The Oakland A's have come to terms with right-handed pitcher Vinny Nittoli according to Jessica Kleinschmidt on Twitter. Nittoli, 30, most recently made it to the big leagues with the New York Mets in 2023, and has previously made stops with the Seattle Mariners in 2021 and Philadelphia Phillies in 2022. Over the past two seasons he has allowed one run across 5 2/3 innings in the Majors.
Nittoli was outrighted to Triple-A on October 24th and elected free agency before signing with the A's on Friday. The signing also comes with an invite so Spring Training.
This season in Triple-A with the Cubs and Mets, he struck out roughly 25% of the batters he faced and walked about 10% of them. The strikeout rate hasn't quite translated to The Show in small sample sizes, maxing out at 20% this season with New York across 3 2/3 innings.
Nittoli threw 60% sliders in 2022 with the Phillies, but trimmed down his pitch mix from five offerings to three in 2023. The righty utilized his cutter the most out of any pitch, tossing it 41% of the time, while his slider was used 37% and his sinker was mixed in at 22%. He's not a super-hard thrower, averaging 92.9 miles per hour with his sinker, while his cutter sits 90.2. The slider came in at 83.7.
It'll be interesting to see how the A's coaching staff molds him. Could he return to five pitches and use them in more even proportions in order to keep hitters guessing? Are they happy with three three-pitch mix? Will a sweeper be added to the mix?
We'll have to wait until Spring Training to find out.
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