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Chris Mazza

Mariners Sign Chris Mazza To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have signed right-hander Chris Mazza to a minor league contract, as announced by Triple-A Tacoma media relations director Paul Braverman (Twitter link). Mazza, a client of NPG Sports, has already joined the Rainiers, per Braverman..

Mazza, 32, spent the season to this point in the Rays organization, though the bulk of that time came on the 60-day injured list due to back troubles. He’d been on a minor league rehab assignment with the Rays, but at the end of his 20-day rehab window, Tampa Bay opted to reinstate Mazza and designate him for assignment rather than add him back to the big league roster. The right-hander is out of minor league options, so the Rays had to either cut him loose or carry him on the roster. Mazza went unclaimed on waivers and elected free agency last week.

This will be the second stint in the Mariners organization for Mazza, who signed a minor league deal with Seattle back in Aug. 2018. He finished out the season with their Double-A affiliate but wound up going to the Mets in the minor league phase of that year’s Rule 5 Draft.

Mazza has since spent parts of four seasons in the Majors, seeing time with the Mets, Red Sox and Rays. He’s compiled a 5.35 ERA in 79 innings, striking out batters at an 18.5% clip against a 9.2% walk rate and 36.3% grounder rate. He logged 27 1/3 innings with the Rays a year ago, pitching to a 4.61 ERA in a career-high 14 Major League appearances.

Looking past those sub-par strikeout and walk rates, Mazza has shown a repeated knack for inducing weak contact. That was truer than ever last season, when Mazza yielded just an 85.5 mph average exit velocity and a meager 29.7% hard-hit rate as a member of the Rays. He couldn’t sustain that in 2022, when he was tagged seven earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, though it seems fair to wonder whether he was ever pitching at full strength this season.

Regardless, Mazza will give the M’s some upper-level bullpen depth with big league experience and a solid track record in Triple-A, where he’s pitched to a 3.68 ERA with a solid 23.9% strikeout rate and a strong 7.5% walk rate in 142 career innings.

Chris Mazza Elects Free Agency

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Reliever Chris Mazza has cleared waivers and elected minor league free agency, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The righty had been designated for assignment by the Rays earlier in the week.

Mazza signed a minor league deal over the offseason and cracked the Opening Day roster. He was called upon by skipper Kevin Cash twice out of the bullpen, allowing ten runs (seven earned) over 5 1/3 combined innings. Mazza landed on the injured list two weeks into the season due to back spasms, and he was eventually transferred to the 60-day IL. The 32-year-old recently returned to health, but the Rays chose to DFA him rather than put him back onto the MLB roster.

That brief look in April marked four consecutive seasons of some MLB action for Mazza, who debuted with the 2019 Mets. He pitched for the Red Sox during the abbreviated 2020 campaign and has spent the past couple seasons in Tampa Bay. Through 79 major league innings, the California native owns a 5.35 ERA with a modest 18.5% strikeout rate.

While he’s yet to cement himself in any team’s major league bullpen, Mazza has a solid minor league track record. He owns a 3.68 ERA through parts of four years in Triple-A, where he’s punched out a more capable 23.9% of batters faced. That resume should allow him to land with another team on a minor league pact over the coming days or weeks.

Rays Designate Chris Mazza For Assignment

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The Rays announced Monday that they’ve reinstated right-hander Chris Mazza from the 60-day injured list and designated him for assignment. Mazza, who’s been sidelined since mid-April due to back spasms, saw his 20-day minor league rehab window run out and the Rays apparently didn’t see enough to bring him back to the big league roster. He’s out of minor league options, the team couldn’t simply send him down and had to designate him for assignment. Tampa Bay will now have a week to trade Mazza, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.

Mazza, 32, has seen big league time in each of the past four seasons, pitching to a combined 5.35 ERA in 79 innings with the Mets, Red Sox and Rays. He tossed 27 1/3 innings of 4.61 ERA ball for the Rays in 2021 but was torched for 10 runs (seven earned) in 5 1/3 innings this year before landing on the injured list.

Though he’s never missed bats at a high level (career 18.5% strikeout rate) and has a slightly worse-than-average career walk rate (9.2%), Mazza has also thrived when it comes to inducing feeble contact. That was particularly true with the 2021 Rays, when he allowed just an 85.5 mph average exit velocity and saw only 29.7% of batted balls against him clock in at 95 mph or more. Those trends went in the wrong direction this season, however, and Mazza’s rehab work in Durham clearly didn’t inspire enough confidence in his ability to right the ship. In 13 innings of Triple-A work, he yielded nine runs (seven earned) on 16 hits and six walks with 18 strikeouts.

