The Orioles claimed Shaun Anderson off waivers from the Rangers and optioned him to Triple-A, the team announced. He’ll be joined there by Stevie Wilkerson, who cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Norfolk. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, Konner Wade was designated for assignment.
The Orioles are always in need of innings eaters. and Anderson can do exactly that. The 26-year-old has 16 career starts to his name, though those came with the Giants in 2019. More recently, he’s been a bullpen arm, though still one capable of shouldering a multi-inning load.
Anderson did not actually pitch in the Majors for Texas. In fact, his time with the Rangers consisted of a pair of outings in Triple-A, amounting to three scoreless innings. The Orioles are his third organization in 2021, however, starting the year as he did with the Twins, for whom he made four appearances, logging 8 2/3 innings and yielding nine earned runs on 13 hits and five walks while striking out eight. It would not be surprising to see Anderson in the Majors at some point this season.
Having recently lost Travis Lakins to a significant elbow injury, the Orioles needed another depth arm. They like Anderson enough to get him at the potential expense of Wade, who will now be exposed to waivers. There’s a decent chance he stays in the organization, however, as the 29-year-old rookie has just one Major League appearance, and the control artist lacks the type of strikeout stuff that tends to attract the attention of other organizations.
Wilkerson, meanwhile, has come out the other end of that waiver process and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. The 29-year-old utility man has hit just .167/.211/.208 in 76 plate appearances this year.
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