Marlins Claim Wikelman González

The Marlins announced that they have claimed right-hander Wikelman González off waivers from the White Sox an optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville. Miami had a 40-man vacancy, so González fills that spot without a corresponding move. Chicago had designated González for assignment a couple of days ago.

González, 24, was sent from the Red Sox to the White Sox as part of the Garrett Crochet trade in 2024. He made his major league debut last year, throwing 20 1/3 innings out of the Chicago bullpen, allowing 2.66 earned runs per nine. His 13.8% walk rate was too high but he struck out 28.7% of batters faced.

The Sox have kept him mostly at Triple-A this year, where he has thrown 24 2/3 innings with a 6.57 ERA. That’s obviously a poor number but things under the hood look fairly similar to last year. His 12.6% walk rate is again on the high side but his 28.6% strikeout rate is still quite strong. The ERA has been pushed up by a .387 batting average on balls in play and 65.4% strand rate.

Though he got squeezed off the Chicago roster, it’s an understandable claim from Miami’s perspective. They had an open 40-man spot to work with. González will be out of options next year but can still be sent to Triple-A this year. If he can rein in the control a bit, perhaps there’s a path to him becoming a viable big league reliever in the future. He has less than a year of service time and can be cheaply controlled for years to come if things click, though it’s also possible he will be pushed into fringe roster territory once his final option season is done.