Four days after electing free agency, right-hander Spenser Watkins has signed a new minor league deal with the Orioles, along with an invitation to spring training.
Many will remember Watkins for his impressive Major League starting debut against the Toronto Blue Jays and his story of almost quitting baseball all together. He stunned the Jays run-producing lineup by pitching five innings and allowing three hits and only one earned run.
With John Means out, Watkins would pitch in five games, four starts, during the month of July. He would go 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA across 20.1 innings of work.
The rest of the season would not go as well, as he would finish 2-7 with an 8.07 ERA over 54.2 innings for the Orioles.
Re-signed to provide rotation depth, with a possibility to make the 26-man roster in 2022, Watkins will have a year of big league experience to build upon.
Watkins’ minor league career has been successful, as he holds a 42-29 across 124 games, 102 of those starts. He holds an ERA of 3.86 across 625.1 innings, allowing a home run roughly every 10 innings.
Watkins has not been known as a strikeout pitcher; he pitches to contact, but he holds a better than 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio across his career, mostly with the Tigers’ minor league system.
The Baltimore Battery would like to welcome back Spenser and look forward to seeing what 2022 brings for him and the team!
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