The Braves announced Wednesday that left-hander Lucas Luetge and righty Dereck Rodriguez were both assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett after clearing waivers. Both were designated for assignment earlier this week, and both will have the option of rejecting an outright assignment in favor of free agency (though Luetge would forfeit the remainder of his $1.55MM salary in order to do so and is thus likely to accept).
Luetge, 36, came over from the Yankees in an offseason trade following a somewhat surprise DFA in the Bronx. He’d pitched to a 2.71 ERA with excellent strikeout and walk rates over 129 2/3 innings for the Yanks from 2021-22, but the decision to move on in spite of that success looks rather prescient; in 11 2/3 innings with Atlanta, Luetge has been tagged for 11 runs on 17 hits and seven walks. He’s been better in Gwinnett, where he’s allowed four runs with an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio in 9 2/3 innings.
Rodriguez, the son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, was claimed off waivers from the Twins earlier this season and has appeared in two games with the Braves, tossing 2 2/3 shutout innings. He’s spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A between the Twins and Braves, pitching to a combined 5.79 ERA in 42 innings.
The 31-year-old Rodriguez, a sixth-round pick of the Twins back in 2011, has a career 4.22 ERA in 232 1/3 big league innings and a 5.12 ERA in 302 1/3 frames in parts of five Triple-A seasons.
More must-reads: