Another day, another waiver claim for the Detroit Tigers.
President of baseball operations Scott Harris continues to stockpile depth in the organization, and on Wednesday, the Tigers claimed right-hander Edwin Uceta off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Uceta, who turned 25 on Monday, has a 6.27 ERA with 19 walks and 38 strikeouts over 37⅓ innings in his MLB career. He pitched 14 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021 and 10 games for the Diamondbacks in 2022.
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Last season, Uceta logged a 5.82 ERA with seven walks and 13 strikeouts in 17 innings for the Diamondbacks. He also posted a 4.86 ERA with 30 walks (14% walk rate) and 70 strikeouts (32.7% strikeout rate) across 50 innings across 28 games (five starts) for Triple-A Reno.
Uceta signed with the Dodgers of the Dominican Republic for $10,000 as an international free agent in July 2016 — and remained in their organization through the 2021 season. He grew up working as a gas station attendant in Villa Los Almacigos.
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In the majors last season, Uceta primarily threw three pitches: sinker (54.1%), changeup (27.1%) and curveball (17.5%). His changeup, considered his best pitch, registered a .158 expected batting average, although opponents actually hit .250 against it. His sinker averaged 93.5 mph, while his changeup averaged 88.3 mph.
Uceta owns a 4.81 ERA in 78⅔ innings total at the Triple-A level. He has one minor-league option remaining.
The Tigers’ 40-man roster is now full.
The 40-man roster
Here’s an updated look at the 40-man roster:
Left-handed pitchers (5): Tyler Alexander, Matthew Boyd, Eduardo Rodriguez, Tarik Skubal, Joey Wentz.
Right-handed pitchers (16): Beau Brieske, José Cisnero, Mason Englert, Alex Faedo, Jason Foley, Rony García, Garrett Hill, Alex Lange, Michael Lorenzen, Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Reese Olson, Spencer Turnbull, Edwin Uceta, Will Vest, Brendan White.
Catchers (3): Eric Haase, Jake Rogers, Donny Sands.
Infielders (10): Javier Báez, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Kreidler, Andre Lipcius, Nick Maton, Tyler Nevin, Wenceel Perez, Jonathan Schoop, Zack Short, Spencer Torkelson.
Outfielders (6): Akil Baddoo, Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Austin Meadows, Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers claim Edwin Uceta off waivers from Arizona Diamondbacks