{"id":82947,"date":"2024-08-13T17:23:06","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T21:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=82947"},"modified":"2024-08-13T17:23:18","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T21:23:18","slug":"angels-claim-nick-robertson-brock-burke-waivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/13\/angels-claim-nick-robertson-brock-burke-waivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels Fortify Pitching Depth with Two Intriguing Waiver Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Angels fortified their pitching depth on Tuesday with two separate acquisitions. Per a team announcement, the Angels made a waiver claim for relievers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=roberni01,robert007nic&amp;search=Nick+Robertson&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Robertson<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/burkebr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brock Burke<\/a>\u00a0from the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers, respectively.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Angels?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Angels<\/a> have claimed RHP Nick Robertson off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals and LHP Brock Burke off waivers from the Texas Rangers.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Angels PR (@LAAngelsPR) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LAAngelsPR\/status\/1823426871117406362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Both pitchers were designated for assignment over the weekend by their former clubs. Los Angeles&#8217; 40-man roster count sat at 38 after the team released pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/plesaza01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-08-13_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Plesac<\/a> Tuesday morning. The roster is now full following the two waiver claims.<\/p>\n<h2>Angels Fortify Bullpen, Claim Nick Robertson and Brock Burke<\/h2>\n<h3>Nick Robertson<\/h3>\n<p>Robertson is an intriguing arm who has bounced around over the past 13 months. The Los Angeles Dodgers traded him to the Boston Red Sox last July, who then dealt him to St. Louis a few months later. The Cardinals needed to add multiple fresh arms this offseason, and Robertson represented an intriguing acquisition.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the 26-year-old has not excelled as many would have hoped this season. In eight appearances in the majors, Robertson produced a 4.38 ERA (99 ERA+) with solid strikeout and walk rates. That said, the production comes in a small sample size (12 1\/3 innings) and with worse results in the minors.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Good catch by Rob here!<\/p>\n<p>Nick Robertson surely has the stuff and arsenal depth to be an effective bullpen piece in MLB. His secondaries grade out well and he efficiently generates chases.<\/p>\n<p>He seems like a prime candidate for a sinker given the E-W nature of his secondaries <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/u6IlNvsHcq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/u6IlNvsHcq<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/f5MnRNsh0s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/f5MnRNsh0s<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TJStats\/status\/1822987408314405074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The righty has logged 21 2\/3 innings with a 7.48 ERA and a whopping 1.800 WHIP in Triple-A. Roberston missed about a month earlier this season with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/26\/nick-robertson-cardinals-injured-list-elbow\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">right elbow inflammation<\/a>. He returned at the end of June and should be healthy. However, it&#8217;s possible his elbow issue is contributing to his struggles, specifically with his uncharacteristically high walk rate.<\/p>\n<p>Roberston walked 16 batters in 21 2\/3 Triple-A innings (6.65 BB\/9). 4.03 BB\/9 represented his previous career-high in the minors, and he twice managed to keep the ratio below 3. The Angels will claim Robertson hoping to help him get back on track. If he develops and reaches his potential, the Angels should receive solid bullpen production with multiple years of inexpensive team control.<\/p>\n<h3>Brock Burke<\/h3>\n<p>Burke seemed to break out with an excellent 2022 campaign. In 82 1\/3 innings, all in relief, the southpaw produced a 1.97 ERA (202 ERA+) with great strikeout and walk rates. Unfortunately, he regressed last season (97 ERA+) and has collapsed this year.<\/p>\n<p>In 13 games, Burke pitched 13 2\/3 innings with an ERA of 9.22 (44 ERA+). 2024 started slowly and has continued to snowball. Burke struggled in April, then fractured his non-throwing hand after punching a wall in frustration following a bad outing.<\/p>\n<p>Surgery and rehab sidelined him for about two months. When he returned, Burke did not pitch well and was optioned to Triple-A. Burke&#8217;s struggles only continued in the minors, where he posted a 5.31 ERA in 20 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">(4\/10)<\/p>\n<p>Brock Burke is a left-handed, North-South pronator with a deceptive delivery.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s a former SP\/bulk guy who has worked mostly as a left-handed specialist at the MLB level.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s in his last option year; his mix is FF\/SL\/CH\/SI.<\/p>\n<p>Max career FF at MLB lvl in &#8217;24, 99 mph: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2FZT2P51eP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/2FZT2P51eP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Remi Bunikiewicz (@RBunikiewicz) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RBunikiewicz\/status\/1822855286002258209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Rangers finally decided to give up on the 28-year-old, especially after <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/30\/andrew-chafin-trade-rangers-tigers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">acquiring a veteran lefty<\/a> at the trade deadline. That said, Burke throws in the upper 90s and clearly possesses some upside. With multiple veteran relievers entering free agency this offseason, the Angels will hope to tap into Burke&#8217;s potential now.<\/p>\n<p>Like Robertson, the Angels claim Burke and his multiple years of team control. Though more struggles could lead them to non-tender Burke, success will likely result in a slight raise on his current $1.035 million salary via arbitration.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Angels fortified their pitching depth on Tuesday with two separate acquisitions. Per a team announcement, the Angels made a waiver claim for relievers Nick Robertson and Brock Burke\u00a0from the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers, respectively. The #Angels have claimed RHP Nick Robertson off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals and LHP [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4683,"featured_media":82966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1071,35],"tags":[5813,6499,168,259,3415],"class_list":["post-82947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angels","category-mlb","category-news","tag-brock-burke","tag-nick-robertson","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-texas-rangers","tag-zach-plesac"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4683"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}