The Astros have designated right-hander Joel Kuhnel for assignment, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Houston needed to open a roster spot for righty Declan Cronin, who they claimed off waivers from the White Sox.
Kuhnel, 29 in February, came to the Astros in June via a cash deal, having spent his entire career with the Reds prior to that. He has 83 2/3 innings of major league experience between those two clubs with an earned run average of 6.02 in that time. His 19.3% strikeout rate is below par but his 6.5% walk rate and 52.5% ground ball rate are both strong. It’s possible there’s some bad luck in there, as his .323 batting average on balls in play and 64.6% strand rate are both on the unfortunate side of average. That’s led to a 4.55 FIP and 5.57 SIERA that are a bit more optimistic than his actual ERA. He’s generally had similar results in the minors, with limited punchouts but lots of worm burners.
Nonetheless, it seems he’s the lesser of two ground ball guys, as Cronin has a similar profile and has now nabbed Kuhnel’s roster spot. The Astros will now have a week to trade Kuhnel or pass him through waivers. If the latter scenario were to come to pass, Kuhnel would be able to elect free agency due to the fact that he has a previous career outright. He still has an option year remaining though and could perhaps appeal to clubs in search of extra bullpen depth.