Reds Claim Duncan Davitt, Paxton Schultz

The Reds announced a pair of waiver claims Monday. Cincinnati claimed right-hander Duncan Davitt off waivers from the Giants and fellow righty Paxton Schultz off waivers from the Nationals. They’ll both go right onto the Reds’ 40-man roster, which had five vacancies as of this morning.

Davitt entered the professional ranks as an 18th-round pick of the Rays in 2022. They wound up sending him (as well as Curtis Mead and Ben Peoples) to the White Sox in 2025 in a pre-deadline trade for righty Adrian Houser. Davitt made his major league debut this past April, but he only logged two appearances before the White Sox shipped him to the Braves for catcher Joey Bart in early August. He changed hands yet again when the Giants claimed him off waivers from the Braves in early September. Between the White Sox and Giants, he combined for eight innings of eight-run, 10-hit ball and recorded five strikeouts against four walks.

The 27-year-old Davitt still has two minor league options left, which is a plus for the Reds, though he had difficulty at the lower levels in 2026. While mostly leaning on a 93 mph fastball and an 84 mph slider, he registered a 6.04 ERA with an above-average 24.0% strikeout rate and slightly below-average 9.3% walk rate. He tossed 69 1/3 Triple-A innings and 6 2/3 in Double-A ball.

Schultz, who has one minor league option remaining, carries significantly more experience in the majors than Davitt. The 28-year-old debuted with the Blue Jays in 2025 and made 13 appearances (two starts) for a Toronto team that won the American League pennant. Over 24 2/3 innings, Schultz pitched to a 4.38 ERA with solid strikeout (25.5%) and walk (7.3%) rates.

While Schultz showed some positives in his initial taste of big league action, the Blue Jays designated him for assignment to open up a roster spot for Kazuma Okamato last January. The Nationals took a flier on Schultz, and though he racked up 32 1/3 innings this year, he was one of many struggling members of a bottom-of-the-barrel bullpen. Schultz notched a 6.40 ERA a 20.9% strikeout rate and a 7.8% walk rate with the Nats, though he did put up much better numbers – including a 2.48 ERA – in 29 frames with their Triple-A affiliate.