Giants Claim Angel Rondón From Cardinals

The Giants announced to reporters, including Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com, that they have claimed right-handed pitcher Angel Rondón off waivers from the Cardinals. He had been designated for assignment by the Cards last week. The Giants had an open spot on their 40-man roster after designating Jake McGee for assignment recently.

Rondón, 24, was signed by the Cardinals out of the Dominican Republic and made his affiliated debut back in 2016. He was largely a starter at the beginning of his career but has thrown out of the bullpen more after reaching the upper levels. He made his MLB debut last year but threw just two innings. This year, he has just a single appearance at the big league level. After Steven Matz started the game against the Pirates on May 22, he departed after just four pitches. Rondon entered and threw five scoreless frames, but was optioned out for a fresh arm the next day. That gives him seven total innings of MLB experience without allowing an earned run so far.

Through 49 Triple-A innings on the year, he has a 4.04 ERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate but a concerning walk rate of 15.3%. Five of his 18 appearances have been starts, though those were mostly of the “opener” variety. He still has youth on his side and is in his second option year, meaning he can be stashed in the minors for the rest of this season as well as another campaign. That makes him a fairly sensible add for the Giants, who have already optioned him to Triple-A. He can stay in Sacramento as depth until needed or until he forces his way onto the big league team.