Cleveland Indians minor league pitcher Chih-Wei Hu has cleared waivers and will remain in Triple-A with the Columbus Clippers.
The Cleveland Indians have successfully passed Chih-Wei Hu through waivers as he will remain in Columbus. The Clippers pitcher has struggled this season and it is not entirely surprising that another team did not clam him.
While Chih-Wei Hu is still young (25), his on-field results have not been all that impressive. In 48.2 innings this season Hu has an ERA of 7.95. This is in 15 appearances, seven of which were starts. Hu did experience some success in a limited capacity back in 2017. With the Tampa Bay Rays Hu pitched 10 innings in six games and finished with an ERA of 2.70. This is a very small sample size which is why every season after this with more than 10 innings has a much higher ERA.
What really matters here is that Hu is no longer on the Indians 40-man roster. His spot is now being occupied by Andrew Velazquez. Velazquez was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays last week. Velazquez is what appears to be a utility player. The only positions that Velazquez has not played so far are first base, catcher and pitcher.
Velazquez has struggled this season at the plate, slashing .083/.083/.167/.250. However it is worth noting that in the same amount of plate appearances last season (12) Velazquez slashed .300/.417/.400/.817. His minor league track record suggests that he is somewhere in the middle of these two slash lines and may not be a huge power threat. Although he can hit the occasional home run, but is more successful with doubles when hitting for extra bases.
Cleveland may call up Velazquez at some point this season to see what they have or if they are in need of a utility player.
