Houston Astros Claim Righty Off Waivers From A's

The Houston Astros have claimed right-hander Jason Alexander off waivers from the Athletics after he was designated for assignment on Friday. The 32-year-old had two brief stints with the A's this season, primarily when the club needed a fresh arm to eat some innings.

In his four outings with the A's he tallied six innings of work with five strikeouts, a 2.83 WHIP, and a 18.00 ERA. Alexander hadn't been in the big leagues the past few seasons, last appearing with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022 and getting into 18 games, starting 11 of those. He held a 5.40 ERA in that rookie campaign.

The Houston Astros 40-man roster was at 39 players, so the addition of Alexander will bring them to full capacity. The team has announced that he has been subsequently optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land.

One big issue Alexander had with the A's was that his left on-base percentage was just 31.3%, meaning that if a runner got on, they came around to score nearly 70% of the time. While the 18.00 ERA certainly isn't pretty, his FIP was quite a bit lower at 10.44. The results have been in a small sample size, so there is plenty of room for him to be an effective pitcher for Houston.

Alexander spent last season in the minor leagues in the Boston Red Sox system, starting 27 games and holding a 4.42 ERA (3.81 FIP). In the past, he's been more of a ground ball pitcher, but this season that rate was just 36% in his six innings with the A's.

One reason for optimism for Astros fans could be that three of his four appearances came against some of the best teams in baseball in the New York Mets (twice) and Los Angeles Dodgers, so the results may be a little misleading. Perhaps he'd be perfectly league average against most of the teams in baseball.

He made one appearance against the Chicago White Sox on the road, and he worked a quick inning, striking out a pair.