Proper-hander Vinny Nittoli and the Orioles have agreed to a deal, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com on X. The righty will report back to Triple-A Norfolk. Earlier at the moment, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reported on X that the righty had elected free company. He was designated for project by the Cubs final week however handed via waivers unclaimed.
It was simply over every week in the past that Nittoli elected free company after he was outrighted by the Athletics. That led to him signing a significant league take care of the Cubs, although he was bounced off the roster at some point later with out showing in a sport because the Cubs chosen Jorge López. He’s out of choices and likewise has the best to reject outright assignments by advantage of getting beforehand been outrighted in his profession, with each of these elements contributing to his many transactions in latest days.
The 33-year-old Nittoli signed a minor league take care of the A’s within the offseason and began the season pitching nicely in Triple-A. He tossed 23 1/3 innings for Sacramento, permitting 2.70 earned runs per 9. His 11% stroll price was on the excessive aspect however he additionally struck out 36% of batters confronted and received grounders on 45.1% of balls in play. He might have benefited from an 82.7% strand price however was additionally pitching within the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and allowed a .347 batting common on balls in play.
That received him known as as much as the large leagues and he continued placing up good numbers, permitting simply two earned runs in eight innings pitched for the A’s. He solely punched out 15.6% of main league hitters however in a small pattern of labor. Regardless of that pretty strong efficiency, he misplaced his roster spot with Oakland and has been in suitcase mode for over every week now, due to getting that Cubs deal however then promptly being DFA’d once more.
For the O’s, there’s no actual danger in bringing him aboard through a minor league deal and getting an up-close have a look at him. As talked about, he was racking up strikeouts in bunches in Triple-A earlier this yr. That is his fourth straight season with MLB work however he’s by no means had a prolonged stretch within the present, at present with simply 14 2/3 whole innings on his résumé from these 4 seasons. In 159 Triple-A innings because the begin of 2021, he has a 4.19 ERA. His 29.8% strikeout price in that point is robust and his 8.3% stroll price near common, however his 29 house runs allowed have pushed the ERA up.
If he can earn his means onto Baltimore’s roster, his grip on a spot could also be tenuous, because it was with the A’s and Cubs. Although if he occurs to have a roster spot at season’s finish, he could be retained nicely into the longer term since he has lower than a yr of service time.
