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Nick Wittgren

Twins Sign Nick Wittgren To Minor League Contract

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The Twins signed veteran reliever Nick Wittgren to a minor league deal. The contract was announced by their Double-A team in Wichita, where the righty will begin his time in the organization.

That Wittgren is headed to Double-A suggests he’s not on the radar for an MLB call in the near future. He has plenty of big league experience, though, having tallied 329 1/3 innings over eight seasons. The 32-year-old righty was in the majors as recently as last year, throwing 29 innings of 4.97 ERA ball for the Royals. It was the third straight season in which his ERA hovered around 5.00.

Going back to the start of 2021, Wittgren carries a 5.24 earned run average in 120 1/3 frames. He was a solid middle relief option for Miami and Cleveland in the three preceding seasons, though. Between 2018-20, he fanned nearly a quarter of batters faced while working to a 2.97 ERA in 112 appearances. Wittgren’s strikeout rate has plummeted in the last couple years, but he throws plenty of strikes and hasn’t required an injured list stay since 2018.

The bullpen has been a strength despite Minnesota’s pedestrian 11-13 start. Their relievers entered play Friday ranked fourth in MLB with a 2.60 ERA. Twins relievers have punched out 30% of opposing hitters, the highest rate in the majors. The group should only improve in the coming weeks as they welcome back two high-leverage arms from injury. Star closer Jhoan Duran (oblique strain) and offseason pickup Justin Topa (knee tendinitis) have been on the IL all season. They’re each on minor league rehab stints and could return before the end of the month.

Mariners Sign Nick Wittgren

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The Mariners have agreed to a deal with right-hander Nick Wittgren, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (via X).  The contract is presumably a minor league pact, as Wittgren was previously playing on a minors deal with the Royals before he became a free agent earlier this week.  Since Wittgren has over five years of MLB service time, he had the right to choose free agency when the Royals tried to option him to Triple-A.

A veteran of eight MLB seasons, Wittgren was released by the Cardinals in July 2022 and didn’t land with a new club until signing his minor league contract with the Royals in December.  K.C. selected him to the 26-man roster in May, and Wittgren had a 4.97 ERA over 29 innings in Royal blue.

It’s not a big improvement over his 5.32 ERA with Cleveland and St. Louis in 2021-22, but while advanced metrics indicate that Wittgren was a little unlucky to post such an ERA in those seasons, his SIERA this year is 5.03.  While Wittgren hasn’t really been a big strikeout pitcher throughout his career, his K% has plummeted over the last two seasons.  He has done an excellent job of keeping the ball in the park in that same time span, yet batters have been making hard contact.

Wittgren did pitch well at Triple-A Omaha this year, and he was a very reliable bullpen arm in his heyday as recently as the 2020 season.  The 32-year-old will give the Mariners some more experienced relief depth as they prepare to try and thread the needle between staying in contention and managing the innings of their several young pitchers.  Seattle is already set to go to a six-man rotation to help keep everyone fresh for the pennant race (and, the M’s hope, into October), and more bullpen help will also be required.

Nick Wittgren Elects Free Agency

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Aug. 17: Wittgren has now formally elected free agency, the Royals announced.

Aug. 16: Royals reliever Nick Wittgren is expected to elect free agency, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com (Twitter link). He was optioned to Triple-A Omaha this afternoon when Kansas City selected John McMillon onto the big league club.

An optional assignment doesn’t typically allow a player to become a free agent. Players with over five years of major league service, however, have to consent to being optioned. Wittgren has between five and six years of service time, so he’ll have the ability to look elsewhere rather than head back to Omaha. Assuming he indeed chooses free agency, the Royals’ 40-man roster count will drop to 39.

Wittgren signed a non-roster pact with K.C. last December. He worked to a 1.25 ERA over 21 2/3 frames with Omaha, leading the Royals to select his contract at the end of May. The right-hander has since made 27 appearances, working 29 innings in generally low-leverage situations. He owns a 4.97 ERA in that stretch.

