Life hasn’t been great for former Minnesota Twins pitcher Chris Paddack this season. After failing to live up to the hype after coming over in a 2022 trade, Paddack was dealt to the Detroit Tigers ahead of last year’s trade deadline and has bounced around to three different teams this season.
Paddack made his debut for the Texas Rangers on on Monday, allowing two earned runs over four innings coming out of the bullpen. But the debut wasn’t enough to get him another appearance as the Rangers announced he was designated for assignment on Tuesday afternoon.
Now looking for his fourth team of the season, Paddack is entering the journeyman portion of his career. But it shouldn’t be surprising to Twins fans considering how the past few years have panned out.
Chris Paddack’s downward spiral continues after third DFA of the season
Paddack came to Minnesota from the San Diego Padres in a deal that featured Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker in 2022, but his time in Minnesota was filled with injuries and ineffectiveness. He needed his second Tommy John surgery after making five starts during the 2022 season, and Paddack went on to post a 10-14 record with a 4.88 ERA over 45 appearances (43 starts) for the Twins before being traded to Detroit last July.
Since then, Paddack has hit rock bottom. A piece that was supposed to be depth in the middle of a playoff chase, Paddack went 2-3 and posted a 6.32 ERA in 12 appearances (seven starts) for Detroit.
While he signed with the Miami Marlins last winter, he posted a 7.63 ERA and an 0-5 appearances before getting designated for assignment and went 0-2 in a 6.04 ERA in six appearances for the Cincinnati Reds before being designated for a second time. Although he didn’t get lit up in the run column, Paddack still allowed seven hits in Monday’s appearance and the Rangers decided to go a different direction by recalling Gavin Collyer from Triple-A Round Rock.
A big reason may be Paddack’s advanced metrics. While he’s posted a 33.3 percent chase rate this season, batters are only whiffing at a 21.4 percent rate according to Baseball Savant. He also has a 15 percent strikeout rate, which ranks in the seventh percentile of qualifying pitchers.
With Paddack becoming a flyball pitcher (39.3% ground ball rate) that doesn’t miss bats, it’s a poor combination to keep his career going. And at 30 years old, the biggest question is if another team will take a flier that hasn’t worked out for three teams so far this season.
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