You can never have too much pitching in Triple-A, and the Dodgers have definitely bought into that this offseason. Their most recent acquisition is a seven-year MLB veteran who spent last year pitching for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, Matt Andriese.
Andriese was drafted by the Rangers in 2008 out of Redlands East Valley High School, but the 37th-rounder went to college instead. Three years later, the Padres drafted him in the third round out of UC Riverside. Andriese never pitched for the Padres; he was traded to Tampa Bay in 2014 and debuted for the Rays the next year.
In addition to Tampa Bay, Andriese has pitched for the Diamondbacks, Angels, Mariners, and Red Sox in his seven years in the big leagues. In 2022, he pitched 63 innings for Yomiuri and posted a 2.86 ERA. The right-hander has a 4.63 career ERA in 509 big-league innings.
Andriese was a part-time starter his first three seasons with Tampa Bay, but he’s pitched almost exclusively in relief since 2018. He averaged just over four innings per game in Japan last year, but he’s likely slated for relief in the Dodgers’ farm system.
The 33-year-old Andriese has a lot of MLB experience, so he could be a candidate for the bittersweet role of “guy who gets called up when the team needs a reliever, knowing he’ll be DFA’d off the 40-man roster as soon as the immediate need has passed.” But if he can harness his stuff in the LA farm system, he could get back to the big leagues on a more permanent basis.
