The Orioles announced they’ve designated left-hander Cole Irvin for assignment. Baltimore recalled catcher Blake Hunt for his major league debut to take the vacated active roster spot.
Irvin, 30, was a fifth-round pick by the Phillies back in 2016 but struggled badly upon making his big league debut in 2019. He posted a 6.75 ERA and 5.09 FIP in 45 1/3 innings of work with the Phillies in parts of two seasons before being dealt to the A’s in a cash deal prior to the start of the 2021 season. Despite being used primarily out of the bullpen in Philadelphia, the A’s moved him to the rotation where he managed to fashion himself into a reliable, innings-eating back-of-the-rotation arm. Between his two seasons in Oakland, only 12 pitchers threw more innings than his 359 1/3 frames of work as he pitched to a 4.11 ERA (95 ERA+) with a 4.25 FIP across 62 starts for the A’s. Irvin posted a lackluster 16.8% strikeout rate during his time with the A’s but limited walks to a measly 5.2% clip.
That combination of volume and steady (if uninspiring) production made Irvin a fairly attractive trade candidate during the 2022-23 offseason as the A’s continued to tear down amid a rebuild that began the previous winter, particularly given that he was still set to make a league-minimum salary in 2023. Enter the Orioles, who were keeping payroll low as they cautiously stepped towards contention following a surprise 83-79 showing in 2022 and jumped at the chance to acquire the southpaw in a deal where they shipped infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to Oakland in exchange for Irvin and pitching prospect Kyle Virbitsky.
Unfortunately, Irvin has not been the steady source of innings the Orioles were surely hoping they’d be acquiring when they landed him. His career in Baltimore got off to a disastrous start as he pitched to a 10.66 ERA in three April starts before being optioned down to the Triple-A level. He was called back up to the big leagues in mid-June to take on a swing role, acting as a multi-inning reliever and spot starter for the remainder of the season after being squeezed out of the rotation picture by the emergence of youngsters like Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, and Tyler Wells. He performed solidly enough in that role, with a 3.22 ERA and 4.25 FIP in his final 64 1/3 innings of work last year, that the Orioles were willing to retain him through his first year of arbitration eligibility on a $2MM salary to act as rotation depth.
The decision to keep Irvin…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Baltimore Orioles – MLB Trade Rumors…