The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Scott Blewett off waivers from the Twins, who’d designated him for assignment over the weekend. In a corresponding move, Baltimore designated left-hander Luis Gonzalez for assignment. Blewett is out of minor league options, so he’ll have to be plugged right into manager Brandon Hyde’s bullpen.
Blewett, 29, pitched 4 2/3 innings with the Twins before being designated for assignment. He held opponents to a run on four hits and no walks (but one hit batter) with five strikeouts. He also pitched 20 1/3 innings with Minnesota last year, logging a 1.77 ERA but with shakier strikeout and walk rates of 21.4% and 9.2%, respectively, both of which are worse than league average.
Those two brief stints in Minnesota were the most recent big league work for Blewett since a similarly short look with the Royals in 2020-21. In all, he’s pitched 33 innings in the majors and has a tidy 2.18 ERA to show for it, albeit with a 22% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. Even while keeping runs off the board, Blewett has been hit fairly hard; the right-hander has surrendered an average exit velocity of 92.6 mph in the majors and seen nearly half (47.9%) of his opponents’ batted balls travel at 95 mph or more.
Blewett pitched well for the Twins’ Triple-A club in 2024, logging a 3.79 ERA in 54 2/3 innings. That’s the most success he’s had in the upper minors, however. The big 6’6″ righty has pitched in parts of five Triple-A seasons between the Royals, White Sox and Twins systems but been roughed up for a 6.93 ERA in 219 1/3 innings there. In addition to those stints, Blewett had a half-season run with the Braves’ Double-A club in 2023 and also pitched for the Uni-President Lions of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League that year, recording a 3.95 ERA in 41 innings overseas.
Gonzalez, 33, hasn’t pitched in a Triple-A game since April 8. The Orioles placed him on the minor league injured list on April 11 but did not publicly disclose the exact nature of his ailment. It’s not currently clear how long he’ll be sidelined. However, injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, meaning Gonzalez is all but certain to end up being placed on release waivers. The O’s can renegotiate a minor league deal with him at that point if they wish, but he’ll have the chance to talk to the league’s other 29 clubs in that scenario.
Baltimore selected Gonzalez to the 40-man roster last November rather than risk losing him in the Rule 5 Draft. He’s a true journeyman — a former Phillies signee who has also spent time in the Giants’ system in addition to pitching in Japan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and even Italy’s top league. Gonzalez spent the 2024 season with the O’s after signing a minor league deal in the 2023-24 offseason. He pitched 60 innings out of the bullpen in Triple-A Norfolk, working to a pedestrian 4.50 earned run average but showing a far more interesting 28.9% strikeout rate against a similarly intriguing 4.9% walk rate.
Gonzalez can be placed on release waivers or traded at any point in the next five days.