The Cubs have claimed right-hander Trey Wingenter off waivers from the Red Sox, as first relayed by Hunter Noll of Beyond the Monster on X. The righty was designated for assignment by Boston in the trade deadline transactions frenzy earlier this week. The Cubs have optioned him to Triple-A Iowa, per Taylor McGregor of the Marquee Sports Network on X.
Wingenter, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the offseason. In early July, he triggered an assignment clause in his contract that forced the Tigers to trade him if some other club was willing to give him a 40-man roster spot. The Sox were willing to give him that spot and acquired him for righty CJ Weins.
Though Wingenter spent almost a month on Boston’s roster, he was mostly on optional assignment and only made two appearances for the big league club. Those two outings did not go well, as he allowed seven earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. When combined with his previous work with the Padres and Tigers, he now has a 5.84 earned run average in 89 1/3 major league innings with a strong 31.9% strikeout rate but high walk rate of 12.3%.
After their deadline deals, the Cubs had an open roster spot to work with and have used it to grab Wingenter. His major league results haven’t been great but there are reasons he’s worth a flier. His fastball velocity has averaged in the 95-97 miles per hour range. Though he’s had trouble harnessing it at times, he’s also been able to get punchouts. He’s also been in good form in the minors this year, with a 3.03 ERA in 38 2/3 innings at that level. Though he’s walked 11.1% of Triple-A hitters he’s faced this year, he’s also struck out 34.5% of them.
He’s in his final option year and can be kept at Iowa for the rest of the year if the Cubs want, but he’ll be out of options next year. He has just over four years of service time and will be eligible for arbitration in the offseason.
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