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Matt Carasiti

Rockies, Matt Carasiti Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies signed reliever Matt Carasiti to a minor league contract last month, according to an announcement from the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Carasiti, 31, began his career with the Colorado organization more than a decade ago. A sixth-round draftee in 2012, he debuted in the majors four years later. Carasiti pitched to a 9.19 ERA through 19 appearances for the Rox in 2016. Colorado dealt him to the Cubs the following year, although he never played in the majors with Chicago. Carasiti made the jump to Japan after the 2017 campaign before returning to the U.S. in 2019. He briefly suited up with the Mariners that season, logging 9 2/3 frames in his most recent MLB action to date.

Signed by the Giants to a minor league deal over the 2019-20 offseason, Carasiti underwent Tommy John surgery that spring. He didn’t pitch in either of the next two seasons before returning to the San Francisco organization on a new non-roster pact heading into 2022. The St. John’s product pitched half the season at Triple-A Sacramento, allowing an 8.62 ERA over 21 2/3 innings before being released in July.

Not long after, Carasiti made the jump to the Atlantic League. He caught on with the Ducks and pitched 11 1/3 innings of four-run ball down the stretch. He struck out 14 against just four walks, evidently impressing Colorado evaluators along the way. He’ll get a look in camp and seems likely to open the 2023 campaign with Triple-A Albuquerque as bullpen depth.

Giants, Matt Carasiti Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Matt Carasiti, per their official transactions log. He’ll give them some bullpen depth in the upper levels of their system heading into the 2022 season.

Carasiti, 30, has appeared in parts of two Major League seasons: the 2016 campaign with the Rockies and the 2019 season with the Mariners. This will be Carasiti’s second stint with the Giants organization, as he’d signed on for the 2020 season on this same type of minor league arrangement. However, the right-hander’s elbow gave out in an early-March appearance during Spring Training (just a week or so prior to the Covid-19 shutdown), and he wound up requiring Tommy John surgery.

Last offseason, Carasiti joined the Red Sox on a minor league pact, but he was still on the mend from that Tommy John procedure when camp opened. He was quickly reassigned to minor league camp and placed on the injured list in Triple-A when the season began. However, he never made it back to the mound to pitch for one of Boston’s minor league affiliates.

Carasiti and the Giants will hope for better health this time around, and if he’s able to match his career output at the Triple-A level, he could well earn a ticket back to the big leagues. A sixth-round pick by the Rockies back in 2012, Carasiti carries a lifetime 3.15 ERA, 26.2% strikeout rate, 9.9% walk rate and 49.4% grounder rate in 100 Triple-A frames. He’s averaged 95.4 mph on his sinker in both of his relatively brief MLB stints, though it remains to be seen if he can recapture that velocity post-Tommy John.

In 25 1/3 Major League innings between Colorado and Seattle, Carasiti has a 7.46 ERA — albeit with a sky-high .429 opponents’ batting average on balls in play. He’ll need to sharpen the shaky command he’s shown in the big leagues (16 walks, three hit batters) if he’s to replicate his minor league success, but given his strong results between Triple-A and Double-A, it’s not hard to see why multiple clubs have been intrigued by bringing him to Spring Training in recent years.

Red Sox Roster Moves

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The Red Sox were one of a number of teams to make their first round of roster cuts today. Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom announced the assignment of 12 players to minor league camp.

There are unlikely to be many surprises from this early round of cuts. For Boston, catchers Roldani Baldwin and Austin Rei, and pitchers Seth Blair, Matt Carasiti, Raynel Espinal, Durbin Feltman, Franklin German, Zac Grotz, Kaleb Ort, Andrew Politi, Thaddeus Ward, and Josh Winckowski were re-assigned to minor league camp. No one from this group was on their 40-man roster.

You might recognize Winckowski, who’s been quite the traveler this winter. He went from the Blue Jays to the Mets as part of the Steven Matz trade. Two weeks later, he found himself in Boston as part of the return for Andrew Benintendi (by way of the Royals and Khalil Lee). The 22-year-old has yet to play a pro game above High-A. Though he may eventually work his way into a swingman role, Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen suggests he’s bound for a relief role unless he can develop a more consistent third offering.

