Orioles Select Vinny Nittoli
1:07pm: The Orioles have announced the selection of Nittoli’s contract. In corresponding moves, left-hander Cade Povich was optioned to Triple-A and Coulombe was transferred to the 60-day IL.
8:45am: The Orioles are selecting the contract of right-hander Vinny Nittoli, as MASN’s Roch Kubatko reported this morning. The righty signed with the club on a minor league deal earlier this month. The club will need to make a corresponding 40-man move in order to add Nittoli to the roster, though that could be accomplished by transferring lefty Danny Coulombe to the 60-day injured list.
Nittoli, 33, was a 25th-round pick by the Mariners back in 2014 and has spent his decade in professional baseball largely as a minor league journeyman. After spending a few years in Seattle’s minor league system, Nittoli departed affiliated ball in 2017 and spent two years pitching in the independent American Association before catching back on in the minors. Over the course of his professional career, he’s suited up for the Mariners, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Phillies, Cubs, Mets, A’s, and now the Orioles at the Triple-A level. In all that time, however, he’s received only scattered playing time in the majors with 13 big league appearances to his name.
More than half of those appearances came with the A’s earlier this season. He pitched eight innings of work in total with Oakland, and performed to a strong 2.25 ERA with five strikeouts against two walks. The righty has actually received similarly brief cups of coffee in the major leagues in each of the last four seasons, having first made his big league debut with the Mariners back in 2021. In all, Nittoli sports a 3.07 ERA despite a lackluster 5.02 FIP and a strikeout rate of just 16.4% in 14 2/3 innings of work at the big league level.
Despite those relatively pedestrian numbers at the big league level, it isn’t hard to see why the Orioles would be interested in giving Nittoli a look at the big league level. He’s been nothing short of dominant at the Triple-A level this year with a 2.73 ERA in 26 1/3 innings of work split between the affiliates of Oakland and Baltimore. That already impressive figure is made all the more intriguing by the fact that the majority of those innings came in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, where the Athletics’ affiliate in Las Vegas plays. Nittoli has paired those strong run prevention numbers with an eye-popping 36% strikeout rate at the level this year, suggesting that there could be a meaningful improvement in skills to go along with the results.
Altogether, Nittoli’s resume is interesting enough for the Orioles to give him a shot in their bullpen mix. The club’s relief corps has been more or less league average this year, rankings 14th in baseball with a 3.84 ERA, but there’s certainly room for improvement ahead of the club’s back-end duo of Yennier Cano and Craig Kimbrel, particularly after Coulombe underwent surgery last month. Right-hander Bryan Baker, for example, can be optioned to the minors and has struggled to a 5.14 ERA and 4.38 FIP in 14 innings of work with the club.
Royals Trade Colin Selby To Orioles
The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve acquired right-hander Colin Selby from the Royals in exchange for cash. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Kansas City had recently designated Selby for assignment. The O’s transferred Kyle Bradish from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Selby, 26, pitched just three big league innings for the Royals this season, allowing a pair of runs in that short time. Kansas City acquired Selby from Pittsburgh back in April, sending minor league southpaw Connor Oliver to the Pirates in return. Selby pitched 24 innings with the Bucs last year but was tagged for 24 runs in that time. To date, he’s allowed 26 earned runs in 27 MLB frames.
Obviously, that’s a poor track record but also a small sample at the game’s top level. But the former 16th-round pick is no stranger to minor league success, having posted excellent numbers at the Double-A level in addition to some decent but inconsistent results in Triple-A. Selby notched a sub-4.00 ERA with a 30.8% strikeout rate for Pittsburgh’s Triple-A club last season but has struggled to a 5.32 ERA in 20 Triple-A frames between Indianapolis and Omaha this year.
Missing bats is nothing new for Selby, who’s punched out 25.6% of his career minor league opponents. That includes some lesser strikeout rates in the lower minors when he was still working as a starter. Since moving up to the Double-A level and shifting exclusively to a relief role, Selby has fanned 29.8% of the batters he’s faced. His bat-missing arsenal, as is often the case, is accompanied by troubling command woes, however. He’s dished out a free pass to 12.5% of his combined Double-A/Triple-A opponents and plunked another five hitters. Between those walks and HBPs, he’s given first base away to about 14% of the hitters he’s faced in the upper minors.
Selby is in the second of three minor league option years and doesn’t yet have a full season of MLB service under his belt. If the O’s can get him straightened out, he’ll be optionable again next season and under club control for a full six seasons. There’s quite a ways to go before that’s even a plausible situation, but Baltimore has a knack for coaxing strong relief work from unheralded acquisitions. Their track record isn’t spotless, of course, but the O’s have unlocked next-level performances from Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, Cionel Perez and Jacob Webb, among others, despite middling to nonexistent track records at their time of acquisition.
