The Rangers have signed southpaw Ty Blach to a minor league deal, according to a report from MLBTR’s Steve Adams. The veteran elected free agency shortly after the 2024 regular season came to a close abut is now set to join a new organization for just the fourth time in his career.
Blach, 34, has pitched in the majors in parts of seven MLB seasons. A fifth-rounder drafted by the Giants all the way back in 2012, the lefty didn’t make his big league debut until the 2016 campaign. That initial cup of coffee went extremely well, as Blach pitched to a 1.06 ERA and 3.62 FIP in 17 innings of work across two starts and two relief appearances. He took on a much larger role with the Giants over the next two years and turned in slightly below-average results as the club’s primary swingman. From 2017 to 2018, Blach pitched to a pedestrian 4.56 ERA (89 ERA+) despite a 4.18 FIP but made up for that lack of impressive rate production with volume. He threw 282 1/3 innings total while splitting time between the rotation and bullpen, making 37 starts and 44 relief appearances in total.
The southpaw started the 2019 season with San Francisco as well, but he was designated for assignment and found himself claimed off waivers by the Orioles not long after. Unfortunately, Blach’s time in Baltimore did not go especially well and he finished the year with a 12.00 ERA in 27 innings of work between his two clubs. That lackluster performance led the Orioles to outright him off their 40-man roster following the 2019 season but he re-signed with the organization on a minor league deal ahead of the 2020 season. Between the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and Tommy John surgery that summer, Blach wound up not pitching for the Orioles at all in his second season with the organization.
After rehabbing in the minors with the Orioles during the 2021 season, Blach latched on with the Rockies on a minor league deal entering the 2022 campaign. It was in Colorado that he’d make his return to the majors, and he wound up spending three years in the organization on minor league deals, shuttling between Triple-A and the majors as dictated by the Rockies’ pitching needs. Blach didn’t exactly take well to pitching with the Rockies in that up-and-down role, and he’s struggled to a 6.14 ERA in 193 2/3 innings at the big league level since first signing with the Rockies prior to the 2022 season. Lackluster as that figure is, it should be noted that it’s nearly half a run higher than Blach’s FIP. On the other hand, Coors Field may not have been as big of an issue for Blach as one might expect given that his road ERA was higher than his ERA at Coors in all three of his seasons with Colorado.
Whether he’ll be able to improve in a new organization with more pitcher-friendly conditions in the majors remains to be seen, but the Rangers appear to be betting on just that by bringing him into the fold. At the very least, he should be a serviceable non-roster depth option for the club, helping to back up a rotation that’s currently relying on Patrick Corbin as its fifth starter due to injuries suffered by Kumar Rocker, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford. That starting depth took a potential additional hit earlier this week when the club designated Dane Dunning for assignment, though Dunning has already cleared waivers previously this year. Even if Blach isn’t being brought in as a potential replacement for Dunning on the depth chart, he’s still a useful arm to have in the mix in case fo further injuries in the majors.