The Orioles announced that they have claimed Beau Sulser off waivers from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Lefty Paul Fry has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Sulser had his contract selected three weeks ago and made his MLB debut in late April. He pitched 9 2/3 innings out of Pittsburgh’s bullpen over four outings. His 3.72 ERA and 21.7% strikeout rate were acceptable, but he also had a concerning walk rate of 13%. The Pirates designated him for assignment a couple of days ago when they claimed Tyler Beede off waivers.
As for Fry, his designation is at least somewhat surprising, given that he was garnering trade interest at the deadline less than a year ago. Despite a penchant for walks, Fry’s ability to rack up strikeouts and ground balls seemed to give him appeal to other clubs around the league. For his career, he’s thrown 176 1/3 innings over this season and the previous four. His 4.80 ERA isn’t terribly enticing, but he has struck out 24.6% of batters he’s faced as well as inducing grounders at a 56.4% clip. His 12.2% walk rate has put a damper on his overall results, though.
This year, through 12 innings, the pattern is largely intact. His 6.00 ERA comes with a 22.2% strikeout rate, 65.6% ground ball rate and 13% walk rate. However, he’s been undone by a 25% HR/FB ratio. That’s a small sample, but it comes at a time when power is down across the league.
Given the interest he’s garnered in the past, it seems likely that he’ll latch on somewhere. He qualified for arbitration for the first time and is making a salary of $850K this year, just a hair above the $700K league minimum. He came into the season with three years and 75 days of service time and still has a pair of option years, meaning he could certainly be of interest to teams lacking in lefty bullpen depth.
filling their Sulser void
Nooooo, I refuse to accept this
I am glad the Orioles finally have seen the light on Fry. He really didn’t contribute to present or future.
Garbage in, garbage out
The Orioles will probably get something of value for Fry. I imagine a low level prospect.
There are only two places the Orioles can trade Fry. The first is the Marlins so he can pitch with Bender (Anthony), or the White Sox so he can play with Burger (Jake).
Probably wont get much for Fry. He is small potatoes.
Probably doesn’t matter but I would rather have beau sulser than Tyler beede FWIW
Tbf, Beede is only really here as a warm body and a mop-up guy. Once we get Contreras up and recall Kranick, he’s gone.
If Beede is just going to be a mop up man then they could have kept Sulser to do that.
It seems to me that the Pirates need to give these guys more of a chance in case they actually do have something.
Paul fry was a good reliever when you could use the sticky stuff.
Absolute gas can after. Some team can claim him but they aren’t getting anything.
Is Hahn awake yet