Orioles Select Burch Smith
The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Burch Smith from Triple-A Norfolk. Fellow righty Dillon Tate was optioned to Norfolk in a corresponding move. Baltimore already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so a 40-man move wasn’t necessary.
The 34-year-old Smith signed with the O’s on a minor league deal two weeks ago. He’s pitched a pair of shutout innings for the Tides during his brief Triple-A stint in the organization, fanning a pair and only allowing one hit along the way. He also tossed 29 2/3 innings out of the Marlins’ bullpen earlier this season and worked to a solid 4.25 ERA — albeit with a subpar 17% strikeout rate. However, Smith also walked only 6.7% of his opponents and kept the ball on the ground at a hearty 47% clip.
That marked Smith’s first big league work since 2021. He spent the 2022 season with the Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and the 2023 season with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Hanwha Eagles. A former 11th-round pick, Smith has pitched in parts of six big league seasons between the Padres, A’s, Royals, Giants, Brewers and Marlins, logging a combined 5.79 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate.
As for Tate, he was a key member of the Baltimore bullpen in 2022, when he pitched 73 2/3 innings of 3.05 ERA ball for manager Brandon Hyde. He opened the 2023 season on the injured list due to a flexor strain, however, and when he’d progressed to the point that he was ready for a rehab assignment, he suffered a stress reaction in his elbow that led to a second shutdown. He wound up missing the entire 2023 season as a result of those two injuries.
Now healthy, Tate was enjoying a strong season up through mid-June before hitting a substantial rough patch. As recently as June 19, Tate was sitting on a sparkling 2.31 ERA. A poor 15.6% strikeout rate suggested he would have a hard time sustaining quite that level of success, but Tate sported an average walk rate and huge 56.3% grounder rate. Regression indeed came — and far more aggressively than anyone could’ve reasonably predicted. He’s been scored upon in three straight appearances and has given up runs in six of his past eight outings. Dating back to June 19, Tate has a 9.90 ERA (11 runs in 10 innings).
The move to option Tate comes not long before he’d have been granted the right to refuse such an assignment. The former No. 4 overall pick entered the season with 4.048 years of MLB service and has run that total up to 4.128 years. With just 44 more days on the active roster or injured list, he’d reach five years of service. At that point, he’d have to consent to being optioned.
So long as Tate gets 44 more days on the active roster or injured list between now and season’s end, he’ll remain on track to become a free agent following the 2025 season. If, however, he’s up for 43 or fewer days, he’ll finish the season with four-plus years instead of five-plus and have his path to free agency pushed back by a year.
Orioles Moving Cole Irvin To Bullpen
The Orioles are kicking left-hander Cole Irvin to the bullpen, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters (X link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). Baltimore will stick with a starting five of Corbin Burnes, Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Albert Suárez and rookie Cade Povich.
Irvin has spent the majority of his career as a starter. Yet this is the second straight year in which he’s been squeezed out of the Baltimore rotation, at least temporarily. Acquired from the A’s going into the 2023 season, Irvin only started half of his 24 appearances a year ago. Baltimore moved him back into the rotation this year — in part because of injuries to Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells. He has started 14 of 16 outings.
The southpaw’s overall results are serviceable. Irvin carries a 4.13 ERA in 80 2/3 innings. His 16.1% strikeout rate is well below average, but Irvin’s game has never been built around missing many bats. He’s primarily a control artist and has continued to excel in that regard, walking fewer than 5% of opponents this year.
However, the vast majority of Irvin’s production came in the first two months of the season. He carried a 2.84 ERA through 50 2/3 innings into June. Opponents have teed off on him over the past couple weeks. Irvin was rocked for 6.30 earned runs per nine in 30 innings last month. His home run rate spiked to an untenable 1.8 HR/9 while opposing hitters put up a massive .341/.373/.591 slash line. Irvin’s three most recent starts have been especially poor. He allowed at least five runs in each without completing five innings in any.
The 30-year-old will try to sort things out in a multi-inning relief role. Hyde left open the possibility for Irvin to return to the rotation at any point. His chance of returning to starting could become more limited over the coming weeks. Acquiring starting pitching — ideally a third starter who could join Burnes and Rodriguez in a playoff rotation — should be a deadline priority for an O’s team holding a narrow advantage on the Yankees in the AL East. There might not be a robust supply of high-level starters this summer, which complicates things, but it’d be a surprise if the Orioles weren’t among the more aggressive suitors for starting pitching.