German may also ring a few bells, as he came to the Red Sox from the Yankees as the contract tax for Adam Ottavino. Fangraphs has German as the 25th-ranked prospect in Boston’s system. Like Winckowski, however, German has yet to appear above High-A. Fangraphs also lists relievers Feltman and Politi among Boston’s top 47 prospects.

Red Sox, Matt Carasiti Agree To Minors Deal

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The Red Sox have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Matt Carasiti, per WEEI’s Rob Bradford. He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training.

Carasiti, 29, last pitched in the Majors with the Mariners in 2019, when he tossed 9 2/3 innings and yielded five runs on 11 hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts. He’s also spent time in the big leagues with the Rockies, who drafted him in the sixth round back in 2012. The right-hander may have been in the mix for some innings with the Giants last year had he not required Tommy John surgery after a handful of Spring Training appearances.

Carasiti is a Connecticut native who brings to the Red Sox a career 3.15 ERA in 100 Triple-A innings, where he’s punched out 26.2 percent of the hitters he’s faced against a 9.9 percent walk rate. The righty also spent a year with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows in Japan, working to a 4.18 ERA in 94 2/3 frames. Given the timing of his Tommy John surgery, he probably won’t be ready to pitch come Spring Training, but he’ll give the Sox some Triple-A depth with a bit of big league experience once he’s ready to take the mound.

Matt Carasiti To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Giants right-hander Matt Carasiti will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly tweets.  Carasiti injured his elbow on Thursday, during his most recent Spring Training outing.

After signing a minors contract with San Francisco in January, Carasiti came to camp hoping to win a job in the Giants’ bullpen, and posted a 5.40 ERA with seven strikeouts and three walks over five spring innings.  That will unfortunately be his last mound action for at least a year, as Carasiti now faces a 12-14 month recovery period.

The 28-year-old righty has 25 1/3 Major League innings on his resume, spread out over two seasons — 15 2/3 frames with the Rockies in 2016 and then 9 2/3 IP with the Mariners last year.  In between those two stints, Carasiti pitched in the Cubs’ farm system and also spent a season in Japan with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.  Originally a sixth-round pick for the Rockies in the 2012 draft, Carasiti has a 4.26 ERA, 8.0 K/9, and 2.35 K/BB rate over 432 2/3 career minor league innings.

Giants Sign Joey Rickard, Matt Carasiti, Sam Moll

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The Giants have announced several of their non-roster invitees for 2020 Spring Training, thus revealing a few as-yet-unknown signings. Outfielder Joey Rickard is back after being non-tendered. He’ll be joined by hurlers Matt Carasiti and Sam Moll on minors deals.

Otherwise, the team’s tweets (pitchers / hitters) revealed a slate of preexisting minor-league signees and prospects. Of particular note is righty Andrew Triggs, who joined the organization late last season in search of a comeback, and recent top draft choices Sean Hjelle and Joey Bart.

Rickard is the best-known of the new additions. The 28-year-old, a former Rule 5 pick who stuck with the Orioles, landed in San Francisco via waiver claim last year. He’s just a .247/.301/.373 hitter in 978 MLB plate appearances, but did knock around Triple-A pitching last year with a .326/.404/.555 slash over 272 plate appearances.

As for the pitchers, both are 28 years of age, got their starts with the Rockies organization, and will be looking to return to the majors after brief prior action. The right-handed Carasiti got a few MLB appearances in 2019 with the Mariners but spent most of the year at Triple-A, working to a 3.53 ERA in 43 1/3 total Triple-A innings. Moll, a southpaw, returns to the San Francisco org after throwing 49 frames of 2.39 ERA ball with 9.9 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 with the team’s top affiliate.

Mariners Outright Matt Carasiti

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The Mariners have outrighted right-handed pitcher Matt Carasiti to Triple-A Tacoma, per an official team release. Carasiti will no longer occupy a spot on Seattle’s 40-man roster.

The 28-year-old Carasiti has tossed 9 2/3 innings for the Mariners this year, his first season pitching in the big leagues since 2016. He’s tallied ten strikeouts against five walks, posting an overall 4.66 ERA. He’s compiled solid numbers at the Triple-A level between the Mariners and Cubs organizations, pitching to a 3.53 ERA while striking out 8.3 batters per nine innings pitched.

