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Artie Lewicki

KBO’s SK Wyverns Sign Wilmer Font, Artie Lewicki

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SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization announced the signings of right-handers Wilmer Font and Artie Lewicki to one-year contracts.  (Hat tip to Jeeho Yoo of the Yonhap News Agency.)  Font’s deal will pay him $1MM, while Lewicki will earn $750K and can potentially land another $100K in incentives.

Font chose free agency after being outrighted off the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster at the end of the season.  The 30-year-old had a rough time over 16 1/3 innings in 2020, posting a 9.92 ERA and nine walks over that limited sample size.  Font has a 5.54 ERA in 144 2/3 innings since the start of the 2018 season, though some inconsistency was perhaps inevitable since Font suited up for five different organizations in 2018-19.

Over his various stops and in various usages as a reliever and starter, Font displayed some quality at times, such as a 3.66 ERA, 12.1 K/9, and 4.82 K/BB rate over 39 1/3 innings with the Jays in 2019.  While he has started 22 of his 96 career Major League games, most of Font’s “starts” in recent years have been as an opener, though it is possible the Wyverns could deploy him as a traditional starter in 2021.

Reports from last weekend suggested that Lewicki was closing in on a deal with SK Wyverns, and the 28-year-old will now head overseas after being released by the Diamondbacks.  Lewicki posted a 5.14 ERA over 49 innings with the Tigers in 2017-18 before missing all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery.  The D’Backs claimed him off waivers after the 2018 season and he returned to the mound to toss 3 1/3 frames of work for Arizona during the 2020 season.

In other SK Wyverns news, the team also announced that first baseman Jamie Romak has been re-signed to a one-year, $1.15MM deal.  Romak has excelled in his four seasons with the Wyverns, hitting .283/.383/.553 with 135 homers in 2199 plate appearances since joining the Incheon-based team in 2017.  A veteran of 18 seasons in pro ball, Romak’s career includes a one-season stint in Japan, 14 years in the minor leagues with seven different organizations, and 27 MLB games for the Dodgers and Diamondbacks in 2014-15.

Diamondbacks Release Artie Lewicki

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TODAY: SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization are in negotiations with Lewicki, according to a report from MBC Plus (hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net)

OCTOBER 24: The Diamondbacks have released right-hander Artie Lewicki, as per the MLB.com transactions page.  According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, Lewicki will be signing with a team in Asia.

Lewicki appeared in two games for the D’Backs this season, making his return to the field after Tommy John surgery sidelined him for all of 2019.  Lewicki posted a 5.14 ERA over 49 innings for Detroit in 2017-18 before the D’Backs claimed him off waivers following the 2018 campaign.

Originally an eighth-round pick for the Tigers in the 2014 draft, Lewicki had some solid numbers over 398 2/3 innings in the Detroit farm system.  Starting 68 of 81 games, Lewicki had a 3.54 ERA, 3.54 K/BB, and 8.1 K/9 as a minor leaguer.

Diamondbacks Make Several Roster Moves

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The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve selected righties Artie Lewicki and Keury Mella and lefty Joe Mantiply from their alternate site. They also recalled infielder/outfielder Josh Rojas, placed righty Taylor Widener on the 10-day injured list with a strained right rib cage and transferred a pair of hurlers – righty Merrill Kelly and Jeremy Beasley – to the 45-day IL. After all of that, Arizona has 39 players on its 40-man roster.

Lewicki has been part of the Arizona organization since it claimed him off waivers from the Tigers after 2018, but he hasn’t pitched for the Diamondbacks yet, owing to Tommy John surgery. He last took the mound professionally in ’18 for Detroit, where he recorded a 4.89 ERA with 6.98 K/9 and 3.26 BB/9 in 38 2/3 innings.

Mella, formerly a Red and Giant, joined the D-backs on a minor league contract in the offseason. The 27-year-old logged 17 innings as a Red from 2017-19, though he carries a much bigger sample of work – 172 2/3 frames – in Triple-A ball. Mella has notched a 4.59 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 at the minors’ highest level.

Mantiply also became a Diamondback on a minors pact last winter. He has 5 3/3 innings’ experience as a Tiger and Yankee in his past, though obviously most of his action has come in the minors. Mantiply, 29, combined for 39 2/3 frames at three different minors levels as a Yankee and Red last season, when he recorded a 4.31 ERA and put up 7.5 K/9 against 1.4 BB/9.

