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Thomas Hatch

Twins Claim Brooks Kriske, Designate Darren McCaughan For Assignment

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The Twins announced that they have claimed right-hander Brooks Kriske off waivers from the Cubs. They also announced their claim of Thomas Hatch from the Royals and their reinstatement of Luke Keaschall from the 60-day injured list, moves which were previously reported. To open spots for those three, they optioned outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and righty Noah Davis to Triple-A St. Paul while righty Darren McCaughan has been designated for assignment.

Kriske, 31, has 27 2/3 innings of major league experience with an 8.78 earned run average. That ERA was even higher not too long ago, as Kriske has lowered it by throwing six scoreless innings for the Cubs this year. While putting up zeroes is nice, he worked around five walks while striking out four in that time.

It’s a small sample of work but Kriske has been really good in Triple-A this year. In 31 2/3 innings for Iowa, he has a 3.13 ERA, 39.4% strikeout rate and 7.6% walk rate. Those strikeouts aren’t really new for him but he’s usually paired them with more walks. From 2021 to 2024, he struck out 35.5% of minor league opponents but also gave out free passes at a 13.3% clip. He also spent some time pitching in Japan with a 26.9% strikeout rate and 15.2% walk rate.

The Twins are looking for warm bodies for their bullpen. Ahead of the deadline, they traded Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe. They have since called up various minor leaguers to fill the void and have also now grabbed Kriske and Hatch. They are both out of options, which led to them ending up on waivers, so the Twins may bump them back off the roster later in the year. But for now, they provide the club with some fresh arms and add some extra depth.

McCaughan, 29, was also one of those fresh arms. The Twins selected him to the big league roster just yesterday. He didn’t pitch in yesterday’s game but the club apparently liked Kriske and/or Hatch better. Since McCaughan is also out of options, he has been bumped off the 40-man spot that he just got a bit more than 24 hours ago.

He now heads into DFA limbo. Since the trade deadline has passed, the Twins will have to put him on waivers. He has 61 1/3 major league innings on his track record with a 6.02 ERA, 16.2% strikeout rate, 8.1% walk rate and 37.7% ground ball rate. He has thrown 72 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 5.35 ERA, 20.1% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and 34.1% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of Lily Smith, Imagn Images

Twins Claim Thomas Hatch

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The Twins claimed righty Thomas Hatch off waivers from the Royals, reports Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Kansas City had designated him for assignment over the weekend. The Twins subsequently announced the claim and added that the corresponding active roster move will be announced when Hatch reports to the team tomorrow. Minnesota had two vacancies on the 40-man roster after last week’s sell-off.

Hatch will be hoping for a longer run in the Twin Cities than he received in Kansas City. He only made one big league appearance with the Royals, giving up two runs in one inning. He’s out of minor league options, so the Royals quickly designated him for assignment after they selected his contract earlier in the week. It was the second time this season that K.C. had designated him almost immediately after a call-up. He went unclaimed on waivers in June, but the Twins placed a claim this time around as they look for fresh arms to fill out a bullpen that they tore down at the deadline.

The 30-year-old Hatch should be able to provide length out of Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen. He has worked as a starter with Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate for the entire season. Hatch has managed decent results, working to a 4.22 earned run average across 91 2/3 innings. His 20.1% strikeout rate is a little below average, but he’s getting grounders at a 53% clip while showing solid control. Hatch has a five-pitch mix and sits around 93 MPH with both his sinker and four-seam fastball while working as a starter. He was able to push that into the 94-95 range in his lone MLB appearance in short relief.

Hatch has now pitched in parts of five big league seasons, combining for a 5.14 ERA across 70 innings. He had a brief stint in Japan last year and would have pitched this season with the Doosan Bears in Korea had the team not flagged something in his physical. The Twins will need to keep him on the MLB roster or designate him for assignment themselves.

Royals Designate Thomas Hatch For Assignment

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The Royals activated recent trade acquisitions Bailey Falter and Ryan Bergert this morning, ahead of their afternoon matchup with the Blue Jays. To make room on the roster, Jonathan Bowlan was optioned to Triple-A, while Thomas Hatch was designated for assignment. In additional news, the team also announced that Michael Massey has been returned from a rehab assignment.

Hatch, 30, was selected onto the roster earlier this week, taking the place of veteran Rich Hill. However, after bolstering the starting rotation with Falter and Bergert ahead of the trade deadline, the Royals no longer had a job for Hatch. He didn’t help his cause when he gave up two runs on a double and a homer last night in his team debut. (He was also selected to the roster earlier this season but did not appear in a game.)

