SF Giants sign former Rockies starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood

The SF Giants have a new pitcher to their organization this week, inking ten-year MLB veteran Tyler Chatwood to a minor league deal, according to a report by GPT. Chatwood was pitching out of the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen this season before he was released.

The SF Giants signed Tyler Chatwood to a minor league deal.

Chatwood was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the second round of the 2008 MLB draft and was traded to the Colorado Rockies after his first big-league season in 2011. After spending the next six years as a mainstay in the Rockies rotation, he signed a three-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, who hoped taking him out of Coors Field would help him reach a new caliber of production.

Instead, Chatwood’s control fell apart seemingly as soon as he arrived in Chicago. Chatwood had always surrendered more walks than the average pitcher. However, it reached a new level in 2018 when he led the league with 95 walks in just 103.2 innings pitched. Soon after, the Cubs permanently moved Chatwood to the bullpen, where he spent the next two seasons with them.

This season with the Blue Jays, Chatwood appeared in 30 games, recording 32 strikeouts, issuing 20 walks across 28 innings of work. While he recorded a 5.46 ERA prior to his release, most ERA estimators suggested he has been somewhat unlucky (4.07 xERA, 3.81 FIP, and 4.23 xFIP). Despite his propensity to issue walks, Chatwood has consistently avoided hard contact, suggesting he could still be a viable big-league arm.

While it has been some time since he started, the Giants are quite thin in their upper minor league rotations. Perhaps they believe he could serve as viable bullpen depth, but it would not be surprising to learn that Chatwood chose to sign with the Giants because they offered him another opportunity to start.

The SF Giants hope their pitching staff will not need any reinforcements over the rest of the season. If they do, though, veteran pitcher Tyler Chatwood has been added to the organization. A ten-year MLB veteran, Chatwood will likely hope to join the Giants bullpen but could also receive an opportunity to start.