The Orioles announced yesterday that right-hander Adrian Houser was signed to a minor league contract. Houser had been in the Cubs organization on a minors deal but he was released yesterday, paving the way for the righty to quickly latch on with a new team.
Because Houser joined the O’s before the September 1 cutoff date, he is eligible to be added to a playoff roster. However, the veteran hasn’t done much this season that would seemingly merit postseason action, as Houser has a 5.84 ERA over 69 1/3 innings with the Mets as well as a subpar 10.4% walk rate and a 14.6% strikeout rate that is among the lowest in baseball.
While Houser pitched better after being moved out of New York’s rotation and into a long relief role, the Mets opted to release him at the end of July, and the Cubs didn’t feel compelled to call Houser up during his few weeks at Triple-A Iowa. Houser was used as a starter again in Iowa and had a 3.86 ERA and 6.6% walk rate in 18 2/3 frames, but still with a 15.8K%.
Strikeouts have never been Houser’s game, as he has relied on grounders and soft contact to find success over his eight MLB seasons. Batted-ball luck tended to weigh heavier on Houser’s bottom-line results given the nature of his approach on the mound, but he had overall decent results in seven seasons with the Brewers before he was traded to the Mets last December.
The Orioles have been hammered by rotation injuries all season, and their attempts to bolster the staff at the deadline went awry when Trevor Rogers struggled so much that he was optioned to Triple-A. Zach Eflin was another pre-deadline pickup who was sidelined by injury, but returned from the IL today to give the O’s a rotation of Eflin, Corbin Burnes, Dean Kremer, Albert Suarez, and Cade Povich.
Houser adds some experienced rotation depth to that mix, and since Kremer left yesterday’s game with a forearm contusion, Houser might get a call to the majors sooner rather than later. Baltimore might also look to use Houser in the bullpen, as a solid long man could bolster the pitching staff in another manner, and perhaps lead to something of a piggyback situation with Houser and another starter.
Houser is still owed around $840K of his $5.05MM salary for 2024. The Orioles would be paying only the prorated portion of a MLB minimum salary if he joins their active roster, with the Mets covering the remainder of the owed salary.