It is no secret that the Los Angeles Dodgers front office values depth, particularly in their pitching staff.
It takes a slew of starters and relievers to get through a 162-game season, so several pitchers from the Triple-A level will certainly play a role at the big league level at some point in the year.
One of those arms who went back and forth between the two levels for the Dodgers in 2018 was switch-pitcher Pat Venditte. The 33-year-old signed a Minor League contract with Los Angeles last offseason and opened some eyes in the organization with a strong spring.
He continued that success into the regular season, and it appears he is now being rewarded for it as according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, he is close to signing a contract with the San Francisco Giants:
The Giants are close to a deal with ambidextrous relief pitcher Pat Venditte, per source. They might have a switch-pitcher in their bullpen. Venditte broke through with A's in 2015 and had a 2.57 ERA in 15 appearances for Dodgers last season.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) December 19, 2018
It is not that surprising that the Giants had interest in him considering former Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi is now their president of baseball operations. Venditte has also spent some time in the Oakland Athletics organization, where Zaidi worked before the Dodgers.
In 15 appearances with the Dodgers in 2018, Venditte pitched to a solid 2.57 ERA, 3.87 FIP and 1.00 WHIP while striking out nine and walking three in 14 innings.
He also pitched in 45 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City and had an impressive 1.75 ERA and 0.86 WHIP. Venditte had 62 strikeouts and 14 walks in 51.1 innings during those games.
Despite his successful season, Venditte fell victim to roster numbers as the Dodgers designated him for assignment and later released him in order to trade for Atlanta Braves pitcher Adam McCreery.
It is unclear if Venditte is signing a Major or Minor League deal with the Giants, but the Dodgers will likely see him at some point in the 2019 season.