Diamondbacks Outright Braden Shipley, Artie Lewicki

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The D-backs announced today that they’ve assigned right-handers Braden Shipley and Artie Lewicki outright to Triple-A Reno after the pair cleared waivers. The moves bring their 40-man roster to a total of 33 players.

It’s a disappointing outcome for Shipley, whom Arizona drafted with the 15th overall selection back in 2013. The former University of Nevada-Reno standout has accumulated exactly 100 innings at the big league level over the past three seasons but been hit hard, posting a 5.49 ERA with just 64 strikeouts against 45 walks in that time. Beyond lackluster K/BB numbers, home runs have been an issue for Shipley, who has served up 19 long balls in those 100 innings.

Shipley will turn 27 later this offseason and could yet emerge as a viable MLB arm, but he’ll have to first rebuild some stock in the upper minors. He’s coming off a pair of poor seasons in Triple-A but had some success with the Aces in 2016, when he logged a 3.70 ERA and 3.75 FIP in 119 1/3 innings of work.

The 26-year-old Lewicki (27 in April) was claimed off waivers from the Tigers earlier this offseason. He won’t pitch in 2019 after undergoing Tommy John surgery late in the year. As noted at the time, it seemed unlikely that he’d last the entire winter on the 40-man roster because of that fact, but the D-backs have succeeded in removing him from the 40-man while retaining his rights, so he could be an option for them in 2020.

Lewicki has generally turned in quality results in the upper minors but has yet to have much success as a big leaguer. In 2018, he threw 38 1/3 innings of 4.89 ERA ball with 7.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.93 HR/9 and a 40.3 percent ground-ball rate with the Tigers. However, he posted a 2.03 ERA with terrific K/BB numbers in Triple-A in 2017 and owns an overall 3.79 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 92 2/3 innings at the top minor league level.

Diamondbacks Claim Artie Lewicki From Tigers

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The Diamondbacks have claimed right-hander Artie Lewicki off waivers from the Tigers, per the MLB.com Transactions page (hat tip: MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery, on Twitter). Lewicki underwent Tommy John surgery back in late August.

The 26-year-old Lewicki (27 in April) has generally turned in quality results in the upper minors but has yet to have much success as a big leaguer. In 2018, he turned in 38 1/3 innings of 4.89 ERA ball with 7.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.93 HR/9 and a 40.3 percent ground-ball rate with the Tigers. However, he posted a 2.03 ERA with terrific K/BB numbers in Triple-A in 2017 and owns an overall 3.79 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 92 2/3 innings at the top minor league level.

Obviously, Lewicki is highly unlikely to pitch for the D-backs in 2019. It’s not even a given that Arizona will carry him on the 40-man roster through the duration of the offseason. The Diamondbacks could try to run the right-hander through waivers themselves and then send him outright to Triple-A, retaining his rights but shedding the requirement to carry him on the 40-man roster. If Lewicki does survive the offseason on Arizona’s 40-man, he could be immediately added to the 60-day disabled list next spring, thus freeing a spot for the remainder of the 2019 season.

Tigers’ Artie Lewicki To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Tigers right-hander Artie Lewicki will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters this morning (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). The timing of the surgery makes it likely that the right-hander will miss all of the 2019 season. This will be the second Tommy John surgery of Lewicki’s young career, as MLBlcom’s Jason Beck notes (on Twitter), giving the organization all the more reason to employ a more conservative approach to his rehab.

Lewicki, 26, has a strong track record in Triple-A but has not yet had that success carry over to the big league level. He’s given the Tigers 38 1/3 innings in the Majors this season, recording a 4.89 ERA with 7.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.93 HR/9 and a 40.3 percent ground-ball rate along the way. He posted a 2.03 ERA with terrific K/BB numbers in Triple-A last season, though, and owns an overall 3.79 ERA with 8.5 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 92 2/3 innings at the top minor league level.

The injury to Lewicki seems likely to cost him his 40-man roster spot in the offseason, though it’s common in these instances for a player to be retained after clearing outright waivers and remain with the organization to continue his rehab work the following season.

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