The Cubs drafted Hatch in 2016, and he debuted with the Blue Jays in 2020. The right-hander went on to appear in parts of four seasons with Toronto, pitching to a 5.40 ERA and 4.81 SIERA in 46 2/3 innings as a long reliever and occasional starter. The Blue Jays DFA’d him during the 2023 season, and he finished the year with the Pirates, pitching to a 4.03 ERA and 4.48 SIERA in another 22 2/3 innings (two starts). Meanwhile, he pitched to a 4.63 ERA and 4.94 FIP over 46 2/3 innings with both teams’ Triple-A affiliates in his first minor league season as a primary reliever.

Hatch spent the 2024 season in Japan, pitching for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, with whom he returned to a starting role. He then signed with the KBO’s Doosan Bears for 2025, but his contract was later voided due to concerns over his physical. Eventually, he inked a minor league deal with the Royals instead. Over 18 starts (91 2/3 innings) with Triple-A Omaha this season, he pitched to a 4.22 ERA and 4.10 FIP, striking out batters at a mediocre 20.1% rate but inducing grounders on 52.9% of balls in play.

A team in need of some quick innings could put in a waiver claim on Hatch, but a lack of options hurts his case; any club that claims him would need to add him to the active roster. If he passes through waivers, he has the right to reject an outright assignment, having already been outrighted by the Royals once this year.

Massey landed on the IL with a left ankle sprain on June 10. He then suffered a hairline fracture in his right wrist after he was hit by a pitch during his first rehab assignment later that month. While he began another rehab assignment on July 18 – and MLB.com’s Anne Rogers reported at the time that pain from his injuries had decreased – he has not played in a game since July 30. Today, manager Matt Quatraro told Rogers that Massey’s back, which has caused him pain in the past, is giving him trouble again. The team will provide an update on his timeline after he goes for further evaluation.

Royals Designate Rich Hill For Assignment

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The Royals announced that veteran southpaw Rich Hill has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up roster space for right-hander Thomas Hatch, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Omaha.

After being released by the Red Sox last September, the 45-year-old Hill didn’t sign a contract until inking a minors deal with Kansas City in May.  Hill pitched 11 outings of ramp-up work in the minor leagues before his contract was selected to the Royals’ roster a week ago today, and he’ll head into DFA limbo with a 5.00 ERA to show for his two starts in a K.C. uniform.

Hill allowed just one earned run over five innings against the Cubs but received no run support in a 6-0 loss on July 22, and the Braves touched him up for four earned runs (on six walks, three hits, and two homers allowed) in as many innings in a start yesterday.  That was apparently enough for the Royals to designate Hill, and he may now be headed for yet another chapter in a career that has now stretched across 21 Major League seasons.

If Hill clears waivers, he obviously has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment to Triple-A, so the ball is in his court as to his next step.  Hill may opt to just remain with the Royals, and while the club could release him, the Royals may want some rotation depth available in Omaha with so many other starters on the injured list.

A waiver claim isn’t out of the question, given how many teams need starting depth right now, and could still need more arms depending on how the trade deadline shakes out.  Pitching-needy clubs could wait until after the 5pm CT deadline on Thursday to put in a claim on Hill, should they have a sudden hole to fill in a rotation following a trade or two.

Should Hill head to free agency once more, it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to find another minor league contract elsewhere, given how long it took him to land with the Royals.  Yet another reunion with the Red Sox can’t be ruled out, or Hill could try to find a brand-new organization in an attempt to secure a unique place in the record books.  Hill and Edwin Jackson share the record for most career teams (14), so suiting up with a 15th different club at the big league level would make Hill the most well-traveled player in MLB history.  Retirement is naturally another option, if Hill decides to finally hang up his cleats after 24 total years in pro ball.

To put it in perspective, Hatch was only seven years old when Hill was drafted by the Cubs in 2002.  Hatch signed a minor league deal with K.C. during the offseason and has yet to see any big league action — his contract was previously selected on June 5 but just for the first game of a doubleheader, and Hatch was DFA’ed before the nightcap.

Assuming that this stint with the Royals leads to an in-game appearance, it will mark Hatch’s first time on a Major League mound since the 2023 season.  The 30-year-old Hatch posted a 4.96 ERA over 69 MLB innings with the Blue Jays and Pirates from 2020-23 before he spent the 2024 campaign in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp.  Hatch has a 4.22 ERA, 20.1% strikeout rate, and 7.2% walk rate across 91 2/3 innings and 18 Triple-A starts this year, and he’ll be the next pitcher to try and fill a hole in Kansas City’s injury-riddled rotation.

