The Cincinnati Reds signed righthanded pitcher Chien-Ming Wang to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training according to a news release by Wang’s agency, Octagon. Wang would earn $1.25 million upon making the major league roster and up to $3 million if he reaches all the incentives in the deal.
From 2006-07, Wang had a 38-13 record, the most wins in the major leagues. While he only struck out 10.5 percent of hitters, a low walk rate and a groundball rate over 60 percent resulted in a 3.67 ERA and a 3.85 FIP. He compiled 8.1 fWAR.
Wang injured his foot running the bases in interleague play in 2008, and he’s struggled to stay healthy since then. He’s thrown just 163.2 big league innings over the last five years, and his 6.60 ERA is the highest of any pitcher to throw at least 160 innings. Shoulder injuries have robbed him of some fastball velocity, and he’s working in the 89-91 range instead of the low to mid 90’s that he used to offer.
The 33 year-old Wang made six starts for the pitching-thin Toronto Blue Jays in 2013. He had two consecutive strong outings in June where he threw a total of 13.1 innings and allowed just one run. However, he was hit hard his next three times out. Overall, he had a 7.67 ERA and 5.42 FIP in 27 innings with 9 walks and 14 strikeouts.
In 103.2 innings for the Triple-A affiliates of the Jays and the New York Yankees, Wang was solid, posting a 2.87 ERA with strikeout and walk rates of 12.3 percent, and 4.9 percent, respectively.
It’s a long shot, but the Reds are taking a gamble that Wang can regain some of the stuff that made him an excellent pitcher from 2006-07.
