BLUE JAYS CLAIM DILLON TATE OFF WAIVERS FROM ORIOLES, DESIGNATE PAOLO ESPINO FOR ASSIGNMENT
Another day, another veteran pitcher claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays.
This time, the front office turned to one of its AL East rivals, the Baltimore Orioles, claiming right-hander Dillon Tate in a move made official prior to Sunday’s series finale against the Minnesota Twins. With a pair of minor-league options available, the team immediately assigned him to triple-A Buffalo, where he’ll join the Bisons.
To make room for Tate, the Blue Jays designated veteran righty Paolo Espino for assignment, creating an open spot on the 40-man roster for their newly acquired hurler. He’s made three big-league appearances this season, including one start, pitching to an 8.31 ERA and a 9.06 FIP in 8.2 innings.
Tate, a free agent after next season, has bounced back and forth between the majors and minors in 2024. The 30-year-old posted a 2.16 ERA and 3.42 FIP with 15 strikeouts over 16 relief appearances with Baltimore’s triple-A affiliate. In the majors, he earned a 4.59 ERA and 3.74 FIP while racking up 23 strikeouts across 29 major-league games.
The 6-foot-2 reliever, featuring a low three-quarter arm slot, missed a significant chunk of time last season due to right elbow and forearm injuries, capping his campaign at just 10.2 innings over three minor-league levels. He did not appear in the major leagues throughout the regular season and playoffs.
Two years ago, however, Tate was a workhorse for the Orioles’ bullpen. He logged the ninth-most innings pitched (73.2) among 152 qualified big-league relievers, finishing with a 3.05 ERA and a career-high 0.5 fWAR rating. While he isn’t your traditional swing-and-miss relief pitcher, he also registered the highest strikeout-to-walk rate difference (15.1 per cent) of his career that season.
But none was more impressive than his 57.4-per-cent ground-ball rate, which ranked 10th out of those 152 relievers in 2022. That success was primarily created by his mid-90s sinker, a pitch that was one of the most effective in the sport, with its +20 run value tied for ninth among every pitch type in baseball with at least 10 plate appearances recorded.
Tate’s sinker hasn’t been as effective this season, with its average velocity dropping from 94 m.p.h. in 2022 to 92.6 in ’24 while featuring slightly less horizontal movement. As a result, opposing hitters have posted a .318 AVG and .435 SLG against it, accounting for a minus-two run value over 94 big-league plate appearances.
Still, for someone as effective as he was two seasons ago, the Blue Jays felt it was worth taking a flyer on Tate with just one month remaining in a disappointing year.
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2024-09-01T22:04:27Z dg43tfdfdgfd