Presumably, the Mariners are looking to clear room on the 40-man for potential call-ups from Double-A Arkansas, where the season has not yet ended.

Mariners Designate Jesse Biddle, Select Matt Carasiti and Mike Wright

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The Mariners announced a slew of roster moves Sunday. The club has designated left-handed reliever Jesse Biddle for assignment and selected the contracts of righties Matt Carasiti and Mike Wright from Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle also moved righty Chasen Bradford to the 60-day injured list and optioned RHP Gerson Bautista to Tacoma.

Biddle didn’t last long on the Mariners’ roster, having just joined the team in a trade with the Braves on May 20. That came a few days after the Braves designated Biddle. Between the two teams this season, the 27-year-old Biddle has limped to a 7.54 ERA/5.60 FIP with 7.54 K/9 and 6.75 BB/9 in 22 2/3 innings. Lefties have managed a whopping .404 weighted on-base average against Biddle, who’s only a year removed from a highly productive debut season in Atlanta.

Carasiti, also 27, signed a minors pact with the Mariners earlier this month after the Cubs released him. His lone major league experience came in 2016 with the Rockies, with whom he threw 15 2/3 innings of 9.19 ERA/4.49 FIP ball. Carasiti has put up a far better 2.76 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 32 2/3 Triple-A frames this season.

The 29-year-old Wright’s back in Seattle a little over a month after the team designated him. Wright didn’t pitch well in 11 innings with the Mariners before that, continuing a difficult run in the majors. With the Orioles and M’s, Wright has combined for a 6.08 ERA/5.26 FIP over 253 innings.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/10/19

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We’ll kick the morning off with some of the game’s minor moves throughout the league…

  • Righty David Carpenter was outrighted to Triple-A after clearing waivers, the Rangers announced. His return to the majors proved spirited but brief, as the 33-year-old was hit hard in his lone appearance. He had produced strong results at Triple-A, however, working to a 1.76 ERA with a 17:4 K/BB ratio in 15 1/3 innings. Perhaps Carpenter will find his way back up to the bigs at some point.
  • The Cubs granted right-hander Matt Carasiti his release from their Triple-A club over the weekend, per Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register (Twitter links). He quickly latched on with the Mariners on a new minor league pact and has already appeared in his first game with Seattle’s top affiliate in Tacoma, where he allowed an earned run in 1 2/3 innings of work. In 27 innings of work with Chicago’s Iowa affiliate this season, Carasiti notched a 2.67 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 54.1 percent ground-ball rate. The 27-year-old righty has a 2.85 ERA with 98 strikeouts against 36 walks in parts of three Triple-A campaigns (85 1/3 innings). He’s also had some success overseas, with a 3.98 ERA in 103 2/3 innings in his lone season pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, and he made a brief big league appearance with the Rockies in 2016. Carasiti allowed 16 runs in 15 2/3 innings with the Rox, though he’s pitched fairly well at every turn since that rough debut.
  • The White Sox released minor league corner infielder D.J. Peterson, according to the Triple-A International League’s transactions page. A former first-round pick (Mariners, 2013) and Top 100 prospect, Peterson has yet to make his Major League debut. After a productive year with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018, he’s struggled to a dismal .189/.268/.370 slash through 143 plate appearances so far in 2019. The right-handed-hitting Peterson has ample experience at both infield corners but spent more time at third base than at first in his brief time with the White Sox. He’s a career .254/.310/.424 hitter in 1320 plate appearances across parts of five Triple-A seasons.

Cubs Release Matt Carasiti To Sign With Japan’s Yakult Swallows

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The Cubs have released right-hander Matt Carasiti, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). He’ll be moving to Japan to play for Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows.

Carasiti, 26, landed in Chicago in a mid-season swap with the Rockies — the team that originally drafted and developed him. He reached the majors with Colorado in 2016, struggling in limited action.

There was some cause to think that Carasiti could earn a return trip to the majors before long. He worked to a 3.26 ERA with 12.3 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 over 49 2/3 Triple-A frames in 2017. Carasiti showed a mid-nineties heater during his brief MLB stint and has typically generated solid groundball numbers.

In the NPB, though, Carasiti will likely enjoy solid earnings and a clear path to a significant role. At his age, it’s certainly possible that he could end up moving back to the big leagues if he proves himself at Japan’s highest level.

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