangers hurler didn’t appear in a game for Oakland in the Majors and has made just one MLB appearance since 2014 — a start earlier this season with the Dodgers in which he surrendered five runs in four innings. The rest of Tepesch’s 2016 campaign has been spent at the Triple-A level, where he’s authored a 3.96 ERA in exactly 100 innings of work between the affiliates of the Rangers, the A’s and the Dodgers, averaging 4.9 strikeouts and 1.9 walks per nine innings pitched along the way.
Tepesch made 39 starts and totaled 219 innings with the Rangers from 2013-14, posting a combined 4.56 ERA with 5.4 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a roughly league-average ground-ball rate in that span of time. A nerve issue in his right arm cost Tepesch the entire 2015 season, however, and he was removed from Texas’ 40-man roster this offseason. Tepesch opened the season with the Rangers organization but was granted his release upon his request in early June, and he’s bounced around the league a bit since that time. He’ll now serve as rotation depth for a Royals organization that is hurting for quality innings from its starting staff. Kansas City has seen setbacks to Medlen and Mike Minor while also receiving considerably worse-than-expected contributions from starters Chris Young, Edinson Volquez and Yordano Ventura in the Majors.
In defense of Volquez, his FIP is considerably lower than his ERA- therefore, he has not been all that bad. Also, remember that his ERA would be significantly lower if you exclude that one horrific start., he’d be carrying a 3.96 ERA- which is solid.
I had mild expectations for Medlen coming into this season. Disappointing and frustrating to say the least.