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Tyler Ivey

Astros Outright Tyler Ivey

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Astros righty Tyler Ivey went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Houston designated Ivey for assignment last week when selecting the contract of reliever Ronel Blanco — their final move before setting their Opening Day roster.

That Ivey, 25, went unclaimed is at least a moderate surprise, given his relative youth, his broader track record of minor league success and the fact that he has multiple minor league option years remaining. A team wasn’t going to claim Ivey and plug him directly into the rotation, but he’d have made a sensible enough depth option for another organization that is thin on big league-ready arms.

Instead, the Astros will be able to retain Ivey in hopes that he can recapture the form he showed in 2018 (112 innings of 2.97 ERA ball between two Class-A levels) and 2019 (1.57 ERA in 46 Double-A frames).

Ivey was limited to just 13 minor league innings and another 4 2/3 innings in the big leagues last season, thanks to a nerve issue in his pitching elbow that he detailed last June. That injury and the subsequent treatment — he underwent a non-surgical treatment for thoracic outlet syndrome, Rome reported last August — could well have played a role in Ivey passing through waivers. He was healthy enough to take the mound this spring, although he only logged one inning in one official game for the Astros.

Even with Lance McCullers Jr. on the injured list, Houston’s rotation is set for the foreseeable future. Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Jake Odorizzi give the Astros a strong quintet upon which to lean while McCullers mends, and talented righty Cristian Javier gives them a sixth MLB-caliber option, though he’s currently in the bullpen. Triple-A righties Brandon Bielak and Peter Solomon are both on the 40-man roster and have MLB experience as well, and former top prospect Forrest Whitley is making his way back from a notable arm injury of his own (Tommy John surgery).

If Ivey is back to full strength at some point this year, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him work his way back into MLB consideration. In 215 1/3 career minor league innings, the 2017 third-rounder has a 3.13 ERA with a 29.5% strikeout rate and an 8.1% walk rate.

Astros Select Ronel Blanco, Designate Tyler Ivey For Assignment

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The Astros set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Ronel Blanco and designated righty Tyler Ivey for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Houston also placed Lance McCullers Jr. (forearm strain), Jake Meyers (recovering from shoulder surgery) and Taylor Jones (lower back injury) on the 10-day injured list.

Once he appears in a game, Blanco will make his MLB debut at the age of 28.  He spent all of last year at Triple-A, punching out 31.7% of hitters while walking 8.9% with a 40.4% groundball rate.  According to Chandler Rome of Baseball America, Blanco would have been a “virtual lock” to be selected in the Rule 5 draft, had that event not been canceled.  Rome notes that Blanco, who was signed out of the Dominican Republic six years ago for $5,000, surprisingly beat out several pitchers with MLB experience to make the Astros’ opening day bullpen.  Houston’s 10-man crew also includes Ryan Pressly, Ryne Stanek, Hector Neris, Phil Maton, Blake Taylor, Pedro Baez, Rafael Montero, Bryan Abreu, and Cristian Javier.

Ivey, 26 next month, made his MLB debut with the Astros last May in a spot start against the Rangers.  A few weeks afterward, his season ended due to a nerve issue in his elbow.  At that time, Ivey admitted in an illuminating story by Rome for the Houston Chronicle that he’d been pitching through pain since 2019, concealing it from the team to maintain his shot at reaching the Majors.  The injury turned out to be thoracic outlet syndrome, which the righty dealt with via rehab rather than surgery.

The Astros had optioned Ivey to Triple-A on March 24th.  Baseball America assigned Ivey a 50 grade as a prospect, explaining that he’s “a potential middle-to-back-of-the-rotation starter candidate if he can stay healthy.”  Having ranked as the Astros’ seventh-best prospect, it seems likely Ivey will be claimed off waivers by another organization.

