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John Curtiss

Diamondbacks Make Multiple Roster Changes

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The Diamondbacks have announced a handful of roster moves. Infielder Ildemaro Vargas, catcher James McCann, and left-hander Jalen Beeks have elected free agency. Right-handers Austin Pope, John Curtiss, and Casey Kelly, left-hander Kyle Nelson, and infielder Connor Kaiser were outrighted off the 40-man roster. Arizona’s 40-man roster now sits at 38 players.

Vargas just wrapped up his third stint with the team. The versatile utilityman debuted with the Diamondbacks in 2017. After playing a minor role across three seasons, Arizona designated him for assignment in 2020. The DFA led to a trade to the Twins, though Minnesota would also designate Vargas for assignment less than a month after acquiring him. The Cubs scooped him up off waivers for the final month of the season. Vargas went through a similar set of transactions in 2021, just in a different order. He was claimed off waivers by the Pirates in May, then designated for assignment a couple of weeks later. Pittsburgh worked out a trade that sent Vargas back to Arizona.

Washington gave Vargas his longest look to date. The Nationals signed him as a minor league free agent in May of 2022. He hit .280 in 53 games with the team. Washington gave Vargas semi-regular playing time over the next two seasons. He topped 300 plate appearances for the first time in 2024. Vargas signed a minor league deal to return to Arizona this past offseason. He appeared in 38 games with the team in 2025. Vargas has spent time at all four infield positions, plus left field and right field. He’s also made five appearances in mop-up duty on the mound, hilariously allowing just two earned runs in five innings. The 34-year-old’s extreme versatility could get him another gig this offseason.

Arizona added McCann after Atlanta cut him loose in June. He appeared in 42 games for the team, filling in behind the plate after Gabriel Moreno went down with a hand injury. The 34-year-old posted a solid 110 wRC+ in limited action.

Beeks ended up being a decent find for the Diamondbacks. They signed him just before the season began, and the veteran lefty contributed a 3.77 ERA over 57 1/3 innings. Beeks missed time with a back injury, but still managed to make 61 appearances, including two as an opener.

Curtiss is the only member of the DFA group to make a significant impact at the MLB level in 2025. He appeared in 30 games with the big-league club, recording a 3.93 ERA. Curtiss has bounced around frequently since debuting in 2017, pitching for eight different teams.

Nelson has been a part of Arizona’s bullpen in recent years, but he only appeared in three games this past season. Pope debuted in September, making a two-inning appearance against the Dodgers before heading back to Triple-A Reno. Kelly pitched in two games in August. Kaiser had a couple of brief stints with the big-league club, going 2-for-18 across 11 games.

Diamondbacks Outright Four Players

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The D-Backs outrighted four players off the 40-man roster, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Right-handers John Curtiss and Casey Kelly, lefty Kyle Nelson, and infielder Connor Kaiser all went unclaimed on waivers. They can all elect free agency and will presumably do so within the next day or two.

Nelson is the only member of that group who spent more than one season with Arizona. The Snakes claimed the 29-year-old reliever off waivers from Cleveland over the 2021-22 offseason. Nelson pitched to a 2.19 ERA across 43 appearances during his first season in the desert. His numbers tailed off in 2023 and he hasn’t been much of a factor over the past two seasons. Nelson missed most of the ’24 campaign due to thoracic outlet syndrome. He only made three big league appearances while allowing more than a run per inning over 42 Triple-A games this year.

Curtiss signed a minor league contract with the Snakes over the offseason. They called him up in late June. He tossed 36 2/3 innings across 30 MLB appearances. Curtiss managed a respectable 3.93 ERA but only punched out 17% of batters faced. The 32-year-old righty carries a 4.03 ERA across 145 1/3 innings over parts of eight seasons. This amounts to an early non-tender instead of a projected $1.2MM arbitration salary.