Irvin is playing this season on a $2MM arbitration salary. He’s out of options, so the Orioles can’t send him to Triple-A without putting him on waivers. Baltimore controls him via arbitration for two seasons beyond this one, yet it wouldn’t be surprising if they shop or even non-tender him next offseason. There’s an outside chance the O’s field trade offers on Irvin this summer (especially if they first acquire an impact stater who firmly blocks his path back to a starting job).
For now, he’s likely to serve in a long relief role in Hyde’s bullpen. Irvin had solid numbers in that capacity a season ago, working to a 3.26 ERA while striking out 23.3% of opponents in 19 1/3 frames as a reliever.
Orioles, Vinny Nittoli Agree To Minor League Deal
Right-hander Vinny Nittoli and the Orioles have agreed to a deal, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com on X. The righty will report to Triple-A Norfolk. Earlier today, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reported on X that the righty had elected free agency. He was designated for assignment by the Cubs last week but passed through waivers unclaimed.
It was just over a week ago that Nittoli elected free agency after he was outrighted by the Athletics. That led to him signing a major league deal with the Cubs, though he was bounced off the roster one day later without appearing in a game as the Cubs selected Jorge López. He’s out of options and also has the right to reject outright assignments by virtue of having previously been outrighted in his career, with both of those factors contributing to his many transactions in recent days.
The 33-year-old Nittoli signed a minor league deal with the A’s in the offseason and started the season pitching well in Triple-A. He tossed 23 1/3 innings for Sacramento, allowing 2.70 earned runs per nine. His 11% walk rate was on the high side but he also struck out 36% of batters faced and got grounders on 45.1% of balls in play. He may have benefited from an 82.7% strand rate but was also pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and allowed a .347 batting average on balls in play.
That got him called up to the big leagues and he continued putting up good numbers, allowing just two earned runs in eight innings pitched for the A’s. He only punched out 15.6% of major league hitters but in a small sample of work. Despite that fairly solid performance, he lost his roster spot with Oakland and has been in suitcase mode for over a week now, thanks to getting that Cubs deal but then promptly being DFA’d again.
For the O’s, there’s no real risk in bringing him aboard via a minor league deal and getting an up-close look at him. As mentioned, he was racking up strikeouts in bunches in Triple-A earlier this year. This is his fourth straight season with MLB work but he’s never had a lengthy stretch in the show, currently with just 14 2/3 total innings on his résumé from those four seasons. In 159 Triple-A innings since the start of 2021, he has a 4.19 ERA. His 29.8% strikeout rate in that time is strong and his 8.3% walk rate close to average, but his 29 home runs allowed have pushed the ERA up.
If he can earn his way onto Baltimore’s roster, his grip on a spot may be tenuous, as it was with the A’s and Cubs. Though if he happens to have a roster spot at season’s end, he can be retained well into the future since he has less than a year of service time.
Julio Teheran Opts Out Of Minors Deal With Orioles
The Orioles announced this morning that veteran right-hander Julio Teheran has opted out with his minor league deal with the club. The 33-year-old veteran signed with Baltimore earlier this month after opting out of a previous minor league deal with the Cubs, but he’ll now return to free agency in search of a better opportunity elsewhere.
A veteran of 13 seasons in the majors, Teheran made his debut with the Braves back in 2011 but didn’t step into a full time role with the club as a member of their rotation until 2013. The righty went on to spend the next seven seasons in a mid-rotation role with the club, making at least 30 starts in each of those seasons and pitching to a 3.64 ERA (111 ERA+) with a 4.22 FIP overall during that time. That impressive durability allowed him to post the ninth-most innings among all major league pitchers between 2013 and 2019 while starting less games than only Jon Lester, Jose Quintana, and Max Scherzer within that timeframe.
After the 2019 campaign, Teheran departed the Braves and began to bounce around the league with stops in several different organizations over the past five years. Looking just at his time playing for clubs in the majors, he’s suited up for the Mets, Brewers, Tigers, and Angels since that time, appearing in every major league season during that period except the 2022 campaign when he pitched in the Atlantic League and Mexican League outside of affiliated ball. His results have taken a noticeable step back in recent years as he’s struggled to a 6.10 ERA and nearly matching 6.11 FIP in 110 2/3 innings of work, although his time in Milwaukee did see him post a 4.40 ERA (100 ERA+) in 71 2/3 innings last year.
That decent showing with the Brewers was enough to earn Teheran a minor league deal with Baltimore entering Spring Training, although he returned to free agency and signed with the Mets when the Orioles opted not to include him on their Opening Day roster. Teheran’s stint in Queens lasted just one start (where he allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in 2 2/3 frames) before he was designated for assignment by the club. He eventually signed on with Chicago as a depth option amid a rash of injuries to the Cubs’ big league rotation, though he never got the call to the majors before opting out with the club.