Astros Claim Jacob Wilson Off Waivers From A’s

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The Astros are claiming utilityman Jacob Wilson off waivers from the Athletics, according to announcements from both teams. Oakland had designated Wilson for assignment over the weekend. Righty Tyler Ivey is being transferred to the 60-day injured list to create 40-man roster space, relays Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Wilson, 31, is a former Cardinals draftee who bounced between a few organizations without getting a major league shot before signing with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization in 2019. The right-handed hitter performed well in South Korea before returning stateside, inking a minor league deal with the A’s over the offseason. He mashed at a .288/.385/.630 clip over 218 plate appearances with Triple-A Las Vegas (albeit in a hitter’s paradise) to earn his first big league call last month.

The A’s gave Wilson just seven plate appearances over six games (in which he picked up his first big league hit) before designating him upon acquiring Josh Harrison and Yan Gomes in a deadline deal with the Nationals. Clearly, the Astros were sufficiently intrigued by his minor league performance to give him another shot on a 40-man roster. Wilson saw action at each of second base, third base and in left field this season, and he still has all three minor league option years remaining. If Wilson sticks on the 40-man, he can serve as a bat-first mutli-position option to keep in the high minors.

Ivey suffered an elbow issue that he acknowledged in June was likely to end his season. He had been on the minor league injured list, but the Astros need to place him on the major league 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Doing so will entitle Ivey to big league pay and service time for as long as he remains on the 60-day IL (presumably the remainder of the season).

Astros’ Tyler Ivey Unlikely To Pitch Again In 2021

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Astros right-hander Tyler Ivey’s season may be over due to injury, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle writes.  Ivey has been pitching through elbow pain since suffering a grade one UCL strain back in 2019, a fact he only recently disclosed to Astros staff.  Tests didn’t reveal any new UCL damage, however, according to a nerve specialist, Ivey said “apparently I have the nerve endings of a 75-year-old man in my elbow.  That probably explains a lot.”

Rather than elbow surgery, Ivey might potentially have to undergo thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.  The latter would also rule him out for the rest of the 2021 season and is perhaps a more ominous possibility than a Tommy John procedure or another elbow surgery, since TOS surgery has a much less-established track record of success.  Whether a surgical outcome is necessary or not, Ivey doubts he will pitch again this season.

A third-round pick for Houston in the 2017 draft, Ivey is a Texas native, hailing from the Dallas suburb of Rowlett.  MLB Pipeline ranks Ivey as the ninth-best prospect in the Astros’ farm system, with a 60-grade curveball and a 55-grade fastball ranging from 90-95mph.  The righty has posted some strong numbers (3.19 ERA, 29.7% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate) over 208 2/3 innings in the minors, though he does have a 7.11 ERA in 6 1/3 innings at Triple-A this season, which represented his first exposure to Triple-A batters.  Beyond the injury, Ivey also didn’t pitch at either Houston’s alternate training site or in the instructional league in 2020 due to a bout of COVID-19.

Despite these struggles, the Astros called Ivey up for his MLB debut in a start on May 21, and his lone big league appearance to date resulted in four earned runs allowed in 4 2/3 innings against the Rangers in 7-5 Astros loss.  Ivey said his desire to reach the majors was the reason for hiding his injury, saying “I knew it was going to be a spot start and I’d be optioned down immediately, so I thought I’d see how long I could go in this start.  I can’t sit there and be like ’Oh, I can’t pitch in Arlington, arm’s kind of hurting, sorry.’ ”

With Ivey facing a stint on the 60-day injured list, the Astros will get an opening on their 40-man roster to work with in the coming weeks.  Ivey was initially placed on the 40-man last November in advance of the Rule 5 draft.

Astros Select Five Players To 40-Man Roster

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The Astros are adding five players to their 40-man roster, per a team announcement. Right-handers Forrest Whitley, Tyler Ivey, Jairo Solis and Peter Solomon were all selected, as was infielder Freudis Nova.

The most notable player of the group is Whitley. Once regarded as one of the best (if not the best) pitching prospect in the sport, he’s seen his stock drop a bit over the past couple seasons due to a suspension and some struggles in the high minors. Nevertheless, it was a lock the Astros would add him to the 40-man, as the 23-year-old still has one of the better arsenals in the minors. Like Whitley, Nova and Solis were ranked among Houston’s top ten farmhands at MLB.com and virtual certainties to be added to the roster.

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