Kelly and Kaiser got cups of coffee as late-season stopgaps. The 36-year-old Kelly pitched in a pair of games in August, pitching around a hit and a walk to work 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He spent most of the year working out of the rotation at Triple-A Reno, pitching to a 5.63 ERA with a well below-average 11.5% strikeout rate over 115 innings. Kaiser, who turns 29 in a few weeks, played in 11 games after his contract was selected in August. He picked up his first two big league knocks. The Vanderbilt product is a glove-only middle infielder who hit .236/.345/.406 with a 27.5% strikeout rate in Triple-A.

The cuts get Arizona’s 40-man roster to compliance for tomorrow’s deadline. Teams need to reinstate all players from the 60-day injured list by Thursday. The D-Backs had been at 44 players including those who’ll come off the injured list.

Diamondbacks Designate Tayler Scott, Select John Curtiss

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The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Tayler Scott has been designated for assignment.  Fellow righty John Curtiss will take Scott’s place on the active roster, as Arizona selected Curtiss’ contract from Triple-A.

This is the second time in a month and a half that Scott has entered DFA limbo, as his previous designation from the Astros led to Scott electing free agency (he had the right to reject an outright assignment) and then signing a minor league deal with Arizona.  The Snakes selected that minors contract to their active roster on June 10, but Scott’s struggles in Houston have continued with his new team.

Scott has an ominous 6.66 ERA over 25 2/3 total innings this season, breaking down as a 5.40 ERA in 16 2/3 frames with Houston and a 9.00 ERA in nine innings for Arizona.  That brief time with the D’Backs has already included three home runs allowed and four walks, adding to the control problems that have nagged at Scott throughout his five MLB seasons.

Scott somewhat came out of nowhere to post a 2.23 ERA in 68 2/3 innings with the Astros last season, as it seemed like he had finally found a foothold in the majors at age 32 after a journeyman career that includes stints in Japan and independent baseball.  Unfortunately, his lack of results this year may be sending him on another transactional carousel.  Because Scott has been outrighted in the past, he can again decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he clears waivers.

Curtiss signed a minors deal with the D’Backs in February, and he is now in line for his first big league action of the 2025 campaign.  Once Curtiss gets into a game, it will mark his eighth MLB season, and Arizona will be his eighth different team of a peripatetic career.  Curtiss has a 4.06 ERA, 22.7% strikeout rate, and 7% walk rate over 108 2/3 career innings, and his most recent action in the Show was three appearances (and a 15.43 ERA in 2 1/3 innings) with the Rockies in 2024.

Diamondbacks Sign Scott McGough, John Curtiss To Minor League Deals

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The Diamondbacks signed relievers Scott McGough and John Curtiss to minor league contracts with invitations to big league camp. The deals were announced by the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno.

McGough is a familiar face for Arizona fans. The 35-year-old righty has spent the last two seasons with the Diamondbacks. He signed a two-year, $6.25MM contract over the 2022-23 offseason. McGough had come off a solid four-year run with the Yakult Swallows in Japan. That didn’t translate as hoped against major league competition.

While McGough picked up nine saves in 2023, he also surrendered a 4.73 earned run average through 70 1/3 relief innings. His production went backwards last year, as he allowed 7.44 earned runs per nine over 32 2/3 MLB frames. McGough walked 14% of batters faced with a mediocre 16.7% strikeout rate. He had a better showing with Reno, where he posted a 3.22 ERA across 36 1/3 innings. McGough fanned a solid 23.7% of Triple-A opponents but still issued free passes at an alarming 11.5% clip.

Arizona had an easy decision to buy McGough out of a $4MM mutual option. The front office remains intrigued enough by his arsenal and minor league numbers to give him another look in Spring Training. Opponents have teed off on his 93 MPH fastball, but McGough has gotten strong results on his mid-80s splitter over the past couple seasons.

Curtiss is a new addition to the organization. He made three big league appearances as a member of the Rockies last season. Curtiss pitched well for Colorado’s top farm team, turning in a 3.96 ERA through 50 innings in an extremely hitter-friendly setting in Albuquerque. That came with a pedestrian 19.1% strikeout percentage but he limited walks to a 7% clip.