Royals Outright Thomas Hatch

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TODAY: Hatch cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate, as per the righty’s MLB.com profile page.

JUNE 5: Between games of today’s doubleheader, the Royals made a roster move. Left-hander Cole Ragans, the scheduled starter for the second game, has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Right-hander Thomas Hatch has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The club’s 40-man roster count drops from 40 to 39.

Hatch was only added to the 40-man roster earlier this morning. The Royals wound up using five relievers to cover three innings, but Hatch wasn’t among them. He was always going to be a relatively short-term addition, though it’s not clear whether a turnaround this quick was the plan or whether yet another sensational start from rookie Noah Cameron forced the team’s hand. Cameron today became the second pitcher in MLB history to pitch at least six innings and allow one or fewer runs in the first five starts of his big league career, joining the late Fernando Valenzuela in that regard (stat via Sarah Langs and the MLB Network research department).

The 30-year-old Hatch signed a minor league deal with Kansas City over the winter. He’s appeared in parts of four big league seasons (not including today) and pitched 69 innings with a 4.96 ERA, a 19.7% strikeout rate, a 10.7% walk rate and a 46.9% grounder rate. He’s also spent time in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and looked to be headed to the Korea Baseball Organization this past offseason, before concerns surrounding his physical exam caused the Doosan Bears to void their one-year deal.

Health hasn’t been an issue for Hatch in 2025, even with that offseason medical snag. He’s started 10 games for the Royals’ Triple-A squad in Omaha and pitched to a 4.59 ERA with slightly below average strikeout marks (20.8%) and solid command (8.6% walk rate). Hatch was torched for eight runs in one start back on April 15 but has since rattled off seven starts with a 3.68 ERA.

Now that he’s been designated for assignment, Hatch will be traded or placed on waivers within five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so his DFA will be resolved in a maximum of one week. If he clears waivers, he’ll stick with the Royals as a depth option, given that he lacks the requisite three years of MLB service or prior outright assignment to reject in favor of free agency. Hatch will collect big league service time and pay for his quick promotion today and for however long he’s in DFA limbo, so even he’s immediately placed on waivers and clears, he’ll still add three days of service and more than $12,500 in pay without throwing a pitch — not a bad few days.

Royals Select Thomas Hatch

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The Royals announced Thursday morning that they’ve selected the contract of righty Thomas Hatch from Triple-A Omaha. Injured reliever Hunter Harvey moves from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Kansas City also technically optioned righty Andrew Hoffmann to Omaha but immediately re-added him to the roster as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader.

Hatch, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Royals back in February. He originally had signed a one-year deal with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization, but that arrangement fell through due to some concerns stemming from his physical. Hatch wound up signing with Kansas City instead, and he’s now back in the majors.

Hatch has pitched in parts of four big league seasons, all with the Blue Jays or Pirates, and spent time pitching with Japan’s Hiroshima Carp in Nippon Professional Baseball last year. The former third-round pick (Cubs, 2016) has totaled 69 big league innings and carries a 4.96 earned run average, a 19.7% strikeout rate, a 10.7% walk rate and a 46.9% ground-ball rate in that time.

Whatever concerns led to the voiding of his KBO deal haven’t manifested in an injury this year. Hatch has been healthy all season and working out of the Storm Chasers’ rotation down in Omaha. He’s posted decent overall results in 51 innings — 4.59 ERA, 20.8 K%, 8.6 BB% — but has been better and more consistent than that rudimentary ERA would indicate. Hatch allowed nearly one-third of his seasonlong run total in a single, disastrous outing on April 15, when the Orioles’ Norfolk affiliate trounced him for eight runs. Since that time, he’s started seven games and rattled off a far more presentable 3.68 ERA with below-average strikeout numbers but solid command and ground-ball tendencies.

The Royals were off yesterday due to a rainout in St. Louis, so the entire bullpen is fresh. However, they used six relievers on Tuesday and presumably want some extra length in the ’pen for today’s twin bill. Hatch won’t start either game, but he’s fully stretched out (seven shutout innings in his most recent Triple-A start) and can thus provide ample long relief if either Game 1 starter Noah Cameron or Game 2 starter Cole Ragans runs into a short start. Ragans is expected to start Game 2 today, so he’ll presumably be reinstated from the 15-day IL between games. Cameron, good as he’s been so far in his big league tenure, could wind up being optioned to make room for Ragans’ return — a testament to the strength of Kansas City’s rotation.