That’s marginally better than Witttgren’s run prevention marks of the past two seasons, though it’s quite a bit worse than the combined 2.97 ERA he posted in 112 appearances from 2018-20. Wittgren posted solid strikeout numbers during that peak but has seen the whiffs drop off significantly of late. He fanned a below-average 14.1% of opposing hitters with Kansas City on the heels of a 12.7% strikeout rate with the Cardinals a season ago.

Still, Wittgren should at least find minor league interest elsewhere on the strength of his early-season Triple-A production. He fanned over 24% of batters faced in Omaha, where he kept his walks to a modest 7.6% clip. Wittgren has been a solid strike-thrower throughout his career, walking 7% of opponents through 329 1/3 MLB innings.

Should he sign elsewhere by September 1, Wittgren would be eligible for postseason play. He’d have reached free agency at season’s end if the Royals had kept him on the major league roster. With the club clearly in evaluation mode, it’s sensible they’d prefer to give some innings to the hard-throwing McMillon down the stretch.

Royals Select John McMillon

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The Royals announced that they have selected right-hander John McMillon. In corresponding moves, right-hander Nick Wittgren was optioned to Triple-A while righty Brad Keller was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

McMillon, 25, was signed by the Royals in 2020 as an undrafted free agent. Since then, he’s climbed the minor league ranks by racking up huge strikeout totals, but also demonstrating a clear lack of control. He spent last year in Single-A, tossing 31 innings at that level with a 6.10 earned run average. He struck out 30.8% of batters faced but also walked an eye-popping 26%.

Here in 2023, he’s already covered three levels, going from Single-A to High-A and Double-A. He’s thrown a combined 51 1/3 frames between those stops with a 2.10 ERA. The 12.4% walk rate is still on the high side but a massive improvement over last year. He hasn’t lost any strikeout stuff either, punching out 45.3% of opponents.

With those extremes in his performance, there’s naturally some variation in the evaluations on his abilities. FanGraphs ranked him the #11 prospect in the system last month while Baseball America recently pegged him at #29. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs highlights McMillon’s fastball and slider, giving both pitches a 70 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale, adding that the righty could be an elite reliever right now with better control.

The Royals are well out of contention with a record of 39-82, second-worst in baseball with only the A’s beneath them. They can use the remainder of the season to give McMillon a shot at getting big league hitters out, skipping him over Triple-A, at least for the time being.

As for Keller, his transfer is largely a formality since he’s already been on the IL longer than 60 days, landing there back on May 19 due to right shoulder impingement syndrome. He started a rehab assignment in June but his discomfort eventually returned, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. He started another rehab assignment earlier this week but will have to ramp up and stay healthy before he’s likely to be activated. He’s set to become a free agent at the end of the season.

Royals Select Nick Wittgren

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The Royals have selected the contract of right-hander Nick Wittgren, optioning fellow righty Max Castillo in a corresponding move. The 40-man roster already had an open spot due to Hunter Dozier getting designated for assignment yesterday.

Wittgren, 32 next week, has pitched in the seven previous major league seasons for Miami, Cleveland and St. Louis. By the end of the 2020 season, he had made 198 appearances with a 3.36 ERA, 23.4% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 38.2% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, he’s fell on hard times in the next two seasons, with his ERA jumping to 5.05 in 2021 and 5.20 last year. His strikeout rate got as high as 28.6% in 2020 but then dropped to 23.6% the year after and all the way to 12.7% in 2022.

He was outrighted by the Guardians after 2021 and signed with the Cardinals for 2022 but was released in July. He signed a minor league deal with the Royals this winter and has been pitching for Triple-A Omaha this year, posting a 1.25 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. He’s struck out 24.1% of opponents faced while walking 7.6% of them, getting grounders at a 42.3% clip.

That solid showing will get Wittgren another shot at the big leagues. If he can carry over any of those strong results, it would be a boost to the struggling Kansas City bullpen. The club’s relievers have a collective 4.71 ERA on the year, placing them 26th out of the 30 teams in the league.