A veteran of parts of seven MLB seasons, Curtiss had his best run with the Rays and Marlins between 2020-21. Miami traded him to the Brewers at the ’21 deadline. Curtiss blew out his elbow shortly thereafter and underwent Tommy John surgery that wiped out his ’22 season. He returned to the majors with the Mets two seasons ago, tossing 19 2/3 innings of 4.58 ERA ball.

34 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com log.

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Rockies Outright John Curtiss

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Rockies right-hander John Curtiss went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per the team’s MLB.com transaction log. He has the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency. If he accepts, he’ll stick with the Rox organization in Triple-A but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.

Curtiss signed a minor league deal with Colorado over the winter, was selected to the big league roster in May, and rejected an outright assignment after being designated for assignment. He’s since returned on an additional pair of minor league deals — opting out once along the way — and was selected back to the big league roster in late July. He’s pitched 2 1/3 MLB innings this year and been tagged for four runs. His Triple-A work has been vastly better. In an extremely hitter-friendly setting, he’s posted 38 innings of 4.03 ERA ball with a sub-par 18.5% strikeout rate against a strong 7.4% walk rate.

The Rockies are the seventh big league team for which the journeyman Curtiss has pitched. He’s amassed 108 2/3 innings in the majors and sports a lifetime 4.06 ERA with a roughly average 22.7% strikeout rate and sharp 7% walk rate. He was at his best in 2020-21 when he pitched 69 1/3 frames with a 2.86 earned run average, 24.1% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate between the Rays, Marlins and (much more briefly) Brewers. Milwaukee acquired Curtiss from Miami at the 2021 trade deadline, but he pitched just 4 1/3 innings before requiring Tommy John surgery.

Rockies Designate John Curtiss For Assignment, Select Chasen Shreve

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The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Chasen Shreve. In a corresponding move, right-hander John Curtiss has been designated for assignment. Their 40-man roster count stays at 39.

Shreve, 34, has been struggling to get to the majors this year. That’s a bit surprising as he’s generally been solid in his major league career and has been producing decent numbers in the minors this year. In 367 big league appearances dating back to his 2014 debut, he has a 3.97 earned run average. His 10.8% walk rate in that time is on the high side but only slightly. His 25.3% strikeout rate is quite strong and he’s also kept 41.6% of balls in play on the ground.

Coming into this year, he signed a minor league deal with the Rangers but opted out in early May and re-signed with that club on another minors pact. In mid-June, he signed a minors deal with the Yankees, presumably after opting out from his Rangers deal yet again. The Yanks released him a few days ago, perhaps due to another opt-out situation, and he quickly landed with the Rockies on another minor league deal.

Across all those deals, he has a 2.61 ERA in 34 1/3 Triple-A innings this year. He has struck out 26.7% of batters faced while walking 9.2% of them. Despite those decent numbers, the Rangers and Yankees didn’t find room for him in their respective bullpens but the Rockies will.

He’ll take the spot of Curtiss, who has been on and off the Colorado roster this year. He was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason and has now twice has his contract selected but has been designated for assignment a few days later in both instances. He has allowed four earned runs in 2 1/3 innings around those transactions, giving him an unsightly 15.43 ERA on the year.

He had some intriguing results a few years ago but hasn’t got his strikeouts back after his Tommy John surgery. With the Rays, Marlins and Brewers in 2020 and 2021, he tossed a combined 69 1/3 innings with a 2.86 ERA, 24.1% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate. He went under the knife in September of 2021 and was then non-tendered by Milwaukee.

The Mets signed him for 2022 and 2023, knowing that he would miss the first year of that stretch. He eventually returned and tossed 19 2/3 innings with the Mets last year but with a 4.58 ERA and 19.8% strikeout rate. He was outrighted off their roster after last year, which led to his deal with the Rockies. He’s tossed 38 Triple-A innings this year with a 4.03 ERA and 18.5% strikeout rate. With the trade deadline now passed, the Rockies will have no choice but to put Curtiss on waivers in the coming days.