That’s more or less the same story as his second stint in Baltimore of the year, as he joined the Orioles amid injuries to Dean Kremer, John Means, Tyler Wells, and Kyle Bradish but was nonetheless unable to break onto the big league roster after surrendering an 8.94 ERA in 12 combined starts at the Triple-A level between his time in the Cubs and Orioles organizations. Those atrocious results surely contributed to Baltimore’s decision not to add him to the big league roster, but it’s certainly still possible to imagine the righty attracting enough interest on the open market to earn a spot in another club’s minor league system, where he could serve as a depth option for a rotation-needy club if he can get his results back on track in the minors.
Orioles Sign Niko Goodrum, Burch Smith To Minor League Deals
The Orioles announced the signing of utility player Niko Goodrum and reliever Burch Smith to minor league contracts. Both players hit free agency last week — Goodrum after clearing outright waivers by the Pirates, Smith upon being released by the Marlins.
Goodrum is on his fifth organization of the season. He has bounced between the Twins, Rays, Angels and Pirates going back to Spring Training. The switch-hitter has appeared in 13 big league contests split between Tampa Bay and Los Angeles. He’s hitting .103/.188/.103 with 10 strikeouts and three walks. Goodrum has logged 75 Triple-A plate appearances with a far superior .270/.387/.444 slash. He has drawn 11 walks with three home runs in that limited sample.
The 32-year-old Goodrum has appeared in parts of seven MLB campaigns. He’s a career .224/.297/.383 hitter over nearly 1600 big league plate appearances. Goodrum played a portion of the 2023 season in Korea, turning in a .295/.373/.387 batting line in 201 trips to the plate. He provides a depth option at virtually every position outside of catcher and center field.
Smith, 34, pitched 29 2/3 innings with the Marlins this year. The right-hander was in camp with the Rays on a non-roster contract before leveraging an upward mobility clause into an MLB look in Miami. Smith pitched in mostly low-leverage situations out of Skip Schumaker’s bullpen. He turned in a 4.25 earned run average behind a solid 47% grounder percentage. He didn’t miss many bats, though, striking out 17% of batters faced with a meager 8.6% swinging strike rate.
That stint in Miami was Smith’s first big league action in three years. He also had a brief stay in Korea last season but only made one start before suffering a shoulder injury. His velocity returned this season, as he averaged a solid 94.4 MPH on his four-seam fastball. He’ll head to Triple-A Norfolk and try to pitch his way into a middle relief role at Camden Yards.
Orioles Outright Nick Maton
June 28: The Orioles announced that Maton went unclaimed on outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. He could’ve rejected the assignment in favor of free agency but will remain in Norfolk for now.
June 24: The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve designated infielder/outfielder Nick Maton for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to top outfield prospect Heston Kjerstad, whose previously reported recall from Triple-A Norfolk is now official.
Maton, 27, had his contract selected to the big league roster last week but only appeared in one game with the O’s and did not make a plate appearance. Baltimore acquired Maton from the Tigers in exchange for cash over the winter and eventually passed him through waivers. He’s spent the season in their minor league system logging four rehab games at High-A after an injury and another 41 games at the Triple-A level. Overall, he’s turned in a stout .292/.390/.481 batting line with seven homers, six doubles, a triple, a huge 13.2% walk rate and a 22.5% strikeout rate.
A seventh-round pick by the Phillies back in 2017, Maton impressed during his first two big league seasons. The younger brother of reliever Phil Maton, Nick slashed .254/.330/.434 in 216 plate appearances with the Phils in 2021-22. Philadelphia sent Maton, Matt Vierling and Donny Sands to Detroit in the trade that netted them Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens. Maton received ample playing time with the Tigers, but things didn’t pan out as hoped; he logged 293 plate appearances last season but delivered only a .173/.288/.305 batting line in that time.
Maton is out of minor league options, so the Orioles didn’t have the ability to send him back to Norfolk without first exposing him to waivers. He was previously outrighted by the O’s this year, so he’ll have the option to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency if he’s placed back on waivers and clears a second time.
That said, Maton has hit well in the upper minors this season and brings plenty of defensive versatility to the table. He’s spent time at all four infield positions and all three outfield positions in pro ball, albeit only 52 innings at first base and just seven innings in center. His versatility and success in the upper minors could lead to a team in need of a left-handed bat placing a claim or orchestrating a small trade. The O’s will have a week to complete a move involving Maton, whether it’s a trade or passing him through waivers.