Royals, Nick Wittgren Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Royals are signing reliever Nick Wittgren to a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). He’ll receive an invitation to MLB Spring Training.

Wittgren has pitched at the MLB level in each of the last seven seasons. The Purdue product spent three years apiece in Miami and Cleveland between 2016-21, typically posting solid results while soaking up low-leverage innings. Wittgren put up an ERA of 3.14 or lower in three of his first four campaigns, showing strong control and typically missing bats at a slightly above-average clip. Home runs became an increasing issue during his time in Cleveland, though, and he surrendered nearly two longballs per nine innings en route to a 5.05 ERA in 2021.

The Guardians outrighted him off their 40-man roster at the end of the 2021 season. He spent most of the winter in free agency but caught on with the Cardinals during Spring Training on a big league contract. That deal guaranteed him $1.2MM and a season-opening bullpen spot.

Unfortunately for St. Louis, Wittgren’s struggles during his final year in Cleveland were only magnified with the Cardinals. He was tagged for a 5.90 ERA across 29 outings. Wittgren got the longball in check but saw his ability to miss bats vanish. He struck out only 12.7% of opponents for St. Louis, seven percentage points lower than his previous personal-low mark. In early July, the Cardinals released him. He sat out the remainder of the 2022 campaign and will try to work his way back to the majors with their in-state rivals next spring.

Wittgren doesn’t throw especially hard, averaging only 91.4 MPH on his fastball this past season. He doesn’t have the kind of power arsenal that usually plays in high-leverage work, but he’s walked fewer than 7% of batters faced as a big leaguer. Kansas City hasn’t made any major league additions to their bullpen so far this offseason. Their relievers ranked 27th in the majors with a 4.66 ERA this year.

Cardinals Release Nick Wittgren

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The Cardinals have released reliever Nick Wittgren, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The veteran will head back to the open market upon clearing waivers.

St. Louis signed Wittgren to a one-year contract during Spring Training that guaranteed him $1.2MM. He’ll receive the remainder of that salary, with the Cards on the hook for the tab. A club that signs the righty will only be responsible for the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum for any time he spends on their MLB roster. That figure would be subtracted from the Cardinals obligations.

Wittgren, 31, appeared in 29 games for St. Louis. He tossed a matching number of innings, posting a disappointing 5.90 ERA while striking out a career-low 12.7% of opponents. That was a marked drop relative to the league average 23.6% mark he posted for Cleveland last season, and a particularly stark decline from his personal-best 28.6% during the truncated 2020 campaign. Wittgren demonstrated continued strong control, but the downturn in swing-and-miss led the Cardinals to go in a different direction.

A seven-year MLB veteran, Wittgren has also suited up with the Marlins and Indians during his career. He’s allowed just under four earned runs per nine over 300 1/3 innings, posting slightly below-average strikeout and grounder rates but working as a generally durable and reliable middle innings arm. He’ll surely get another opportunity elsewhere, although it’s likely to be of the minor league variety given his slow start in 2022.

Cardinals Designate Nick Wittgren For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game, with righty Jordan Hicks being activated from the 15-day injured list. Lefty Matthew Liberatore was also recalled to take a spot on the active roster. To create room for those two hurlers, the Cards optioned righty Jake Woodford and designated righty Nick Wittgren for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster now sits at 39, though T.J. McFarland and Genesis Cabrera are currently on the COVID IL and will need roster spots when they are eligible to return.

Wittgren, 31, spent the first three years of his career with the Marlins and the next three with Cleveland. In that time, he established himself as a solid if unspectacular bullpen piece. At the end of the 2021 season, he had 271 1/3 innings under his belt with a 3.75 ERA, 23.5% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 39.9% ground ball rate. He had never posted an ERA above 5.00 until 2021, and even then, it was just 5.05. Cleveland could have controlled him for one more year via arbitration but decided to move on, after which he was scooped up by the Cards on a one-year deal for $1.2MM.

