The Marlins have claimed right-hander Nick Nastrini off waivers from the White Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville, reports Kevin Barral of Fish on First. Righty Max Meyer, who recently underwent season-ending hip surgery, was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot.
There wasn’t any previous indication that the White Sox had removed Nastrini from their 40-man roster, but it appears they quietly put him on waivers recently. Presumably, they hoped to pass him through unclaimed but the Marlins swooped in to grab him. Chicago’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.
The young righty has not been putting up good numbers this year, which is perhaps why the Sox felt there was a chance no one would claim him. He has thrown 44 1/3 Triple-A innings on the year with a 7.51 earned run average. His 22.7% strikeout rate is fine but he has walked opponents at a massive 18.5% clip.
The Marlins bumped him from the rotation to the bullpen in May. That didn’t help matters much. In his most recent 17 innings, he has a 7.94 ERA and massive 23.2% walk rate, though with an intriguing 30.5% strikeout rate.
Despite this year’s rough results, the Marlins have grabbed him. They had a roster spot open and Nastrini has shown promise at times, though mostly in that high-strikeout, high-walk style. From 2022 to 2024, he threw 316 1/3 minor league innings with a 4.35 ERA, 29.6% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate. He also tossed 35 2/3 major league innings for the Sox last year, though with poor results. He had a 7.07 ERA, 14.9% strikeout rate and 20.9% walk rate.
He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season. The Marlins are one of the few clubs clearly not in contention at the moment, so they are an understandable landing spot for a project like Nastrini.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images
when did he get waived?
the fact that youre seeking a sidekick doesnt bode well for your superhero career!
He certainly hasn’t been good, but does he need to be waived or could they have just demoted him to a lower minor league level from where he was at? They weren’t over roster limit? Maybe some other move coming? Odd
Expect moves to be coming. Houser and Tauchman. Why wait for injury. Going to lose 100 again. I believe they move Hauser now they’ll actually get something of value.
Why give up Hauser, who HAS value, for a prospect who has NO value now but POTENTIAL value later? Why not instead release players who have demonstrated little value, and trade—or at least try to—some of our own prospects who might be intriguing for other teams looking to rebuild?
I think they’ve got a few guys coming off the 60 day IL in the next month and they probably figured Nastrini has been bad enough they could sneak him through waivers at this time.
“…The Marlins bumped him from the rotation to the bullpen in May. That didn’t help matters much. In his most recent 17 innings, he has a 7.94 ERA and massive 23.2% walk rate, though with an intriguing 30.5% strikeout rate.”
How did the Marlins claim him now if the article says he was moved to their bullpen in May?
TIME TRAVEL DOES exist!!!
Never mind. Thought it said Nick Martini
Nastrini was on a stacked 2023 Tulsa (Dodgers) staff with Ben Casparius, River Ryan, Emmet Sheehan, Landon Knack, Kyle Hurt, and Nick Frasso. White Sox got Nastrini in the Lance Lynn/Joe Kelly trade, and he looks like the least of that bunch, although he seems to have avoided the injuries that have plagued the others.