Rockies To Designate Ty Blach For Assignment

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The Rockies are selecting reliever John Curtiss onto the MLB roster and designating left-hander Ty Blach for assignment, tweets Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Colorado will recall righty Jake Bird to take the bullpen spot vacated by the Nick Mears trade and bring up Tanner Gordon as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against San Francisco.

Blach, 33, has pitched in parts of seven MLB seasons and spent each of the past three years with the Rockies. He’s split time between the bullpen and the rotation in a swing role ever since the club selected him to the roster back in April but has struggled badly in the role with a 6.36 ERA and a 5.72 FIP in 63 2/3 innings of work. While Blach has walked just 5.4% of batters, he’s struck opponents out at a paltry 11.5% clip and has struggled badly to keep the ball in the park with nearly two homers allowed per nine innings this year. Those numbers are worse than even his prior difficult seasons with Colorado, where he posted a combined 5.66 ERA with a 4.99 FIP in 122 1/3 innings of work between the 2022 and ’23 campaigns.

While the lefty was once a solid swingman for the Giants early in his career, posting a 4.36 ERA and 4.14 FIP in 299 1/3 innings of work from his debut in 2016 to the end of the 2018 season, he’s struggled to keep a role in the big leagues since then with a cumulative 6.81 ERA in 51 appearances from 2019 onwards. Assuming the Rockies don’t work out a trade involving Blach prior to the upcoming deadline on Tuesday, they’ll attempt to pass him through waivers at some point in the next seven days. Should he go unclaimed, they’ll have the opportunity to outright him to Triple-A, though he could reject that assignment in favor of free agency should he so choose.

Joining the 40-man roster in Blach’s place is Curtiss, who already appeared in a Rockies uniform for the first time earlier this year. The righty appeared in a game between Colorado and Philadelphia back in May but struggled badly in the appearance, allowing two runs on three hits while recording just one out. Prior to that earlier stint on Colorado’s 40-man roster, Curtiss was a journeyman reliever who had previously pitched for the Twins, Angels, Rays, Marlins, Brewers, and Mets across parts of six seasons in the majors. He’s mostly posted solid results in that time with a 3.81 ERA and 3.98 FIP in 106 1/3 innings of work entering the 2024 season.

Most of that success came in Florida, as he posted an excellent 1.80 ERA in 25 innings with the AL champion Rays during the shortened 2020 season before heading to Miami in 2021 and delivering a 2.48 ERA in 40 frames for the club that year. He’s struggled since leaving the south, however, with eight runs (six earned) allowed during a 4 1/3 inning stint with Milwaukee late in the 2021 campaign and a 4.58 ERA in 15 appearances for the Mets last year before his rough outing with the Rockies back in May. Going forward, Curtiss seems likely to be used in middle relief alongside Bird, Peter Lambert, and Justin Lawrence for the Rockies.

John Curtiss Elects Free Agency

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May 31: Curtiss rejected the assignment and instead elected free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com.

May 30: The Rockies have sent right-hander John Curtiss outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not yet clear if he has chosen to do so.

Curtiss, 31, was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason. He didn’t crack the Opening Day roster, reporting to Albuquerque for some work there. He tossed 21 1/3 innings in the Pacific Coast League with a 6.75 earned run average. His 7.1% walk rate was solid but he only struck out 18.2% of batters faced and was hurt by an unfortunately low 57.8% strand rate.

Despite that fairly shaky performance, the Rockies called him up last week. They had played two straight extra-inning games and needed some fresh arms. In Saturday’s game against the Phillies, Curtiss relieved Justin Lawrence with two out in the ninth inning after the latter had blown a save. With the Rockies down 4-3 and with two men on base, Curtiss was brought in to face Bryce Harper and allowed a three-run homer. He then allowed an Alec Bohm double and a Nick Castellanos single, with Castellanos thrown out at second to finally end the inning after Bohm had scored.

Colorado needed pitching reinforcements again a couple of days later and designated Curtiss for assignment, leaving him currently sporting an ugly ERA of 54.00, thanks to him having allowed two earned runs while only recording one out.

