[ad_1]
Padres announced relief Friday night Sean Poppen Unclaimed on waivers and fully assigned to Triple-A El Paso.There was no previous indication that Poppen had been nominated, so this transfer vacated a spot on San Diego’s 40-man roster. That number is reduced to 39.
Poppen landed in San Diego last month following a waiver motion from Arizona. The right-hander has pitched in the majors every past four seasons, most of it since his early 2021. Poppen has played for four different clubs, spending the past year-plus with the Diamondbacks.
In 67 1/3 career innings, the Harvard product has a 5.08 ERA. He has his 22.3% strikeout rate and his 10% walk rate, which are just below average. It was a similar story for 2022 as Poppen worked his 4.40 ERA in his 28 2/3 frame. He struck out his 18.3% of the hitters he faced while dealing his passes free at 10% of the clip. He averaged a steady 94.6 mph in the sinker, but he only had his strikes swing in 6.3% of all pitches.
Poppen has more success in the minor leagues. He has pitched his 121 innings in some of his three Triple-A seasons and is working on a cumulative ERA of 3.50. His former 19th round pick in the minors has fanned about 24% of his opponents at the highest level of his league. He posted an ERA of 4.62 in 25 1/3 frames last year with his affiliate top of Arizona. Since it was his last optional season, the Flyers couldn’t bring him back into the minors without first putting him through Waiver.
Despite appearing in parts of four MLB seasons, the 28-year-old has yet to reach two years of major league service time. This is the first time in his career that he has no rights to test minor league free agency. If they don’t reclaim their 40-man roster slot by day one, they’ll start the season in the El Paso bullpen.
[ad_2]
Source link