The move to the 60-day IL isn’t a reflection of any sort of new setback for Harvey. He’s already missed 57 days, and the move from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL does not reset his minimum stay on the injured list. He’s technically eligible to return as soon as this weekend, but there’s no indication he’s close to returning. Harvey landed on the IL after experiencing shoulder discomfort in his most recent appearance back on April 7.

Harvey was subsequently diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of his teres major. Harvey resumed throwing in early May but felt lingering discomfort and was shut back down. He hasn’t yet gone out on a minor league rehab assignment, and the team hasn’t provided an update on his status since May 23, when MLB.com’s Anne Rogers relayed that Harvey is playing catch but has still not progressed to the point where he’s able to more seriously ramp up his rehab.

Royals Sign Thomas Hatch To Minor League Deal

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The Royals announced Friday that they’ve signed righty Thomas Hatch to a minor league deal. The Moye Sports client will be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

Hatch, 30, originally agreed to a one-year deal with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Doosan Bears back in November, but that deal fell through after the Bears raised some concerns about the right-hander’s physical. Since the Royals announced this deal, he’s already passed a physical with Kansas City.

Hatch spent the 2024 season with the Hiroshima Carp in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball but logged more time with their farm team (72 1/3 innings) than their big league club (22 innings). He struggled in his brief run with the Carp, yielding 18 runs with an 18-to-10 K/BB ratio and five homers allowed in those 22 frames.

From 2020-23, Hatch pitched at least one major league game per season. He totaled 69 innings between the Blue Jays and Pirates, logging a 4.96 ERA with a 19.7% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate, 46.9% ground-ball rate and 1.17 homers per nine innings. A disproportionate amount of his struggles came in his lone 2022 appearance; the Jays left him on the hill to take his lumps in a blowout where he clearly didn’t have his best stuff, and he was torched for 10 runs in 4 2/3 innings. Any pitcher looks better if you’re setting aside his worst outing, but that one nightmarish performance balloons Hatch’s career ERA from 3.92 in 38 other appearances to its current 4.96 mark.

Hatch has pitched in parts of three Triple-A seasons and sports a 4.49 ERA in 242 1/3 innings there. He’s worked both as a starter and a reliever in the upper minors and in the majors as well. That could put him in competition to win a swingman role with the Royals, or he could simply be ticketed for Triple-A Omaha to serve as rotation depth.

At the moment, Kansas City’s rotation is quite full — even after trading Brady Singer to acquire Jonathan India from the Reds earlier this winter. Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Michael Lorenzen give K.C. an experienced quartet on which to lean. The Royals are moving lefty Kris Bubic from the bullpen (where he thrived in 2024 as he returned from Tommy John surgery) back to his more typical rotation role in 2025. Righty Alec Marsh (4.53 ERA in 129 innings last year) gives them a sixth candidate, though he has a minor league option remaining. Kyle Wright, returning from 2023 shoulder surgery, is another option. Daniel Lynch IV, Jonathan Bowlan, Noah Cameron and Luinder Avila are all on the 40-man roster as well, but Lynch is the only one of the bunch with any MLB experience of note.

KBO’s Doosan Bears Sign Zach Logue

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The Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization have signed left-hander Zach Logue to an $800K contract, reports Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News. That includes a $100K signing bonus for the MSM Sports Management client. As a corresponding move, Doosan voided its previous agreement with righty Thomas Hatch because of concerns about his physical.

That opens an opportunity for the 28-year-old Logue. The southpaw is coming off an excellent Triple-A showing. Logue pitched 97 1/3 innings of 2.59 ERA ball in the upper minors between the Braves and Dodgers systems. That earned him a late-season cameo with Los Angeles. Logue pitched twice for the Dodgers and gave up four runs over two innings.

Logue has appeared in the majors in three consecutive seasons. The majority of that experience came with the A’s in 2022. He started 10 of 14 appearances that year, struggling to a 6.79 earned run average over 57 innings. Logue made three long relief appearances for the Tigers the following season, allowing nine runs over 11 innings.

The Dodgers declined to tender him a contract last month. He could certainly have found a minor league deal if he wanted to stay in affiliated ball, but he’ll land a much better guarantee with the Bears. This will be Logue’s first overseas work after eight years in the minors. He joins fellow southpaw Cole Irvin and outfielder Jake Cave as the team’s three foreign-born players.

