The Orioles announced that they’ve claimed left-hander D.J. Snelten off waivers from the Giants. Baltimore had an open spot on its 40-man roster, so no corresponding move was necessary. Snelten has been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk for the time being.
[Related: Updated Baltimore Orioles depth chart]
The 26-year-old Snelten is listed at a towering 6’7″ and 245 pounds, and he entered the season ranked as the Giants’ ninth-best prospect, per Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs. While he doesn’t throw especially hard, Snelten possesses an above-average changeup and has performed reasonably well in the upper minors. He allowed five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in his MLB debut this season but comes to the Orioles organization with a career 2.84 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 69 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Longenhagen’s scouting report notes that Snelten’s size and unorthodox delivery help him succeed against same-handed batters, while the changeup gives him a viable weapon to use against right-handed opponents.
Snelten was only just selected to the 40-man roster this past offseason, so he has two option years remaining beyond the 2018 campaign. He can be shuttled between Norfolk and Baltimore to lend some depth to the Orioles’ staff, and with several trade candidates in the Baltimore ’pen, it’s possible that a spot will eventually open for Snelten to receive a lengthier look.
good pickup for them, I hope he gets a chance to develop – guy has potential but didn’t cut it when he was brought up.
The Orioles organization is not the place to be if you’re a pitcher looking to develop.
Sounds like it might be a good move by the O’s
Yeah, pretty good. (That said, as an O’s diehard, I think ANY move is an improvement these days! :-)
A meh lefty but the Giants could use his flexibility with his remaining options, an odd choice since they chose to keep longer term LH failures with little flexibility in Osich&
Okert. Also Tyler Herb or Gomez could be outrighted also, both garbage.
We’ll see who gets outrighted on Tuesday for Bum
I still don’t understand why the Giants kept Osich over this guy.
Bobby Evans…..
you’re right osich is garbage
Teams will always think they can correct a guy with mid-90 fastball. I do agree he does suck
Cool. Give him the ball and see what he can do. I’ll take picks like this over rule 5 players any day of the week.
To make room on the roster, International Spending has been designated for assignment…
Lmao
His nickname from Bochy is legit “The Big Snelt”. I’m ok with this as long as the Orioles call him that too.