The Orioles introduced Thursday that they’ve claimed right-hander Levi Stoudt off waivers from the Mariners, who’d designated him for task earlier within the week. Left-hander John Means was transferred from the 15-day injured listing to the 60-day injured listing to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Stoudt has been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.
Stoudt, 26, was the Mariners’ third-round choose in 2019 and for a number of years ranked among the many group’s most promising pitching prospects. Although he was by no means fairly as extremely touted as present rotation members like Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo throughout their very own prospect days, Stoudt was a well-regarded member of a deep Mariners pitching pipeline. He was proficient sufficient to be included as a secondary piece — behind headliners Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo — within the commerce that netted Luis Castillo from Cincinnati.
Stoudt would go on to make his huge league debut with the Reds in 2023, pitching simply 10 1/3 innings. The Pennsylvania native was tagged for 11 runs on 16 hits and eight walks over a stretch of 4 one-off appearances, being optioned again to Triple-A Louisville after every. A lot of the injury in opposition to him got here in his debut effort, when he was rocked for seven runs in 4 innings. The Reds eliminated him from the 40-man roster within the 2023-24 offseason, and the Mariners wound up reacquiring Stoudt through waivers.
Though Stoudt made six sharp begins in Triple-A with the Reds following the 2022 commerce that despatched him to Cincinnati, he struggled in Louisville final season, posting a 6.23 ERA in 82 1/3 frames. Issues haven’t gone any higher to date in 2024. He’s made 12 appearances with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma (11 begins) and posted an ugly 6.92 earned run common. Stoudt has fanned a effectively below-average 14.9% of his opponents and issued walks at almost as excessive a clip (12.4%).
Tough as his efficiency in Triple-A has been, Stoudt is an optionable starter with huge league expertise and a heater that sits simply shy of 95 mph. Scouting experiences throughout his prospect peak credited him with plus command — although that hasn’t been the case this season, clearly — with Baseball America calling his split-changeup an at-times “diabolical weapon” that lacked consistency. He’ll give the Orioles some wanted rotation depth on the heels of season-ending surgical procedures for Means and Tyler Wells, and it’s all the time attainable that Baltimore might shift him to a brief aid position and see if his stuff performs up and permits him to emerge as a high-end aid possibility.
