Giants To Claim Duncan Davitt From Braves

The Giants are claiming right-hander Duncan Davitt off waivers from the Braves, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. San Francisco is designating right-hander Spencer Bivens in a corresponding move, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Neither team has officially announced the waiver claim.

Davitt never pitched in a major league game for the Braves. Atlanta acquired him from the White Sox on deadline day for Joey Bart. That trade was more about alleviating a forthcoming roster crunch in shipping Bart out than it was about adding Davitt, whom Chicago had designated for assignment a few hours before the trade.

The 26-year-old Davitt has pitched in two big league games, both with the White Sox. He worked around a walk to toss a scoreless frame against the Royals in his debut back in April. Ben Williamson tagged him for a solo home run in his other appearance. He throws a 93 mph fastball and has a six-pitch mix led mostly by a mid-80s slider. Davitt has worked in a swing role in Triple-A this year, scuffling to a 6.29 ERA despite a decent 24% strikeout rate across 73 innings.

Atlanta never formally designated Davitt for assignment, so placing him on waivers drops their 40-man roster count to 39. San Francisco’s roster was full. That led them pushing Bivens off the roster and onto the waiver wire a few days from now.

Bivens, 32, ate 81 innings in a low-leverage relief role last year. He logged the fourth-highest workload of any reliever in the league. Bivens pitched to an even 4.00 ERA but had a modest 18% strikeout rate and rarely saw opportunity outside of mop-up work. He’s spent most of this season with Triple-A Sacramento, allowing an ERA just shy of 5.00 across 75 frames. Bivens still has an option remaining beyond this season and could get some interest on the waiver wire, though there’s a decent chance he’d be non-tendered in the offseason even if he’s claimed this week.