Paul Toboni and Ani Kilambi have been doing work on the waiver wire lately. They are churning through players on the fringes of the 40-man roster. Today, they claimed Ken Waldichuk from the Rays and DFA’d George Soriano in the process. Soriano was only claimed last week, but the Nats still decided to move on.
On the surface, Waldichuk is a weird claim. He posted an ERA over 8 in the minor leagues last year as a 27 year old. However, there is more than what meets the eye here. Waldichuk is a former top 100 prospect with some pedigree. He was part of the trade that sent Frankie Montas to the Yankees in 2022.
At the time of that trade, Waldichuk was a big deal. He pitched in the Futures Game for the Yankees and was a strikeout machine in the minors. For his career, Waldichuk’s K/9 in the minors is 13.02. Despite low to mid 90’s velocity, Waldichuk’s fastball has always played up.
In 2022, he got a cup of coffee in the MLB with the A’s, before spending all of 2023 in their rotation. He has 175.2 career innings with a 5.28 ERA and 165 strikeouts. Things did not work out very well for him in the MLB, but he was still a young pitcher.
However, he had to undergo Tommy John Surgery, missing all of 2024. When he came back in 2025, he did not look like the same guy. The Minor League ERA of 8.17 makes that pretty clear. His velocity was down about 2 ticks and his control was not there.
Despite that, Waldichuk was still getting strikeouts. He fanned 68 batters in 54 minor league innings last year. The fact he was still getting strikeouts makes him sort of interesting. A lot of pitchers struggle in their first year back from Tommy John before looking better as they get further removed from surgery.
There are some signs that this could be the case for Waldichuk. In bullpen’s this offseason, his fastball averaged 93.9 MPH. This season, he only averaged 91.6 MPH on his heater. If the Nats can get Waldichuk to sit 94 consistently, they could have something here.
Despite being a starter for his whole career, I think the Nats should transition Waldichuk to the bullpen. He has proven he is not a very effective starter at this point. Waldichuk throws his fastball a lot and I think letting it rip in shorter spurts could help him. A lot of his profile just feels like a failed starter who could thrive in the bullpen.
Even if the velocity is back, Waldichuk will still need to improve his control. Walks were a concern before the surgery, and the control was very bad last year. This is another reason why I think a move to the bullpen makes sense.
As we have seen, there is a chance Waldichuk is not on the team next week. Just ask guys like George Soriano and Micky Gasper. However, I think he is an interesting enough reclamation project for Toboni to want to see what he has in Spring Training. If he does not look good this spring, you can always DFA him again.
The Nats have made a lot of additions on the waiver wire lately, but this one is more intriguing than some of the others. Waldichuk has a pretty high ceiling and has more pedigree than your average waiver claim.
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