The Orioles announced that right-hander Thaddeus Ward cleared waivers outright and was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. There was no previous report that he was removed from the 40-man roster, so this drop brings the number down to 37.
Ward, 28 in January, has never played for the Orioles. He was recently fired from the Nationals in early November but has now lost his position less than a month later.
Long ago, he was a promising prospect in the Red Sox’ system but was left unprotected in the 2022 Rule 5 draft. The Nats caught him and kept him on the roster for the entire 2023 season. He didn’t pitch particularly well, posting a 6.37 earned run average in his 26 plate appearances, but the Nationals probably couldn’t care less. They were rebuilding that year and were happy to get full rights to the Ward, even if it meant suffering that low performance.
With his Rule 5 restrictions expiring in 2024, the Nats were able to send him to the minors, but the numbers were again not encouraging. He made 28 Triple-A starts this year with a 5.64 ERA. His 19.3% strikeout rate and 17% walk rate were both a few ticks away from average. As mentioned, they placed him on waivers, which is when Baltimore picked him up.
The O’s certainly hope to return Ward to the form he showed before his Rule 5 pick. Back in 2019, he threw 126 1/3 innings in 25 minor league appearances, split between Single-A and High -A. He had a 2.14 ERA that year, striking out 29.9% of batters while issuing walks at a 10.9% clip. The minor leagues were canceled by the pandemic in 2020 and Ward sat out 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He was back on the mound in 2022 and managed to throw 51 1/3 innings with a 2.28 ERA, mostly in Double-A.
That was enough for the Nats to fire him but, as mentioned, the last two years with the club have not gone particularly well. The O’s clearly believe in him, as they have given up on him and now have him in a non-roster role. If he can get back on track and earn his way back to the roster, he still has two option years and exactly one year of service time.
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