Matt Wisler

Reliever Matt Wisler has gone unclaimed on outright waivers after being designated for assignment by the Rays this week, reports Darren Wolfson of SKOR North (on Twitter). He’s electing minor league free agency in lieu of an outright assignment, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link).

It’s a bit of a surprise to see Wisler go unclaimed, as he’s currently amidst a decent campaign. He owns a 2.25 ERA across 44 innings over 39 appearances. Wisler has only struck out 19.9% of opponents, but he’s shown strong control. While he’s not missed many bats this year, Wisler has induced swinging strikes at an above-average rate in each of the prior three seasons. In both 2020-21, the Ohio native paired those whiffs with decent overall run prevention.

Still, clubs are apparently apprehensive by Wisler’s dip in velocity. He’s averaging a career-low 89.7 MPH on his four-seam fastball this year. More important, his slider is down to 79.8 MPH after sitting at 81.5 MPH last year. Wisler leans almost exclusively on that breaker, turning to it on a staggering 91.5% of his offerings. He’s used the slider as his primary pitch four years running, but he’s continued to push his approach to greater extremes with each season. Despite turning almost exclusively to the slider, Wisler hasn’t encountered any sort of platoon issues. He’s actually fared better against opposite-handed hitters than righties over the past few seasons, including holding southpaws to a .186/.240/.314 line in 75 plate appearances in 2022.

Now that he’s on the open market, Wisler will have the right to explore opportunities elsewhere. Players who join an organization after August 31 aren’t eligible for postseason play, however, so any signing team would only be able to install him in the bullpen for the final few weeks of the regular season. Wisler has surpassed his sixth year of major league service this season, so he’d be eligible for free agency again at the end of the year even if he signs for the stretch run.

It’s possible Wisler just turns his attention to 2023 at this stage on the calendar, but there’d be no financial downside for another team adding him for the final few weeks if he’s searching for a more immediate opportunity. The Rays are responsible for what remains of his $2.16MM salary, while another team would only owe him the prorated portion of the $700K minimum if he finds another MLB job (which would be subtracted from Tampa Bay’s obligations).

The Rays have designated right-hander Matt Wisler for assignment, per a team announcement. His roster spot will go to righty Luis Patiño, who has been recalled to start today’s game against the Red Sox.

Wisler, 29, began his MLB career with Atlanta, mostly as a starter. He had been a highly-touted prospect, landing in the top 50 on Baseball America’s top 100 in both 2014 and 2015. However, he didn’t fare so well in his first tastes of the majors and eventually transitioned to more bullpen work. As a reliever, he started leaning heavily on his slider, having a tremendous breakout with the Twins in 2020. During that shortened campaign, Wisler threw 25 1/3 innings over 18 games, including four starts, though none longer than two innings. He registered a tiny 1.07 ERA that year along with a 32.7% strikeout rate. Despite that excellent showing, he was non-tendered by the Twins, perhaps due to his 13.1% walk rate.

Wisler then signed with the Giants for 2021 but struggled to a 6.05 ERA, getting flipped to the Rays in June last year. He’s been solid since the move to Tampa, registering a 2.15 ERA in the post-trade portion of 2021 and then a 2.25 ERA here in 2022. That ERA is nice, but the Rays are likely moving on because of some less-impressive numbers under the hood. His control is fine, with an 8% walk rate on the year, but Wisler’s 19.9% strikeout rate is a noticeable drop from the previous three seasons, where he was hovering around the 30% mark. The reason why that hasn’t resulted in more earned runs is probably his .198 batting average on balls in play this year. Wisler’s 30.7% hard hit rate is in the 93rd percentile in terms of limiting hard contact this season, but that BABIP is still about 100 points lower than his career mark coming into the year. The Rays must have been expecting some regression, based on this decision to let him go.

With the trade deadline having passed, Wisler will be placed on outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days. There’s little distinction between the two in this case, as Wisler has over five years of MLB service time. That means he has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency without forfeiting any salary. He and the Rays avoided arbitration in March by agreeing to a $2.16MM contract for the season, leaving about $345K to be paid out.

For teams considering a claim, Wisler is certainly an interesting case. He has continued to increase his slider usage each year, throwing it 70.5% of the time in 2019, followed by 83.4% in 2020, 90.9% last year and 91.5% this season. That led to huge strikeout numbers the first three years, though not so much this season. He’s a free agent this winter, meaning there would be no long-term benefits to claiming him. The short-term appeal would also be limited by the fact that the postseason eligibility date has passed. That means another team could use Wisler down the stretch but not in the postseason. If he clears waivers, the Rays would be on the h0ok for the remainder of that salary. Wisler could elect free agency and sign with any club, who would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum, with that amount being subtracted from what the Rays pay.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweeted the roster moves prior to the official announcement.