The Twins have inked right-hander Connor Sadzeck and left-handers Tyler Webb and Sean Nolin to minor league deals, as per the team’s MLB.com transactions page. It wasn’t specified if any of the deals contained invitations to Minnesota’s big league Spring Training camp.
Sadzeck is the only member of the trio who pitched in the majors in 2022, albeit in cup-of-coffee fashion — Sadzeck tossed three innings over two games with the Brewers last season. The righty spent much of the season at the Triple-A level, with an impressive 2.20 ERA and 27.86% strikeout rate over 49 combined innings with the Brewers’ and Nationals’ top affiliates. Perhaps most importantly, Sadzeck’s walk rate was a palatable 9.95%, which represents an improvement over the control problems that plagued him in his last few seasons in the majors and minors.
Prior to 2022, Sadzeck’s MLB experience consisted of 9 1/3 innings with the Rangers in 2018 and 23 2/3 innings with the Mariners in 2019, with the latter season cut short by elbow problems. His 2.18 ERA over those 33 frames was perhaps a little lucky considering his elevated walk rate, though Sadzeck’s high velocity and ability to miss bats was enough to catch the eye of the White Sox, Brewers, and Nationals over the last two seasons.
Webb returns to affiliated baseball after posting a 2.93 ERA, 28.81% strikeout rate, and 5.5% walk rate over 55 1/3 innings with the independent Long Island Ducks in 2022. It was a nice rebound for the southpaw after a very rough 2021, as Webb had more walks (19) than strikeouts (14) while posting a garish 13.22 ERA over 16 1/3 innings with the Cardinals. More control problems followed Webb to Triple-A (a 14.33% walk rate and a 5.82 ERA over 21 2/3 innings with Louisville) after St. Louis outrighted him off its 40-man roster, and Webb chose to become a free agent after the season.
It wasn’t long ago that Webb seemed to be establishing himself as a fixture in the St. Louis bullpen, as he posted strong numbers after being claimed off waivers from the Padres in June 2018. Over his first 92 innings with the Cardinals from 2018-20, Webb had a 3.03 ERA, though his secondary metrics were much less flattering. Never much of a strikeout pitcher at the MLB level, Webb had limited the damage with strong hard-hit ball rates, but his big spike in walks (and a .362 BABIP) contributed to his brutal 2021 numbers.
Nolin had a 4.39 ERA over 26 2/3 innings with the Nationals in 2021, which represents his only MLB action since the 2015 season. Injuries sidelined him entirely for the 2016-17 seasons, and Nolin has since bounced around the minors, indy leagues (Nolin also pitched for the Long Island Ducks in 2019), and international leagues. The left-hander spent the 2020 season in Nippon Professional Baseball, and after returning to North America to pitch in the Nationals organization, Nolin headed back overseas for a one-year stint with the KBO League’s Kia Tigers. Nolin had a strong 2.47 ERA in 124 frames with the South Korean club, but the Tigers moved on from pursuing another contract with Nolin for 2023.