Orioles, Garrett Cooper Agree To Minor League Deal
June 25: The Orioles have now announced the signing.
June 24: The Orioles are bringing in first baseman Garrett Cooper on a minor league contract, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid (X link). The Ballengee Group client presumably head to Triple-A Norfolk as he awaits his next MLB opportunity.
Cooper is on his third organization of the 2024 season. The righty-hitting first baseman signed a minor league deal with the Cubs and broke camp. While he turned in an impressive .270/.341/.432 batting line with Chicago, the front office was alarmed by his 13 strikeouts in 41 plate appearances. The Cubs designated Cooper for assignment and dealt him to the Red Sox in a cash trade.
The regression that the Cubs anticipated indeed came to pass in Boston. Cooper hit only .171/.227/.229 in 75 trips to the plate. Boston DFA him and released him a couple weeks ago. The former All-Star has lingered on the free agent market since then. The Yankees reportedly showed some interest after losing Anthony Rizzo to injury. New York opted for a different righty-hitting corner infielder/designated hitter, acquiring J.D. Davis from the A’s yesterday.
Baltimore doesn’t present the cleanest path back to the big leagues for Cooper. The O’s have arguably the deepest lineup in the majors. Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle respectively have first base and designated hitter secured. Baltimore has Anthony Santander and Colton Cowser as their main corner outfield tandem, while Austin Hays and Heston Kjerstad are also in the mix. It might take an injury for Cooper to get a look at Camden Yards.
At the very least, the minor league deal gives him an opportunity to try to find his rhythm against Triple-A pitching. Cooper has struggled offensively over the past year and a half, largely because of an uptick in his strikeouts. He’s a .242/.297/.395 hitter since the start of the 2023 campaign. Between 2019-22, Cooper was an effective middle-of-the-lineup presence for the Marlins. He hit .274/.350/.444 over that stretch.
Orioles To Promote Heston Kjerstad
The Orioles are set to call top prospect Heston Kjerstad back up to the majors, according to Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner (via X). The corresponding move isn’t known, but MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko guesses the O’s might designate Nick Maton for assignment. Maton had his contract selected earlier this week to give Baltimore some infield depth when Jordan Westberg was nursing a hip contusion, but since Westberg has kept playing with seemingly no ill effect from the contusion, Maton could be expendable.
Kjerstad made his MLB debut with 13 games in the 2023 season, and he received 17 plate appearances over seven games earlier this season when the O’s had called him up to the active roster from April 23 to May 12. Kjerstad had a .748 OPS over 33 PA in 2023 and only a .437 OPS in his 17 PA this season, so one can’t really make any judgements based on such small and sporadic doses of playing time.
What is clear that is Kjerstad doesn’t have much less to prove at the Triple-A level. He has hit .301/.390/.601 with 16 home runs over 255 PA for Norfolk this season, which comes on the heels of his .298/.371/.498 slash line in 334 Triple-A trips to the plate in 2023. On just about any other team, Kjerstad would’ve already been a staple of the everyday lineup and been given a lot of time to test himself against big league pitching, but the Orioles’ unique situation creates more questions about just how often Kjerstad is going to play.
Kjerstad is a left-handed hitter who has played first base and both corner outfield slots in the minors, and he is generally considered a bat-first player more than a prime defensive option at any of his positions. Ryan O’Hearn is another lefty bat on Baltimore’s roster with that same defensive profile, plus the O’s have Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander in everyday roles at first base and right field. Cedric Mullins and Colton Cowser (both left-handed hitters) have been splitting time in center field, with Cowser also seeing a lot of time in left field, and the right-handed hitting Austin Hays also in the mix.
When a right-handed pitcher is on the mound, therefore, the Orioles already have a pretty full set of lefty-swinging options. It is worth noting that Cowser has struggled badly since a hot start to his season, so he might be the likeliest to lose playing time if Kjerstad is coming back to the Show. Mullins has also started hitting better after a deep slump, so the Orioles could give Mullins more time in center field and Cowser could be become something of a clearer backup outfielder. The issue there is that Cowser is another highly-touted young player whose development won’t be helped by mostly being a bench player in the majors, rather than getting regular time on the field.
Since the Orioles’ return to full-fledged contention has outpaced their rebuild, the team finds themselves with having almost too many good young players for too few 26-man roster spots. Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby, and Jackson Holliday are other top prospects who have received limited playing time in the bigs this season, though in Holliday’s case, he was clearly ticketed for an everyday role but simply struggled too much to maintain a spot in the majors. Kjerstad could force the issue by going on a tear at the plate once he’s back in the Show, though obviously that’s easier said than done for a 25-year-old player.