The Rockies have despatched right-hander John Curtiss outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That signifies he cleared waivers after being designated for task earlier this week. He has the precise to elect free company although it’s not but clear if he has chosen to take action.
Curtiss, 31, was signed to a minor league deal within the offseason. He didn’t crack the Opening Day roster, reporting to Albuquerque for some work there. He tossed 21 1/3 innings within the Pacific Coast League with a 6.75 earned run common. His 7.1% stroll price was strong however he solely struck out 18.2% of batters confronted and was harm by an sadly low 57.8% strand price.
Regardless of that pretty shaky efficiency, the Rockies known as him up final week. They’d performed two straight extra-inning video games and wanted some recent arms. In Saturday’s sport in opposition to the Phillies, Curtiss relieved Justin Lawrence with two out within the ninth inning after the latter had blown a save. With the Rockies down 4-3 and with two males on base, Curtiss was introduced in to face Bryce Harper and allowed a three-run homer. He then allowed an Alec Bohm double and a Nick Castellanos single, with Castellanos thrown out at second to lastly finish the inning after Bohm had scored.
Colorado wanted pitching reinforcements once more a few days later and designated Curtiss for task, leaving him presently sporting an unpleasant ERA of 54.00, due to him having allowed two earned runs whereas solely recording one out.
Gamers with greater than three years of service time or a earlier profession outright have the precise to reject an outright task in favor of free company. Curtiss would qualify on each counts and should select to train that proper. He had a strong run in 2020 and 2021 earlier than Tommy John surgical procedure put him out of motion, and he hasn’t actually had an prolonged probability to ascertain himself since then.
He tossed 69 1/3 innings with a 2.86 ERA over 2020 and 2021, spending time with the Rays, Marlins and Brewers. He struck out 24.1% of batters confronted and solely gave out walks at a 5.2% clip. He went underneath the knife in September of 2021 and missed all of 2022. With the Mets final yr, he tossed 19 2/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA and a diminished 19.8% strikeout price.
The Rockies group is a troublesome spot for a man trying to re-establish himself, given the hitter-friendly nature of each Coors Discipline and the PCL, however Curtiss might not have had many choices this winter after an extended damage absence and underwhelming return. Now that the season is a 3rd of the best way by means of and a number of other golf equipment are coping with mounting accidents to their pitching staffs, Curtiss could be focused on pursuing alternatives elsewhere.
