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Zac Lowther

Outrights: Lowther, Katoh

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We’ll keep track of some recent players who’ve cleared waivers following earlier DFAs in this post…

  • The Orioles announced that left-hander Zac Lowther went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been subsequently assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He was designated for assignment a week ago, when Baltimore claimed infielder Jonathan Arauz off waivers from the Red Sox. Lowther, 26, was a second-round pick by the Orioles back in 2017 and for a few years rated as one of their system’s most promising arms. It was easy to see why, as he breezed through the low minors, reaching Double-A as a 23-year-old in 2019 and hurling 148 frames of 2.55 ERA ball with a 26% strikeout rate (albeit against an elevated 10.6% walk rate). Since moving up to the Triple-A level, however, the former Xavier University standout has been clobbered for 61 earned runs in 65 1/3 frames. He’s endured similar struggles in his limited Major League action, pitching to a grisly 6.94 ERA with 15 walks, five hit batsmen and six homers allowed in just 35 innings.
  • Infielder Gosuke Katoh passed through outright waivers and has been assigned to the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse, per the team’s transactions log at MLB.com. Katoh was claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays in early May, and while he was recalled for a series later that month, he didn’t get into a game before being optioned back to Syracuse three days later. The Mets needed a 40-man roster spot last week when selecting veteran reliever Tommy Hunter, and Katoh proved to be the roster casualty. The longtime Yankees farmhand made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays earlier this year after signing a minor league deal and went 1-for-7 with three walks in a brief cup of coffee. Katoh entered the season with a strong track record in 197 Triple-A games between the Yankees and Padres, but he’s gone just 4-for-46 in 55 plate appearances between the Triple-A clubs for the Jays and Mets this year. He’ll remain on hand as a depth option in Syracuse and hope to start trending toward the .306/.388/.474 form he showed in Triple-A a year ago.

Orioles Claim Jonathan Arauz, Designate Zac Lowther

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The Orioles announced they’ve claimed infielder Jonathan Araúz off waivers from the Red Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Left-hander Zac Lowther has been designated for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot.

Boston designated Araúz for assignment last week, a move that eventually ended his tenure in the organization after two-plus seasons. Selected out of the Astros organization in the 2019 Rule 5 draft, Araúz stuck on the active roster for the shortened 2020 campaign. Boston secured his long-term contractual rights and he’s bounced on and off the active roster for the past two seasons as a depth infielder. The switch-hitter owns a .204/.280/.320 line with four home runs through 167 big league plate appearances.

The Panama native has posted a .228/.303/.329 mark in just under 400 trips to the dish with the Red Sox’s top affiliate in Worcester. That’s obviously not great production, but he’s only punched out in 15.8% of his Triple-A plate appearances. Araúz is capable of playing both middle infield positions as well as third base, and while he’s never likely to be much of a power threat, he at least brings solid bat-to-ball skills to the table. The 23-year-old is in his second minor league option year, so the O’s can stash him in Norfolk for the next year and a half if he holds onto a 40-man spot.

Lowther’s designation comes as a bit of a surprise, as the Xavier product had recently been rated as one of the better pitching prospects in the organization. He’s appeared among Baseball America’s rankings of the O’s top 30 prospects heading into each of the past five years. Lowther doesn’t throw hard or draw particularly strong grades for his breaking pitches, but evaluators have pointed to the deception in his delivery and his generally strong control as reasons he could be a useful depth starter.

The 26-year-old is amidst an absolutely dreadful season with Norfolk, though, as he’s been tagged for a 10.03 ERA across 35 innings. He’s served up eight homers in his ten outings while posting worse than average strikeout and walk numbers (21.7% and 10%, respectively). Lowther has also been hit hard at the big league level, allowing just under seven earned runs per nine innings over 11 appearances. That’s a far cry from his stellar performances up through Double-A, and the O’s have been discouraged enough by the recent results to risk losing him entirely.

Baltimore will have a week to trade Lowther or try to run him through outright waivers. His low minors dominance and pair of remaining options could lead another team to see whether they can get him back on track. If Lowther goes unclaimed, he’d remain in the upper minors of the Orioles’ system without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

Orioles Place Hunter Harvey On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Zac Lowther

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The Orioles have placed Hunter Harvey back on the injured list with a right lat strain, per Rich Dubroff of baltimorebaseball.com. Harvey’s career continues to switchback from potential high-impact arm to star-crossed former prospect. The former first round pick has produced promising bottom-line results since moving to the bullpen full-time in 2019, though his opportunities has been limited because of injuries. This season, the 26-year-old appeared nine times for 8 2/3 innings of work with a 4.15 ERA/4.31 FIP. He’s shown decent control (8.3 percent walk rate), but for the second consecutive season, he has struck out less than 17 percent of opposing batters, a rate that falls well below the 23.3 percent league average (small sample caveats apply). Harvey now goes back on the 10-day injured list, not quite a month since coming off it: He missed the first 64 days of the year with an oblique injury.

