The Athletics claim righty reliever from Miami Marlins

Jason Burke | Nov 5, 2024

May 17, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins relief pitcher Anthony Maldonado (52) delivers a pitch against the New York Mets during the ninth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Athletics recently announced that they have claimed Anthony Maldonado off waivers from the Miami Marlins. The 26-year-old righty made his MLB debut with Miami in 2024 on April 26, getting the start against the Washington Nationals and tossing three scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out two. He'd stick with the club through the middle of May as a reliever before he was optioned back to Triple-A Jacksonville.

Maldonado made one more appearance in July, then was up and down in the month of September. For the season, he totaled a 5.68 ERA (3.80 FIP) with a 1.47 WHIP across 19 innings of work for the Marlins. He also tossed another 46 1/3 innings in Jacksonville, posting a 4.66 ERA (5.08 FIP) with a 26.1% strikeout rate and a 10.8% walk rate in the minors.

While he had some run in the big leagues, there is also a tool over at FanGraphs that can help determine if a pitcher could have some success in the future, and that is their pitch modeling data, which will judge a pitcher's stuff and location and spit out a pitching grade. 100 is league average, but unlike OPS+ or wRC+, the numbers don't get too out of hand. You won't see someone with a 140 or a 60 on these leaderboards too often, though sometimes relief pitchers can go nuts.

Maldonado finished with a 98 for his Stuff+, and a 99 for his Location+, which earned him a 101 Pitching+ grade. A league average ERA for relievers was a 3.97 in 2024, and given his FIP and ERA, that seems to check out that he is roughly a league average pitcher.

The righty has three offerings, and none of them are a traditional four-seamer. His most-used pitch was his slider at 62% of the time. It sat 85 and had a 38% whiff rate. His other main offering was his sinker, which he threw 34%, and that one sat at 93 mph. Maldonado also mixed in a cutter a few times, and that one was a touch softer at 91.

In terms of stuff, his slider is his best pitch (101), and he typically threw it beneath the strike zone to help limit the damage. His slider also had the best Location+ grade at 102, so this is easily his best overall offering.

His sinker came it at 97 for location and 96 in stuff, while his cutter was a 69 in stuff and an 85 in location, so it's not a reliable pitch.

The key for Maldonado with the Athletics will be to get that third offering working more consistently, or to improve his control a touch to limit the walks. The two kind of go hand in hand. If he has a third pitch to keep hitters off his slider, then he may be able to get into the zone a little bit more with it.

The metrics on the slider were solid. While it had a .333 batting average against with a .267 expected BA, the average exit velo on the offering was just 79.2 miles per hour, well below league average (88.5) and the launch angle against the pitch was just eight degrees.

He may give up some contact, but it didn't tend to be loud, which could be make Maldonado a huge find for the A's as they head to Sacramento. With concerns about 92 mile per hour exit velocities traveling over the fence, this new righty doesn't give up hard contact, and he also doesn't give up a launch angle high enough for it to go out of the park.

This is an interesting get for the A's.