Latest news with #SeranthonyDomínguez
New York Times
30-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Blue Jays bolster bullpen, acquire Seranthony Domínguez in doubleheader-day trade
BALTIMORE — Seranthony Domínguez marched by security guards and sprawling chairs in the tunnel under Camden Yards. Flanked by Toronto Blue Jays staff, he ducked under a black curtain between the games of Tuesday's doubleheader, sliding into the road clubhouse. The short walk signified a big change. Hours before Baltimore and Toronto began the day's second contest, the Orioles traded Domínguez and cash to the Blue Jays in exchange for pitching prospect Juaron Watts-Brown. Domínguez joined a relief group in need of immediate aid ahead of Thursday's trade deadline and became one piece of the Jays' larger bullpen plan. Advertisement 'It's been kind of crazy,' Domínguez said. 'I woke up today and came to play for the Orioles. After the first game, I was just sitting there hanging out with the guys. Then they called me.' The Jays arrived in Baltimore with MLB's seventh-best bullpen ERA (3.66). The relief group is much improved after a disastrous 2024, with the addition of Jeff Hoffman and breakouts from Brendon Little, Yariel Rodríguez and Braydon Fisher. But after back-to-back shellackings in Baltimore, that mark fell to 17th (3.94). Toronto relievers allowed 17 earned runs across the series' first two contests. In the third contest, Hoffman allowed one more. The Jays were always going to acquire relief help this deadline. It was the top priority long before the Orioles series and remains a target after the Domínguez acquisition, league sources told The Athletic. But the holes left by injuries to Yimi García (elbow), Nick Sandlin (elbow) and Ryan Burr (shoulder) began to flare further under the Baltimore sun. So, over walked Domínguez, providing a fresh arm for the night contest and a stable late-inning option for the remainder of Toronto's hopeful playoff push. The righty strolled out to the Blue Jays bullpen in the third inning. With Baltimore's and the visitors' bullpens uniquely stacked one above the other in left field, Domínguez was forced to walk directly past his former squad. His old teammates laughed and waved as he joined Toronto's relievers. Baltimore's Andrew Kittredge ran over for a hug. 'They were just yelling at me a little bit,' Domínguez said. ''What you doing? Where you going?' Stuff like that. It made me laugh. But I felt sad at the same time too, because you create relationships with the people you are around.' Seranthony Domínguez had to walk past his former Orioles teammates on his way to the bullpen. 😂 (Via: @MLB) — Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) July 29, 2025 Four innings later, Domínguez pushed out a familiar bullpen door and dug into a familiar pitching mound. His powder blue jersey, though, was new. Toronto's introduction to the righty reliever perfectly encapsulated the Domínguez experience. He pounded Baltimore batters with a 98 mph fastball, peppering it around the zone and missing at times. He struck out Colton Cowser, hit Tyler O'Neil with a pitch, gave up a stolen base and then worked out of the jam with a successful pickoff and another strikeout. It was controlled chaos. At his best, that's Domínguez. Advertisement 'He's got really, really good stuff,' manager John Schneider said. 'He can miss bats. Great fastball, great splitter and good inside move at second, we found out.' The 30-year-old will slide into the back of Toronto's bullpen, Schneider said. He has 40 career saves, including two this year. But throughout Domínguez's career, and especially this year, left-handed hitters have flourished against him. The righty added a splitter this season to calm the drastic platoon splits, but they've persisted. That potential issue makes Domínguez more likely to fill matchup-based situations for Toronto, with heavy usage against righties. There's still an opportunity for another big-time relief trade. Domínguez's addition certainly helps Toronto's bullpen mix. He's a proven arm with swing-and-miss stuff. But with elite relief options like St. Louis' Ryan Helsley, Minnesota's Jhoan Duran and Pittsburgh's David Bednar still on the market, there's a chance to truly raise the bullpen ceiling. That's what the Blue Jays entered deadline week trying to do. They have two days to execute.