Zac Lowther has been added to the active roster to claim Harvey’s roster spot. The 25-year-old southpaw made his Major League debut earlier this season, starting one game and pitching twice out of the bullpen, covering a total 5 1/3 innings. Lowther was knocked around for nine earned runs on 11 hits. On the plus side, he only allowed two walks — good for a 6.9 percent walk rate — and he missed some bats, posting a solid 24.1 percent strikeout rate. Because of the small sample, both the good and the bad here can be taken with a grain of salt. Lowther was the O’s No. 19 ranked prospect by Baseball America entering the season.

Baltimore also received bad news on Travis Lakins, who left his first start of the year earlier this week in just the second inning. Manager Brandon Hyde said that Lakins has a “significant elbow injury,” Dubroff noted. The 27-year-old right-hander has been a reliever for the O’s, pitching 23 times out of the pen before starting last Tuesday’s game. He has not, however, proved particularly effective in either role, logging a 5.79 ERA/5.11 SIERA in 28 innings. He’s neither missed very many bats (19.5 strikeout rate) nor done enough to limit free passes (13.8 percent walk rate). Still, his ability to handle multiple innings had value for the Orioles, who will dig deeper into the organization to fill innings.

Orioles To Select Zac Lowther, Option Isaac Mattson

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The Orioles optioned Isaac Mattson to Triple-A after Friday night’s game, creating a roster spot for Zac Lowther, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). Lowther will start Saturday’s ballgame.

Mattson was drafted and raised in the Angels’ farm system, but he made his Major League debut last night for the Orioles. He surrendered one earned run on a walk and a hit in 2/3 of an inning. Mattson wrapped the 2019 season with five innings in Triple-A with the Salt Lake City Bees. He came to Baltimore as one of four pitchers in the Dylan Bundy trade.

Lowther will make his second appearance of the season on Saturday, having previously tossed a scoreless inning against the A’s on April 25th. Fangraphs has him as Baltimore’s 18th-ranked prospect coming into the season. Elite extension helps buoy a fairly standard three-pitch mix for the former second round pick. Lowther posted a 2.55 ERA across 148 innings in Double-A back in 2019.

Orioles Select Jay Flaa’s Contract

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The Orioles have selected the contract of right-hander Jay Flaa, the team announced.  The Orioles already had an opening on their 40-man roster, and room was created on the 26-man active roster when left-hander Zac Lowther was optioned to the alternate training site.

A sixth-round pick out of North Dakota State in the 2015 draft, Flaa has a 3.41 ERA and 26.75% strikeout rate over 258 2/3 minor league innings.  Working as a reliever in all but three of his 165 professional games, Flaa has been able to miss some bats but he has also had some control issues, posting a below-average 11.25% walk rate.  As the Orioles continue to explore and audition multiple pitchers during their rebuild, Flaa will get a chance in the team’s bullpen, and is on track to make his Major League debut at age 28.

Lowther made his own debut just yesterday, tossing an inning of scoreless relief in Baltimore’s 8-1 victory over the Athletics.  Lowther will now head back to the alternate site after his cup of coffee in the bigs, as the southpaw was only called up prior to Sunday’s game.

Orioles Designate Wade LeBlanc For Assignment

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TODAY: The Orioles officially announced the move.

APRIL 24: The Orioles are set to designate left-hander Wade LeBlanc for assignment, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Fellow lefty Zac Lowther will be recalled from the alternate training site in a corresponding move, per Kubatko.

LeBlanc started six games for the Orioles in 2020, managing only an 8.06 ERA/5.77 SIERA over 22.1 innings. Despite that poor showing, Baltimore brought the 36-year-old back on a split contract in March. The soft-tossing LeBlanc made six appearances (including a start this afternoon against the Athletics) and allowed seven runs on eleven hits, although he did strike out six while only issuing a single walk. LeBlanc has never been one to miss many bats, but his consistent strike-throwing has gotten him to the majors in thirteen of the past fourteen years.

To replace LeBlanc, the Orioles will turn to one of their more promising pitching prospects for the first time. Lowther, selected by Baltimore with the 74th overall pick in the 2017 draft, is in position to make his MLB debut. The 24-year-old doesn’t have overpowering stuff but has generally drawn praise from scouts for his deceptive delivery and decent control.

