Marlins Select Matt Andriese

The Marlins are selecting the contract of right-hander Matt Andriese, as reported by Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Andriese will take the 40-man roster spot of Tim Anderson, who the club designated for assignment earlier this week. De Nicola adds that right-hander Anthony Maldonado was optioned to make room for Andriese on the active roster.

Andriese, 34, is a veteran journeyman who has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors since making his debut with the Rays back in 2015. The right-hander signed with Miami on a minor league deal over the offseason and already pitched in the majors for the club earlier this season. He posted a 5.40 ERA in five innings of work across three appearances before being designated for assignment in mid-April, but remained with the club after being outrighted to the minors. His time in Triple-A left much to be desired, as he allowed a 4.78 ERA in 32 innings of work across 13 multi-inning relief appearances. He struck out just 15.6% of batters faced while walking 8.5%.

Those shaky numbers didn’t stop the Marlins from giving Andriese another shot in the majors, and the righty will get another opportunity to show he’s still capable of providing solid innings like he did earlier in his career. Andriese got his start as a solid, innings-eating arm for the Rays who swung between the rotation and bullpen with roughly league average results. In parts of four seasons with Tampa, the righty pitched to a 4.30 ERA (95 ERA+) with a 4.13 FIP in 99 appearances, 48 of which were starts. After leaving Tampa, Andriese became a full-time reliever but struggled through stints with the Diamondbacks, Angels, Red Sox, and Mariners until he departed affiliated ball to pitch for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yoimuri Giants in 2022.

That stint in Japan went swimmingly for Andriese, as he posted a sterling 2.86 ERA in 63 innings of work for Yoimuri while striking out a decent 21.1% of batters faced. The right-hander returned to stateside ball last year but struggled to a 6.07 ERA in 21 appearances (19 starts) for the Dodgers at the Triple-A level that year. Those results left something to be desired even by the standards of the Pacific Coast League and its inflated offensive environment. His time with the Marlins has been an improvement on his time with Los Angeles in Oklahoma City, but it’s unclear if this latest selection of his contract to the big league roster will be a brief one like his three-appearance stint in early April or if he’ll be afforded a longer audition in the Miami bullpen.