A's Sign Former Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds Prospect

Oakland signed a hard-throwing right-hander for their Double-A roster

Right-handed pitcher Danis Correa has been signed by the Oakland A's and assigned to Double-A Midland. Correa was originally signed by the Chicago Cubs out of Colombia back in 2016 and he was with the club until he was released in late August and swooped up by the Cincinnati Reds. He elected free agency in November and signed with the A's this month. 

Correa is a 24-year-old right-hander with a career 3.90 ERA across 168 1/3 innings, primarily out of the bullpen. He started the season in Double-A Tennessee, getting into 18 games, saving eight in nine opportunities, and holding a 3.44 ERA with a 1.09 WHIP. He'd allowed just one run in his last 8 2/3 innings when he was promoted to Triple-A Iowa, and that is when his season fell apart. 

With Iowa, he made it into eight games totaling nine innings of work and held a 14.00 ERA with a 2.67 WHIP. His walk rate doubled from 12% to 25% in his short stint while his strikeout rate was cut in half from 34.7% to 17.3%. It just wasn't great all around. 

He was released and signed on with the Reds, who assigned him to Double-A, but he was unable to recapture his early season magic, posting an 11.57 ERA in 4 2/3 innings. On the bright side, he walked just one batter in that stretch, but he also gave up nine hits which led to another WHIP over two. 

So why are the A's taking a chance on him? 

Well, he's still young for starters. He also throws gas, with his fastball rating as a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale over at FanGraphs. He also has a plus changeup, which they rate as a 60. His walk rate tends to sit in the double digits, however. 

In one of his better outings in Triple-A, Correa averaged 97.7 miles per hour on his heater, and it touched 100. That day he also threw a sinker that averaged 95 and touched 98, a curve that sat 80-83, and one changeup at 88 mph. 

As a minor league free agent, he's an interesting pickup. 2023 was really the first season that he had struggled at all, with his previous high ERA in a season being 3.65 in 2022. It'll be up to the A's coaches to get him on the right path next season, because there could be a clear path to Oakland for him if he's pitching well.