Thomas Hatch Signs With KBO’s Doosan Bears

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The Korea Baseball Organization’s Doosan Bears have signed right-hander Thomas Hatch, per a team announcement (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). The 30-year-old will earn $1MM in 2025, paid out as a $200K signing bonus and an $800K salary.

A third-round pick by the Cubs in the 2016 draft, Hatch was shipped to Toronto in the 2019 trade that brought right-hander David Phelps to Chicago. Hatch subsequently made his big league debut with the Blue Jays just a year later during the shortened 2020 season and impressed in his first taste of big league action with a 2.73 ERA in 26 1/3 innings of work. Solid as that top-level run prevention figure was, however, there were some potential red flags under the hood including an 11.9% walk rate and a rather pedestrian 4.14 FIP.

Given those concerning peripherals, it wasn’t necessarily a shock when the wheels came off for Hatch a bit during the 2021 season. The right-hander pitched just 14 innings in the majors with a 10.93 ERA over the next two years as he walked eight batters and struck out 12. In spite of those struggles, he continued to post decent numbers with Triple-A Buffalo and earned a more extensive opportunity in the majors during the 2023 season. It went reasonably well for the right-hander, as he posted a solid 4.08 ERA across 28 2/3 innings of work with the Blue Jays and Pirates. Looking under the hood, Hatch’s performance came with a strong 52.3% groundball rate and a respectable 20.2% strikeout rate while his walk rate dipped to a still elevated but more manageable 9.3%.

Those promising peripherals and improved results got the attention of the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, who signed him to a one-year deal last offseason. That first foray into overseas baseball didn’t go especially well for Hatch, as he was relegated to the Carp’s Western League affiliate for most of the season after struggling with the Central League club. While he dominated in 72 1/3 Western League innings to the tune of a 2.36 ERA, Hatch was torched in the Central League with a 7.36 ERA in 22 innings across five appearances. Those struggles were evidently enough for Hiroshima to part ways with Hatch this winter, leading him to head to South Korea to sign with the Bears. In the KBO, Hatch will lock down a larger salary than he would’ve been able to find in stateside ball and hope to re-establish himself as a pitcher, potentially opening the door to a more lucrative return to either NPB or MLB play in the future.

Thomas Hatch, Taylor Hearn Reportedly Sign With NPB’s Hiroshima Carp

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The Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s NPB have signed a pair of hurlers who pitched in the majors this past season. According to Yahoo Japan (Japanese language link), the Carp have agreed to deals with left-hander Taylor Hearn and right-hander Thomas Hatch. The report indicates Hiroshima’s agreement with Hearn is worth $900K in total, while Hatch’s deal is reportedly worth a total of $1.3MM. Hatch was released by the Pirates late last month and was initially expected to sign with the Nippon-Ham Fighters prior to landing a deal with the Carp. Hearn, on the other hand, elected free agency back in October.

Hearn, 29, made his big league debut back in 2019 with the Rangers and spent parts of five seasons in the majors with the club, pitching to a 5.11 ERA and 4.45 FIP during that time. From 2021-22, Hearn occupied a swing role with Texas, pitching both as a member of the starting rotation and out of the bullpen throughout the two campaigns. Those two seasons accounted for a 204 1/3 of Hearn’s career 229 innings of work for the Rangers and both campaigns saw him post strong numbers out of the bullpen, with ERAs of 3.54 and 3.51 respectively. Unfortunately, that success didn’t translate over in his limited time as a full-time reliever during the 2023 season, where he struggled to a 11.40 ERA in 15 innings of work while splitting time between the Rangers, Royals, and Braves organizations. Looking ahead to 2024, Hearn figures to have the opportunity to pitch in a full-time relief role on a regular basis with the Carp.

Hatch, 29, has found more big league success during his career than Hearn. A third-round pick by the Cubs in the 2016 draft, Hatch made his big league debut with the Blue Jays during the shortened 2020 season and impressed in his first taste of big league action with a 2.73 ERA in 26 1/3 innings of work. Things came off the rails a bit for Hatch the following two seasons, however, as he pitched just 14 innings in the majors with a 10.93 ERA. He got a more extensive opportunity in the majors in 2023, however, and did reasonably well with it. Across 28 2/3 innings of work with the Blue Jays and Pirates, Hatch posted a solid 4.08 ERA with a strong 52.3% groundball rate and a respectable 20.2% strikeout rate. Those decent results and promising peripherals surely made Hatch an attractive target for Hiroshima, and he’ll now join Hearn on the Carp pitching staff in 2024.

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