Rays Add Luke Bard To 40-Man Roster

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The Rays have added reliever Luke Bard to their 40-man roster, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He won’t be heading to the big leagues immediately, though, as the team is keeping him on optional assignment to Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay transferred Chris Mazza from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to open space on the 40-man roster.

It’s atypical for a team to add a player to the 40-man without an immediate big league promotion, but a contractual nuance explains the decision. Bard signed a minor league deal in Spring Training, and Topkin notes that agreement came with an opt-out provision around this time. Bard either had triggered or was set to trigger the opt-out, leaving the Rays to decide whether to add him to the 40-man or grant him his release.

That Tampa Bay took the former route suggests they see him as a viable MLB relief candidate, even if he’s not headed to the majors at the moment. Bard has surrendered three home runs in only 8 2/3 innings with Durham, but he has nine strikeouts and has only issued two walks. The front office obviously believes the home run issue is a small sample blip, and Bard could soon get back to the majors for the first time since 2020.

The 31-year-old righty (the younger brother of Rockies closer Daniel Bard) has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons. That stint came with the Angels from 2018-20, with the majority of his workload coming in the middle year. Bard tallied 66 innings over 46 outings, posting a 5.05 ERA. He was a bit homer-prone in his MLB time as well, but he generated swinging strikes at a decent 12% clip and only walked 6.5% of batters faced. Bard missed all of last season recovering from right hip surgery and was outrighted off the Angels’ 40-man roster last October.

Mazza also signed a minors pact with Tampa Bay over the offseason. He broke camp with the MLB team but made just two appearances before landing on the injured list, retroactive to April 18, due to lower back spasms. Today’s transfer means he can’t return for sixty days from the date of his original placement, so he’ll be out until at least late June recovering.

The 32-year-old Mazza recently progressed to throwing live batting practice, as team broadcaster Neil Solondz tweeted yesterday. That seems to indicate he won’t be out for too much longer, but he was certain to require a minor league rehab assignment anyhow. He can embark on that assignment to get back into game shape before becoming eligible to return to the club. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last for as long as 30 days.

Rays Claim Ralph Garza, Select Chris Mazza

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The Rays have claimed reliever Ralph Garza off waivers from the Red Sox, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. They’ve also selected reliever Chris Mazza onto the Opening Day roster. To create 40-man roster space, Brendan McKay and Pete Fairbanks have been placed on the 60-day injured list.

Boston claimed Garza off waivers themselves a couple weeks ago, but their subsequent attempt to pass him through waivers came up empty. The 28-year-old made his big league debut last season, splitting the year between the Astros and Twins. He tossed 30 1/3 innings over 27 outings, pitching to a 3.56 ERA despite slightly worse than average strikeout and walk rates (22.8% and 11%, respectively).

Garza still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, and the Rays have already sent him to Triple-A Durham. He’ll serve as a depth option for a bullpen that now includes Mazza. The 32-year-old pitched in 14 games for Tampa Bay last season, posting a 4.61 ERA. He only punched out 18.8% of opponents, but he dished out walks at just a 6.3% clip. The Rays outrighted Mazza but brought him back on a minor league deal this winter, and he’ll again crack the big league roster.

McKay has been plagued by injuries for the past few years. He’s made just seven minor league appearances since 2019, as he required shoulder surgery in 2020 and suffered a forearm strain last year. McKay underwent thoracic outlet surgery last November. That wasn’t expected to affect his readiness for this season, but he’s apparently not recovered and will be out of action until at least early June again. Fairbanks has a partially torn lat and might not pitch until after the All-Star Break.

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network reported Mazza’s forthcoming promotion this morning.

Rays Re-Sign Chris Mazza

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The Rays have re-signed Chris Mazza, the righty announced on Twitter. With big league transactions frozen, it’s no doubt a minors pact. Mazza was eligible to sign after being outrighted and electing minor league free agency in early November.

Tampa Bay acquired Mazza from the Red Sox over the 2020-21 offseason. The 32-year-old went on to make 14 appearances with the Rays, tossing 27 1/3 frames as a multi-inning relief option. Mazza was a reliable strike-thrower but not an overpowering bullpen arm, posting below-average strikeout and ground-ball numbers. He worked to a 4.61 ERA in the majors but had a more impressive 3.16 mark in 37 frames with Triple-A Durham.

It was the third straight season logging big league time for Mazza, originally a 27th-round draft choice of the Twins. He broke into the bigs with the Mets in 2019, then spent 2020 with Boston. Over his three seasons, the California native owns a 4.89 ERA/4.73 SIERA across 73 2/3 innings. Mazza is out of minor league option years, so if he pitches his way onto the Rays 40-man roster in Spring Training, he’ll need to remain on the active roster or be exposed to waivers.