It’s been a difficult season to evaluate for Wittgren, with many of his stats differing from career norms. His strikeout rate has plummeted to 12.7%, barely half of his mark coming into the year. He’s allowed a .333 BABIP, well above his .292 career rate. However, his HR/FB is just 2.9%, well below the 12.4% rate of his career. All of that has resulted in a 5.90 ERA, though advanced metrics are divided as to whether that’s deserved or not. SIERA gives him a 4.73 with xFIP at 5.14, but xERA and FIP have him at 3.83 and 3.85, respectively. There’s some wide variance there, but all of those metrics feel he’s better than his ERA suggests. According to Statcast, Wittgren is in the 99th percentile in terms of barrel percentage and 78th percentile in terms of hard hit percentage. Any team that needs bullpen help and believes that Wittgren’s suppression of hard contract is sustainable could be interested in acquiring his services. The Cardinals will have a week to work out a trade or put him on waivers.

As for Hicks, he returns after just over a month on the IL due to a forearm strain. Though the Cardinals tinkered with adding him to the rotation earlier in the year, he seems ticketed for a return to the bullpen now. In his four rehab outings, he tossed five total innings, with all but one of those appearances being of the one-inning variety. Despite tantalizing stuff, Hicks has been limited by injuries in recent years. After throwing 77 2/3 innings in 2018, he’s thrown just 67 1/3 total frames in the four subsequent seasons.

Cardinals Sign Nick Wittgren

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The Cardinals have announced that they’ve signed right-handed pitcher Nick Wittgren to a one-year contract. Wittgren will make $1.2MM, per Robert Murray of FanSided.

A veteran of six seasons, Wittgren will turn 31 in May. He spent his first three seasons in Miami before being traded to Cleveland, where he spent the past three years. In his career, he’s played in 258 games and thrown 271 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.75. His 23.5% strikeout rate is right around average, though his walk rate of 6.7% is quite good.

Last year was a bit of a setback for the righty, as his ERA jumped up to 5.05, a career high. His strikeout rate also fell to 23.6% after being at 26% in 2019 and 28.6% in 2020. The walk rate was still good, coming in at 6.6%. He was set to go through arbitration for a final time this winter, projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a salary of $2.8MM. However, the club decided to put him on waivers at the end of the year, effectively non-tendering him. Wittgren cleared and elected free agency.

For the Cardinals, this is their second bullpen upgrade since the lockout ended, as they also added Drew VerHagen recently. Both Wittgren and VerHagen are righties and will likely join Giovanny Gallegos, Alex Reyes, Ryan Helsley and Jordan Hicks as right-handed options in the Cardinals bullpen to start the year.

Nick Wittgren, Cam Hill Elect Free Agency

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Guardians right-handers Nick Wittgren and Cam Hill have each cleared outright waivers, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com. Both pitchers have elected minor league free agency.

Wittgren was arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $2.8MM. Cleveland determined not to make that kind of commitment after the veteran posted a career-high 5.05 ERA over 62 1/3 frames of relief in 2021. The 30-year-old posted solid strikeout and walk numbers (23.6% and 6.6%, respectively) but was plagued by the longball. Wittgren served up 1.88 HR/9 this past season, his third straight year allowing dingers at a higher-than-average rate.

Issues with homers notwithstanding, it stands to reason Wittgren will find some interest on the open market. He’s been a reliable bullpen workhorse, working 40+ frames in four of his five MLB seasons (excluding last year’s truncated schedule). Wittgren also has four seasons of a sub-3.50 ERA on his resume, and he’s only one season removed from punching out a very strong 28.6% of opposing hitters.

Hill was not arbitration-eligible, but the Guardians elected to take him off the 40-man roster. The 27-year-old debuted with 18 1/3 frames of 4.91 ERA ball in 2020, but he missed the first three-plus months of the 2021 season due to injury and ultimately spent the rest of the year with Triple-A Columbus. Over 24 2/3 frames with the Clippers, he managed just an 8.03 ERA with poor peripherals.

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