Lowther dominated during his most recent minor-league action in 2019, tossing 148 innings of 2.55 ERA ball at Double-A with a solid 25.9% strikeout rate and a slightly elevated 10.6% walk rate. Considered to be the #19 prospect in the organization by Baseball America, Lowther will be available out of the bullpen to start his MLB career, Kubtako reports.

Orioles Designate Renato Nunez For Assignment

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The Orioles are designating infielder Renato Núñez for assignment, per various reporters (including Joe Trezza of MLB.com). Baltimore is also adding six players to the 40-man roster in advance of tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft: infielder Rylan Bannon, outfielder Yusniel Diaz, right-handers Michael Baumann and Isaac Mattson and left-handers Zac Lowther and Alexander Wells.

Some may be surprised to see the Orioles letting go of Núñez. The 26-year-old has been an everyday player for Baltimore over the past two seasons, slugging .469 and hitting 43 home runs in 815 plate appearances. However, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored at length in previewing the Orioles’ offseason, Núñez indeed looked like a potential non-tender candidate. Núnez’s relatively low walk rates have led to a lackluster .314 on-base percentage over the past two years. He’s not well-regarded as a defender at third base, either. Overall, he’s only been worth around one win above replacement the past two seasons combined in the estimation of both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference.

Evidently, Baltimore decided Núñez’s on-base and defensive deficiencies outweighed the power potential he brings, particularly as he enters arbitration for the first time. Núñez is projected for a salary in the $2.1MM – $3.9MM range this offseason, and the Orioles were clearly prepared to non-tender him prior to the December 2 deadline. With that settled, there’s little reason to keep Núñez on the 40-man roster beyond today’s Rule 5 protection deadline.

It’s still possible the O’s find a trade partner involving Núñez in the coming days. He does have some appeal as a potential 1B/DH option and hit better in 2020 than he had in 2019. If another team were to acquire Núñez, they could control him through arbitration for the next four seasons.

Player Pool Additions: Phillies, Brewers, Padres, Orioles

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We’ll track the latest additions to teams’ 60-man player pools in this post…

  • The Phillies added lefty Jeff Singer to their pool, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports (via Twitter). The 26-year-old signed with the Phils as an undrafted free agent in 2016 and has steadily risen through their system, reaching the Double-A level in 2019. Last year, Singer tossed 61 2/3 frames with a 74-to-22 K/BB ratio, a 2.34 ERA and a 2.77 FIP. Singer isn’t considered to be among the club’s top-ranked prospects but will get some developmental reps in Allentown and could conceivably even be an option later this month, given his success in the upper minors.
  • The Brewers announced three new additions to their player pool: infielder Gabe Holt, outfielder Carlos Rodriguez and righty Bowden Francis. Their 60-man group is up to 59 players. Holt, 22, was a seventh-round pick out of Texas Tech in 2019 and hasn’t played above Rookie ball, so his addition is purely developmental. That’s also true of Rodriguez, a 2017 international signee out of Venezuela who is considered among to be the organization’s top 20 prospects. Francis, meanwhile, was a 2017 seventh-rounder and split the 2019 season between Class-A Advanced and Double-A. In a combined 142 2/3 innings, Francis pitched to a 3.97 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. Francis seems like a viable candidate to debut over the final three-plus weeks of the 2020 season, as he’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft this winter anyhow.
  • Righty Justin Lange and catcher Blake Hunt have been added to the Padres’ player pool, tweets Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Sanders adds that outfielder Jorge Ona was also quietly added to the pool “some time” ago. The 18-year-old Lange was taken with the No. 34 overall pick in this year’s draft, but as a high school draftee, he obviously won’t be considered for an MLB look this month. Hunt, 21, was the Padres’ second-rounder in ’17 and hit .255/.331/.381 in 376 Class-A plate appearances last year. The 23-year-old Ona was a high-profile signing out of Cuba. He was sidelined for much of the 2019 season but put together a huge .348/.417/.539 slash through 103 plate appearances in a pitcher-friendly Double-A environment last year. He’s already on the 40-man roster after having his contract selected last November.
  • The Orioles announced that lefty Zac Lowther has been added to their player pool in Bowie. Lowther, 24, was the Orioles’ second-rounder in 2017 and posted a 2.55 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, 0.49 HR/9 and a 40.1 percent ground-ball rate in 148 innings. He’s generally considered to be among the Orioles’ 15 best prospects.
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