The Astros have recalled right-hander Jason Alexander from Triple-A Sugar Land, reports Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle. Fellow righty Jordan Weems has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Weems was selected to the roster a little over a week ago. He got into two games for the Astros, logging three innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits. He didn’t issue a walk but he didn’t strike anyone out either. It seems the Astros weren’t impressed with that brief performance. Weems is out of options, so they had little choice but to designate him for assignment.
He now has a 5.28 earned run average in 158 2/3 innings over the past six big league seasons. His 23.2% strikeout rate is decent but has been declining. He was around 25% earlier in his career but that mark dropped to 17.9% last year. Prior to getting called up this year, he logged 29 Triple-A innings, split between the Braves’ and Astros’ affiliates. He had a 4.66 ERA with a 21.4% strikeout rate, 12.2% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate.
DFA limbo can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Astros could take five days to explore trade interest. If he were to pass through outright waivers unclaimed in the coming days, he will have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images