The Giants sent a lefty Kolton Ingram on waivers and directed him to Triple-A Sacramento, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle at X. With the left hand Alex Young and with the Mets seeking waivers today, the 40 man count is down to 38.
Ingram, 27, has been hanging up all year but has had enough interest in the league to remain in demand. Designated for assignment by the Angels in January when that team signed Aaron Hicks, he went to the Tigers, Mets, Rangers, Cardinals and Giants on successive waiver claims, though he has now gone unclaimed. That means the Giants will be able to keep him as relief depth but without using a 40-man roster spot on him.
The lefty has just five games of big league experience, coming with the Angels last year. He's allowed five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, which means he's currently sporting an 8.44 earned run average in that small sample.
The interest of clubs around the league undoubtedly stems from his great work in the minors. He pitched 121 2/3 innings in the Angels system in 2022 and 2023 with a 2.81 ERA. His 10.4% walk rate during that time was high, but slow, while his 30.5% strikeout rate was solid and he also produced a good amount of ground balls.
This year, he has a 4.30 ERA in 29 1/3 minor league innings with a 22.1% strikeout rate and a 16.8% walk rate. Those numbers are obviously not as good as what he did the past two seasons, but it's probably fair to wonder if the lack of consistency this year has been a challenge for him.
While he certainly isn't happy about losing his roster spot, he might at least get the nod to stick with one organization long enough to unpack his suitcase. If he can get back in good form and earn his way back to a roster spot, he could be picked for the rest of the year and one more season. He also has less than a year of service and hence can be well managed in the future.
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