Reliever Matt Carasiti elected free agency after going unclaimed on outright waivers, per the transactions log at MLB.com. The Rockies designated him for assignment over the weekend when they called up Geoff Hartlieb. It’s the third career outright for Carasiti, who can choose free agency each time he clears waivers.
Carasiti made seven big league appearances, allowing 10 runs in 8 2/3 innings. It was the 32-year-old’s second consecutive season working out of Bud Black’s bullpen. The former sixth-round draftee tossed a personal-high 24 1/3 frames with Colorado last year, allowing a 6.29 earned run average. Carasiti has surrendered 7.41 earned runs per nine in 58 1/3 MLB innings over parts of four campaigns dating back to 2016.
A St. John’s product, Carasiti owns a 4.18 ERA over six seasons in Triple-A. He struggled at that level this year, allowing almost six earned runs per nine with Colorado’s top farm team in Albuquerque. That’s a very difficult place to pitch, though, and he managed to strike out nearly 27% of opposing hitters.
Carasiti has fanned upwards of a quarter of his opponents in his Triple-A career behind a mid-90s fastball and a forkball, a rarely-seen offering in today’s MLB, that sits around 80 MPH. He’s never had great control, walking more than 10% of his opponents in Triple-A and the majors, but his arsenal has gotten him minor league looks from the Cubs, Mariners (who briefly called him up in 2019) and Giants — in addition to a stint in Japan with the Yakult Swallows back in 2018.
The Rockies initially drafted Carasiti and have signed him to a handful of minor league contracts over the years. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them circle back on a new non-roster deal, but his camp will have the chance to explore other opportunities.
Who?
Forkball pitcher huh? I’m all for more of these uncommon pitches in the league so I’m rooting he gets his control together. I’m also a huge fan of anybody throwing a knuckler, and of course anything else weird. I wish him well, but at 32, he better figure it out, fast.
A guy like him who has decent numbers at AAA and can go 2 or 3 innings if needed should be able to get a job as AAA depth with a lot of teams. Then there are enough injuries that he should at least get a run in the bigs for a few weeks each season before getting DFAd.
Better to have the marginal career of a replacement-level player (or slightly below) than to never get to MLB at all.