The Braves have signed right-hander Ty Tice to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com and Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. The righty will presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.
Tice, 26, was a 16th round selection of the Blue Jays in the 2017 draft. The reliever worked his way up the minor league ladder quickly, spending 2019 in Double-A and Triple-A. He tossed 57 2/3 innings between the two levels with a 2.34 ERA and 25.5% strikeout rate. His 11.6% walk rate was certainly concerning but he still posted good results overall.
There were no minor leagues in 2020 due to the pandemic but Tice was added to the Jays’ roster in November of that year to protect him from Rule 5 selection. He ended up donning many uniforms in 2021, as he shuffled between the majors and minors for the Jays, Braves and Diamondbacks, going to the latter two clubs on waiver claims. He posted a 4.50 ERA in five major league appearances but an unsightly 9.14 earned run mark in the minors. The D-Backs outrighted him off their roster late in 2021 and he spent 2022 with their Double-A team, posting a 6.45 ERA over 22 1/3 innings, striking out 24.3% of batters faced but walking 10.3% of them.
It’s been a rough couple of years but Tice is still young and will try to get back on track to provide the Braves with some non-roster depth. If he can earn a 40-man spot again, he still has a couple of option years and less than a year of MLB service time.
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