Phillies Claim Ryan Sherriff From Rays

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The Phillies have claimed left-hander Ryan Sherriff off waivers from the Rays, per a club announcement. Should he stick around, Sherriff will look to help solidify a leaky Phillies ’pen that pitched to a 4.60 ERA (sixth-worst in the bigs) and 4.61 FIP (fourth-worst) in 2021. Sherriff posted a mediocre 5.52 ERA across 14 2/3 innings (16 appearances) this year, albeit with 16 Ks and a 3.65 FIP that suggest he may have suffered from a bit of bad luck. For his career, the lefty has been good for a 3.65 ERA (3.98 FIP) in 44 1/3 innings.

Originally a 2011 28th-rounder of the Cardinals, Sherriff debuted in the majors in 2017, making 18 relief appearances in St. Louis before undergoing Tommy John surgery in the middle of the 2018 season. The Cards released him shortly thereafter, and he landed in Tampa on a minor-league pact shortly thereafter. He didn’t get back to the bigs until midway through the pandemic-shortened 2020 season but put up by far the best numbers of his career when he did, not giving up a single earned run in 9 2/3 innings — albeit while striking out only 2. He also covered two scoreless innings for the Rays in the 2020 World Series.

Though he made the opening day roster, Sherriff spent the season on the Triple-A shuttle, covering nearly twice as many innings for Durham as he did for Tampa. With just over a year in aggregate service time, Sherriff comes with considerable control and could become a mainstay for the Phils if he manages to establish himself in Philadelphia. How he’ll be asked to slot in remains to be seen, but sticking around in the Phillies’ notoriously leaky bullpen should prove a much easier task than it had been at the back end of Tampa’s stable of high-end arms.

Tampa Bay has also outrighted right-handers Oliver Drake, DJ Johnson and Chris Mazza in addition to lefty Cody Reed. All four of Drake, Johnson, Mazza and Reed will become free agents.

Rays Recall Chris Mazza, Option Louis Head

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We still have two days left in the regular season, so the Rays roster churn continues. Chris Mazza has been recalled from Triple-A, while Louis Head has been optioned, though he’ll remain on-hand as part of the taxi squad, per the team.

Head is no stranger to the taxi squad. The 31-year-old has put together a solid rookie season with a 2.31 ERA/3.11 FIP in 35 innings of work. Head has a 23.9 percent strikeout rate, enviable 6.7 percent walk rate, and 31.1 percent groundball rate. Despite keeping the ball in the air, he’s limited long balls to just a 1.5 percent home run rate.

Mazza will be available out of the bullpen for these final two regular season games. Mazza, also 31, has appeared in 13 games for the Rays, pitching to a 4.97 ERA/4.35 FIP across 25 1/3 innings.

Rays Select David Hess

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The Rays have selected the contract of right-hander David Hess, per a team announcement. Left-hander Dietrich Enns was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. Hess is joining the Rays’ big league roster for the second time this season. Tampa Bay doesn’t need to make a corresponding roster move due to the fact that righty Chris Mazza is on the Covid-19-related injured list in Triple-A, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times points out (Twitter link).

Hess, 28, has bounced back and forth between the two Florida clubs so far in 2021. He inked a minor league pact with the Rays in the offseason and, after a very strong start to the year in Triple-A, was traded to the Marlins and plugged into their big league bullpen. Miami cut him loose a few weeks later, and he quickly returned to the Rays on another minor league deal. He’s since been selected back to the MLB roster, designated for assignment and outrighted before now being selected back to the Majors.

It’s been a rather tumultuous year, transactions-wise, for the former Orioles right-hander. In terms of performance, Hess has pitched quite well in Triple-A, where he carries a 3.28 ERA with very strong strikeout and walk percentages (27.2 and 5.4, respectively) in 35 2/3 frames. He’s been tagged for 16 runs in 18 MLB frames this year, although seven of those came in one brutal inning for the Marlins at Coors Field. Despite signing a pair of minor league deals with Tampa Bay and already being selected to the MLB roster once this year, Hess still hasn’t thrown a pitch in the Majors as a member of the Rays, so he’ll be making his team debut if he gets into a game this time around.

David Hess To Rejoin Rays

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The Rays are bringing David Hess back into the fold, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Cathy Peek McEwen). In a corresponding move, Chris Mazza has been optioned to Triple-A, per Rays’ host Neil Solondz (via Twitter).

Hess was traded from the Rays to the Marlins earlier this season. After 14 appearances covering 18 innings with a 8.00 ERA, the Marlins designated him for assignment and he elected free agency. Hess will presumably join the Rays bullpen in the near future.

The 28-year-old Hess spent seven seasons in the Orioles organization after being selected in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. He debuted with Baltimore in 2018 and was an up-and-down member of their staff over the next three seasons, pitching to a 5.86 ERA through 190 1/3 innings.

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