SF Giants lose young reliever in waiver claim to the Baltimore Orioles

The SF Giants bumped young reliever Nick Avila off of the 40-man roster to make room for Spencer Bivens over the weekend. He did not remain on waivers for long as the Baltimore Orioles were awarded the claim on Monday according to the team's transaction log.

SF Giants lose young reliever in waiver claim to the Baltimore Orioles

It was an exciting Sunday for Bivens. Not only was he promoted to the major league roster, but he made his first appearance and recorded his first career win. Overall, he allowed one earned run in three innings with four strikeouts. It was an encouraging outing for the 29-year-old pitcher in his debut.

On the other hand, Avila is on the move after making his major league debut earlier this season. The right-handed hurler was a 26th-round pick by the club in the 2019 draft out of Long Beach State University. He had generally put together solid results in the minors.

In fact, this led to him being scooped up by the Chicago White Sox in the Rule 5 draft in December of 2022. He was coming off of a season in which he tallied a 1.14 ERA with 58 strikeouts against 14 walks in 55.1 frames split across two levels. In a minor surprise, the Giants did not protect him by adding him to the 40-man roster.

However, he struggled to the tune of a 7.20 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 10 innings of work with the White Sox during spring training. He did not make the team out of camp and was returned to the Giants.

Avila started the 2023 season with the Sacramento River Cats where he went on an impressive run with a 14-0 record. Overall, he registered a 3.00 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, and a 1.78 SO/W ratio in 72.0 innings.

He had a strong camp this year and the Giants rewarded him with a spot on the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old yielded debuted with the Giants but he 11 earned runs in 11.2 innings before being optioned back to Triple-A. The Giants certainly have a need for bullpen depth but in his brief stint with the club, it did not look like he was part of the solution. The Orioles optioned Avila to Triple-A.