Sept. 23: Woodford handed by waivers unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, per the transaction log at MLB.com.
Sept. 19: The Pirates introduced that they’ve chosen the contract of right-hander Isaac Mattson. Fellow righty Jake Woodford has been designated for project because the corresponding transfer. The 40-man roster stays full.
Woodford was simply chosen to the roster yesterday and it appears the plan was merely for him to make a spot begin because the membership performs out the string on the 2024 season. He took the ball in opposition to his former membership the Cardinals yesterday, tossing 4 2/3 innings. He struck out 5 hitters and didn’t subject a stroll, however he allowed 4 earned runs on eight hits, together with a house run.
The righty was additionally on Pittsburgh’s roster earlier within the 12 months however with out a lot success. He now has a 7.97 earned run common by 35 innings on the 12 months. That’s absolutely a bit deceptive as his 44.6% strand price is nicely under league common, however he’s additionally not doing himself favors along with his 15.6% strikeout price and 35.2% floor ball price.
He’s been capable of work across the lack of strikeouts prior to now. He tossed 116 innings as a swingman for the Playing cards over 2021 and 2022, posting a 3.26 ERA. He solely punched out 15.4% of opponents but additionally stored the ball on the bottom 45.8% of the time. His ERA jumped to six.23 final 12 months as a result of a house run spike, which led the Playing cards to non-tender him.
The Bucs will put him on waivers within the coming days, as they did in late August. At the moment, he cleared waivers, elected free company after which re-signed on a recent minor league deal. With so little of the 2024 season remaining, it’s doable he goes unclaimed and goes into offseason mode barely forward of schedule.
Mattson, 29, will take Woodford’s place and return to the large leagues for the primary time since 2021. He made 4 appearances for the Orioles that 12 months, permitting three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, which is the full of his main league expertise to this point.
He signed a minor league take care of the Pirates coming into 2024 and has had a strong 12 months on the farm. He has thrown 71 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 3.17 ERA and 29.8% strikeout price, although the 12.7% stroll price is on the excessive facet.
He’ll give the Bucs a recent arm for the bullpen as they end out the season. He has a few choices remaining and just some days of service time, so he can theoretically be retained nicely into the longer term, although he must maintain onto his roster spot all through the membership’s offseason transactions.
