Padres Release Veteran Pitcher After Major Struggles

Andrew Bellatti's time as a member of the San Diego Padres organization was short and unmemorable.

The right-handed pitcher, who signed a minor league contract with San Diego in spring training, never threw an inning at the major league level before he was released Wednesday, according to the El Paso Chihuahua's transactions log.

In five games with the Padres' top minor league affiliate, Bellatti went 0-0 with an 11.57 ERA. He threw 4.2 innings, allowed 10 hits and six runs, hit one batter and walked five.

Statcast's ball-tracking measurements were no kinder to Bellatti than his surface stats. Of the 15 batted balls he allowed with El Paso, eight had an exit velocity of 100 mph or faster. Eleven came with an expected batting average of .330 or higher.

Although Bellatti is only three years removed from a season in which he made 59 appearances for a good Philadelphia Phillies team and pitched to a 3.31 ERA, his performance with El Paso was not entirely out of the blue.

In 2024, Bellatti spent the entire season with Lehigh Valley, the Phillies' top minor league affiliate, and finished with a 5.48 ERA. He walked more than 16 percent of opposing batters and became a free agent at the end of the season.

Bellatti was invited to the Phillies' spring training camp a year ago and posted a 5.87 ERA in nine games (7.2 innings pitched, five earned runs). He did not appear in a Cactus League game with the Padres after signing a minor league contract on March 10.

Bellatti made his major league debut in 2015 with the Tampa Bay Rays, who drafted him out of high school in 2009 in the 12th round of the MLB draft. He appeared in 17 games over four stints with the Rays after his selection from Triple-A Durham and finished the season with a 2.31 ERA across 17 appearances out of the bullpen.

The early promise of Bellatti's carer was dashed due to a shoulder injury that wiped out most of his 2016 season, and all of his 2017 and 2018 seasons as well.

In 2019, Bellatti latched on with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters, and used that as a springboard to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees 12 days later. But he would not return to the majors until 2021 with the Miami Marlins, when he got into three games at midseason before being designated for assignment.

The Phillies signed Bellatti to a minor league contract after the season. That led to a surprising 2022 campaign in which the righty struck out 33.9% of opponents as a leverage reliever for manager Rob Thomson. But he dealt with a triceps injury for much of 2023 and recorded just 24.2 innings with a 5.11 ERA.

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