Dodgers Outright Ricky Vanasco

Dodgers right-hander Ricky Vanasco cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Double-A Tulsa, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The log technically indicates that he was outrighted to Triple-A, but Vanasco is listed as active on the team’s Tulsa roster rather than their OKC roster. Whichever affiliate Vanasco lands with, the broader takeaway is that he’ll remain in the organization following his recent DFA but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.

Vanasco, 24, has spent the vast majority of his career in the Rangers organization, but the Dodgers acquired him on June 1 after Texas had designated the former 15th-round pick for assignment. Once regarded as one of the more promising pitchers in the Rangers system, his career has been slowed by repeated health troubles. Vanasco posted an outstanding 1.81 ERA in 11 starts back in 2019 but didn’t pitch in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021 and has spent the majority of the 2023 campaign on the shelf as well.

So far in 2023, Vanasco has tossed just 4 1/3 innings, yielding six hits and four walks while also plunking a pair of hitters. All 12 of the batters he’s allowed have come around to score, although only eight have been earned runs. The 2022 season was the lone campaign in which he’s been healthy; he pitched 92 1/3 innings of 4.68 ERA ball with a hefty 28.9% strikeout rate but also a concerning 12.7% walk rate.

Vanasco has yet to pitch at the Triple-A level, and it seems he’ll head back to Double-A Tulsa and continue building up there. The Dodgers have had one of the game’s better pitching pipelines in recent years, and they’ll hope to add Vanasco as another success story for their player development group.