Players with more than three years of service time or a previous career outright have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. Curtiss would qualify on both counts and may choose to exercise that right. He had a solid run in 2020 and 2021 before Tommy John surgery put him out of action, and he hasn’t really had an extended chance to establish himself since then.

He tossed 69 1/3 innings with a 2.86 ERA over 2020 and 2021, spending time with the Rays, Marlins and Brewers. He struck out 24.1% of batters faced and only gave out walks at a 5.2% clip. He went under the knife in September of 2021 and missed all of 2022. With the Mets last year, he tossed 19 2/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA and a diminished 19.8% strikeout rate.

The Rockies organization is a tough spot for a guy looking to re-establish himself, given the hitter-friendly nature of both Coors Field and the PCL, but Curtiss may not have had many options this winter after a long injury absence and underwhelming return. Now that the season is a third of the way through and several clubs are dealing with mounting injuries to their pitching staffs, Curtiss might be interested in pursuing opportunities elsewhere.

Rockies Designate John Curtiss, Select Josh Rogers

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The Rockies are making a series of roster moves today, relayed by Luke Zahlmann of the Denver Gazette on X. Right-hander Peter Lambert has been recalled while left-hander Josh Rogers has had his contract selected. In corresponding moves, right-hander Justin Lawrence has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain while fellow righty John Curtiss has been designated for assignment. Lawrence’s move is retroactive to May 26. Additionally, left-hander Austin Gomber has been bumped from his start due to some soreness but won’t be placed on the IL. The club also announced that Matt Koch has been outrighted to Triple-A.

The club is seemingly looking to get some fresh arms into a fairly taxed pitching staff, especially with Gomber missing his start. The lefty was supposed to take the ball today said today that he wouldn’t have been able to give it his all, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com on X. “I just felt like I would have been probably at like 85% today,” Gomber said. “Where we’re at right now, still being in May, it was probably smarter to just buy a couple days.”

Anthony Molina will be taking the ball instead, though his last appearance was a single-inning outing on May 17. His previous appearance was 3 2/3 innings but that was all the way back on May 8. That means he’s only thrown one inning in more than two weeks, which likely limits how much the Rockies can reasonably expect out of him today.

The bullpen will likely need to be leaned on heavily today, but each of Jalen Beeks, Tyler Kinley, Victor Vodnik and Nick Mears have thrown three times in the past five days. With the group fairly strained overall and Lawrence now going on the IL, today’s moves get them some reinforcements.

Curtiss, 31, is bumped off the roster as a result, just a few days after being added to it. He made one appearance on Saturday, allowing two earned runs while recording just one out. Prior to his selection, his Triple-A results weren’t especially strong, as he had a 6.75 ERA in 21 1/3 innings.

The righty had a decent run with the Rays, Marlins and Brewers in 2020 and 2021. Over those two seasons, he tossed 69 1/3 innings  with a 2.86 earned run average, 24.1% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in September of 2021, which wiped out his 2022.

He was back on the mound with the Mets last year but had a 4.58 ERA in 19 2/3 innings, striking out just 19.8% of batters faced. He was placed on the 60-day injured list in August due to loose bodies in his throwing elbow. He underwent surgery shortly thereafter and was outrighted off their roster at season’s end. The Rockies will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers.

Taking his spot on the 40-man is Rogers, who gets back to the big leagues for the first time since 2022. The 29-year-old southpaw signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in the offseason and has made nine Triple-A starts this year. He has a 5.44 ERA in that time, with a 14.6% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate.

Rogers has 88 innings of major league experience, scattered over the 2018 to 2022 period with the Orioles and Nationals. He has a career ERA of 5.42, striking out 11.6% of batters while walking 9.3% of opponents. Since he’s been stretched out this year, he should be able to give the club some length out of the bullpen.

Koch, 33, was designated for assignment on Friday when Curtiss was selected. Today’s outright indicates that he passed through waivers unclaimed. He has been previously outrighted in his career, which gives him the right to elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear if he has chosen to do so. He has a 5.18 ERA in 168 2/3 major league innings.

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