The M’s fill in some of their minor league relief depth.
The Seattle Mariners announced Tuesday that they have claimed RHP Domingo González off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. Seattle had an empty space on their 40-man roster, and González began this year with all three minor league options remaining, so Seattle can afford to stash the righty in Triple-A Tacoma as they announced they will be doing. González had been on waivers following Atlanta’s claiming of RHP Connor Seabold.
González is a 25 year old righty from San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. Originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates ahead of the 2018 season, the 6’0 righty crept up the minor league ladder with an impressive penchant for bat-missing but a difficulty establishing himself as a starter or reliever. Undersized for a workhorse, González worked a tweener role up through Pittsburgh’s system, while growing increasingly tied to multi-inning relief. Selected in the Minor League Rule-5 Draft to join Atlanta’s organization after the 2022 season, González has been functionally all reliever. Protected from the Major League Rule-5 draft this winter by Atlanta as they added him to the 40-man, he’s nonetheless yet to appear in a game at the big league level.
In the past three seasons between Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett, he’s mustered a 3.76/3.42 ERA/FIP in 148.1 IP across 120 appearances, with an impressive 30.7 K% and somewhat dodgier 11.8% walk rate. González gets to this production with a low arm slot delivery that allows his low-to-mid-90s fastball play up at the top of the zone, and a tight-breaking slider that can disappear under bats easily.
I expect the slider usage to tick up, and perhaps add a sweeper in Seattle’s organization. There is an element, the more I watch González, of a Matt Brash-like delivery, however the top-end velocity is lacking. Still, this is a nice pickup to backfill after the M’s dealt heavily from their bullpen depth this trade deadline.
Category: General Sports
