The Giants have claimed a left-hander Andrew Vasquez off waivers from the Phillies. To create roster space, San Francisco has designated an outfielder Steele Walker for assignment.
Vasquez was DFA’ed himself two days ago, and the southpaw will now be joining his third new organization since the start of August. The Blue Jays signed Vasquez just after the lockout ended, but he struggled to an 8.10 ERA in limited action (6 2/3 innings) in the big leagues, and Vasquez also missed over six weeks due to an ankle injury. Toronto designated Vasquez after the trade deadline and the Phillies put in a claim, and now Vasquez’s Philadelphia tenure will end after four appearances with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The Giants have assigned Vasquez to their own Triple-A affiliate for now, and given San Francisco’s tendency to cycle through players on the back end of their roster, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Vasquez either up in the majors soon or perhaps even back on the DFA treadmill in relatively short order. Vazquez has an 8.10 ERA over 13 1/3 career innings in the majors (21 total games with the Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Twins from 2018-22) but he has some very solid numbers and a lot of strikeouts over his minor league career . His Triple-A resume consists of a 3.72 ERA over 87 innings, although with a high walk rate.
Walker made his MLB debut this season, appearing in five games with the Rangers before the Giants claimed him off waivers on August 7. The White Sox selected Walker in the second round of the 2018 draft, but he has a modest .257/.329 /.416 over 1405 career PA in the minor leagues. Chicago dealt Walker to the Rangers for Nomar Mazara in 2019, and thus Walker (a native of Prospect, Texas) eventually got his first taste of the majors while playing for his hometown team.
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