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Jimmie Sherfy

Giants Designate Matt Wisler For Assignment

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The Giants shuffled up their pitching staff Wednesday, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link), formally selecting the contracts of lefty Sam Long and right-hander James Sherfy (as previously reported, in the case of Long). Right-hander Matt Wisler was designated for assignment in one corresponding move, while outfielder Alex Dickerson was placed on the 10-day injured list due to an upper back strain with another.

Wisler, 28, was somewhat of a surprise non-tender by the Twins on the heels of a 1.07 ERA and a 32.7 percent strikeout rate in last summer’s shortened slate of games. Wisler has maintained that bat-missing prowess and actually made a dramatic improvement in the problematic 13.1 percent walk rate that likely contributed to his non-tender — he’s down to 7.3 percent in 2021 — but he’s once again become alarmingly homer-prone. In 19 1/3 frames, he’s been tagged for four long balls — a rate of 1.86 per nine innings pitched. The resulting 6.05 ERA prompted the Giants to move on.

San Francisco will now have a week to trade Wisler or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would require forfeiting the remainder of his $1.15MM salary, so he’s likely to accept an assignment if he passes through waivers unclaimed.

Sherfy, 29, has spent parts of three seasons in the division, appearing with the 2017-19 Diamondbacks and tallying a total of 45 1/3 innings pitched. He’s logged a combined 2.98 ERA in that time, punching out a quarter of his opponents against a 9.9 percent walk rate. So far in Triple-A Sacramento, he’s rattled off 7 2/3 shutout innings with an 11-to-1 K/BB ratio.

Dickerson, 31, was a revelation for the Giants from 2019-20 after coming over from the division-rival Padres in a trade, but he’s scuffled in 2021 and dealt with some all-too-familiar durability concerns. Dickerson topped a .900 OPS in his first two partial seasons with San Francisco, but he’s mustered only a .226/.295/.398 output so far this year. This will be the second IL stint of the season for him, as he previously spent 10 days on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement.

Giants, James Sherfy Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have agreed to a minor league pact with right-hander James Sherfy and will invite him to Major League Spring Training, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). Sherfy is repped by PSI Sports Management.

Sherfy, 29, has spent his entire career to date with the division-rival Diamondbacks, who drafted him in the 10th round back in 2013. He appeared in the big leagues each year from 2017-19, pitching quite well in 2017-18 before stumbling thanks to a some ill-timed long balls with men on base in a small sample of 18 1/3 frames in 2019.

Despite a solid track record, Sherfy didn’t make it to the big leagues with the Snakes in 2020. He was in the club’s initial 60-man player pool and spent the year working out at their alternate training site, however, so he still got some work in last year.

Overall, Sherfy owns a 2.98 ERA in 45 1/3 big league innings. That’s not fully supported by fielding-independent metrics, but his 3.82 FIP and 3.88 SIERA are both solid nevertheless. Sherfy also carries better-than-averages strikeout (25.4 percent) and walk (9.0 percent) rates throughout his limited big league career to date. He’s not an especially hard thrower, averaging 93.3 mph on his fastball, but he’s had success both in Triple-A and the big leagues. On a minor league deal, there’s not much to dislike about the addition for San Francisco.

Diamondbacks Release James Sherfy

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The Diamondbacks have released reliever James Sherfy, per a team announcement. The right-hander had been part of their 60-man roster.

Sherfy will now have to find another organization for the first time in his career. The Diamondbacks used a 10th-round pick on Sherfy in 2013, and he went on to appear in the majors with the team in each of the previous three seasons. During that span Sherfy actually posted rather impressive overall numbers – a 2.98 ERA/3.82 FIP with 9.53 K/9 and 3.38 BB/9 – but he did so over just 45 1/3 innings and ended his D-backs career in poor fashion last season.

Sherfy threw a career-high 18 1/3 MLB frames in 2019, but opposing offenses pulverized him for 12 earned runs on 23 hits, including six homers. The 28-year-old did notch a 3.60 ERA with 12.6 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 over 35 Triple-A frames, though he dealt with an upper body injury along the way. Arizona then outrighted him during the winter.

Diamondbacks Claim Pat Valaika

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The Diamondbacks announced that they have claimed infielder Pat Valaika off waivers from the Orioles and sent right-hander Jimmie Sherfy outrighted to Triple-A after he cleared waivers.  Sherfy was designated for assignment last week.  Arizona didn’t need to open a 40-man spot for Valaika, as their roster stood at 39 players following this week’s trade of Matt Andriese to the Angels.

This is the second waiver claim of the offseason for Valaika, as Baltimore grabbed him off the Rockies’ roster at the end of October.  Valaika was then designated for assignment earlier this week, when the Orioles took Richard Urena from the Blue Jays on another waiver claim.

Valaika is headed back to the NL West after spending his entire seven-year professional career in the Colorado organization.  A ninth-round pick for the Rox in 2013, Valaika appeared in 231 games for the team between 2016-19, hitting .214/.256/.400 over 433 plate appearances.  Over a quarter of those PA were in a pinch-hitting role, though Valaika has also been a versatile bench piece, playing all four infield positions and a handful of games in left field.

This defensive flexibility will help Valaika battle Ildemaro Vargas, Domingo Leyba, Josh Rojas, and Andy Young for utility duties in Arizona, as the D’Backs continue to sort out their infield mix.  With Ketel Marte increasingly likely to spend much of his time in center field, the Diamondbacks can go with Eduardo Escobar at second base and Jake Lamb at third, or move Escobar back to third to spell Lamb whenever a left-handed starter is on the mound.  Or, Lamb could be relegated to bench duty himself if he can’t get on track following a pair of subpar seasons, leaving one of second or third base (whichever Escobar isn’t playing) open for a platoon situation.

Sherfy was designated for assignment last week when the D’Backs signed Hector Rondon.  Sherfy showed some glimpses of promise over 27 innings in 2017-18, though his ERA ballooned to 5.89 over 18 1/3 frames last season.  Still looking for a longer stint at the big league level, Sherfy can offer some solid numbers in the minors, with a 3.59 ERA, 11.9 K/9, and 3.07 K/BB rate over 303 career relief innings in Arizona’s farm system.

Diamondbacks Designate Jimmie Sherfy For Assignment

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The D-backs announced Thursday that they’ve designated right-handed reliever Jimmie Sherfy for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to fellow righty Hector Rondon, whose previously reported one-year deal with Arizona is now official.

Sherfy, 28, logged a flat 1.00 ERA with a 26-to-12 K/BB ratio through his first 27 MLB innings from 2017-18. However, he scuffled to a 5.89 ERA last season and has seen his longstanding control issues worsen in recent years. Sherfy walked 21 batters and plunked another pair in 35 innings at the Triple-A level this season, although he also punched out 49 hitters in that time as well.

The 92 mph that Sherfy averaged on his fastball in 2019 was far and away the lowest mark of his career — he’d averaged 94 mph in ’17 and 93.4 mph in ’18 — and he missed a month of action in Triple-A with what was nebulously termed an “upper body” injury. Sherfy did return to health for the final six weeks of the season, but a September showing in which he was hammered for 11 runs on 12 hits (four homers) in 8 2/3 innings surely didn’t leave a good impression to end the year.

Arizona will have a week to trade Sherfy, release him or place him on outright waivers. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to break camp with any club that acquires him or else be designated for assignment once again.

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