The Orioles announced that right-hander Thaddeus Ward has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. There was no previous reporting that he had been removed from the 40-man roster, so this move drops their count to 37.
Ward, 28 in January, has never pitched for the Orioles. He was just claimed off waivers from the Nationals at the start of November but has now been bumped from his roster spot just over a month later.
Once upon a time, he was a notable prospect in the Red Sox’ system but he was left unprotected in the 2022 Rule 5 draft. The Nats grabbed him and kept him on the roster for the entire 2023 season. He didn’t pitch especially well, posting a 6.37 earned run average in his 26 relief appearances, but the Nationals likely didn’t care much. They were rebuilding that year and were presumably happy to obtain Ward’s full rights, even if it meant suffering through that subpar performance.
With his Rule 5 restrictions gone in 2024, the Nats were able to send him to the minors, but the numbers were again uninspiring. He made 28 Triple-A starts this year with a 5.64 ERA. His 19.3% strikeout rate and 17% walk rate were both a few ticks away from average. As mentioned, they put him on waivers, which is when Baltimore grabbed him.
The O’s are surely hoping to get Ward back to the form he showed prior to his Rule 5 selection. Way back in 2019, he threw 126 1/3 innings across 25 minor league starts, split between Single-A and High-A. He had a 2.14 ERA that year, striking out 29.9% of batters while giving out walks at a 10.9% clip. The minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020 and then Ward didn’t pitch much in 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was back on the mound in 2022 and able to toss 51 1/3 innings with a 2.28 ERA, mostly in Double-A.
That was enough for the Nats to take a shot on him but, as mentioned, the past two years with that club didn’t go especially well. The O’s clearly have some belief in him, as they’ve grabbed him off waivers and now bumped him into a non-roster depth role. If he can get back on track and earn his way back onto the roster, he still has two option years and exactly one year of service time.