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
MLB trade deadline: Seranthony Domínguez begins Tuesday with Orioles, ends it pitching against them
One of the wonderful things about the MLB trade deadline is that trades can be executed at nearly any time, between any teams, even if they are currently playing a series against each other. Reliever Seranthony Domínguez emblematized that on Tuesday. Domínguez began the day in his second season with the Baltimore Orioles, who acquired him at the trade deadline last season. One trade later, he was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, pitching a scoreless inning against their opponent, the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore sent him to Toronto in exchange for pitching prospect Juaron Watts-Brown, in between games of a doubleheader. Domínguez pitched the bottom of the seventh inning, striking out Colton Cowser, hitting Dylan Carlson with a pitch then picking him off and striking out Jackson Holliday. It's always easier for traded players to jump in for their new name due to the individualized nature of the sport (no playbooks to learn, just pitching signals), but the trade was done on short enough notice that at least one other mistake was made. Eagle-eyed observers noticed the "8" on the back of Domínguez's jersey was upside down. Domínguez, who spent the first six innings of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies, loomed as a no-brainer trade chip at the deadline for the Orioles. They might have been a buyer last season, but this year has been a slog, with their record sitting at 50-58 through Tuesday. They are in last place in the AL East. It's been a better year for Domínguez, who held a 3.24 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings for Baltimore. He's still prone to wildness, but was effective enough to garner interest at a second straight deadline. He folds into a Toronto bullpen that entered Tuesday ranked eighth in MLB in ERA. The team's surprise surge to first place left it in need of a bullpen reinforcement, and that might not be the only thing it does between now and the deadline, scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
Toronto Star
29-07-2025
- Sport
- Toronto Star
Needy Blue Jays pay a steep price for Orioles reliever Seranthony Dominguez — and work on something bigger
BALTIMORE—The Blue Jays bullpen got further exposed by the Baltimore Orioles during Tuesday's doubleheader, so between games the division rivals got together and worked out a trade. After a 16-4 loss to the Orioles in the opener, the Jays kicked off their trade deadline shopping spree by acquiring veteran reliever Seranthony Domínguez. In return, they parted with right-hander Juaron Watts-Brown, their 10th-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
New York Times
29-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Trade analysis: Orioles fare well in adding Juaron Watts-Brown for Seranthony Domínguez
Trade details: Toronto Blue Jays acquire RHP Seranthony Domínguez from the Baltimore Orioles for RHP Juaron Watts-Brown We have a trade involving a real prospect! Sound the alarm! The Orioles picked up right-hander Juaron Watts-Brown from the Blue Jays in exchange for reliever Seranthony Domínguez, who is a free agent after the season, so it's hard not to like the deal for the Orioles — they got a prospect for 20 innings or so of a guy they won't even miss. Advertisement Domínguez has long been a righty-killing reliever with enough of a platoon split that he isn't well-suited to the highest-leverage situations; his career line against right-handed batters is .181/.277/.284, and he's been even better than that this year, .127/.266/.177, in a small sample. He's a fastball/slider guy and has been for a while, now working in a split-fingered fastball to try to keep lefties in check, although it hasn't been that effective. The bigger concern is that he's walked guys at a higher rate than ever this year, particularly righties, with a 16 percent walk rate against right-handed batters in that same small sample (94 batters faced). The Blue Jays' bullpen has been slightly better than the AL median this year, but they're front-loaded, and Domínguez helps them shore up the back half of the bullpen — including the DFA of Chad Green and his 6.21 FIP today — while also perhaps letting them give Yariel Rodriguez and Jeff Hoffman a little more time off between outings. GO DEEPER Trade grade: Blue Jays acquire Seranthony Domínguez to bolster beleaguered bullpen Watts-Brown, 23, was the Blue Jays' third-round pick in 2023 out of Oklahoma State. He is a potential starter, definitely some kind of big leaguer, with a pretty easily delivery and a three-pitch mix. His fastball ranges from 91-96, topping out around 96.5, with a 55 slider (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and a curveball that looks like it could be plus but plays more average to above-average — it's a traditional 12/6 and is nice to look at, but that's not what matters in the end. He has a changeup, but barely uses it and doesn't show much feel for it, preferring his downward-breaking slider in changeup situations to lefties. He's had no platoon split this year overall between High A and Double A. The problem has been that his four-seamer gets hammered when hitters get to it, as they're slugging .443 off the pitch in Double A and putting it in the air the majority of the time. He has thrown just a couple of cutters this year, fewer than 10, and I don't see any evidence he's thrown a two-seamer, either of which might help him get hitters off the four-seamer — or, in the case of a two-seamer, maybe replace it as his primary fastball. Because of the hard contact on the four-seamer, Watts-Brown tends to try to work outside of the strike zone too much with it, leading to an 11.8 percent walk rate in Double A. Advertisement There's just a lot of upside here for the right development group. This Orioles regime hasn't had success with a pitching prospect like Watts-Brown so far, however, making this an interesting choice of a prospect for them to acquire. (Photo of Watts-Brown at Oklahoma State: Nathan J. Fish / The Oklahoman / USA Today Network)
Yahoo
29-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Split doubleheader: Domínguez traded from Orioles to Blue Jays in between games against each other
BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles traded reliever Seranthony Domínguez to Toronto on Tuesday — in between games of their day-night doubleheader against the Blue Jays. Domínguez did not pitch in the the opener, which the Orioles won 16-4. Then the trade — Domínguez for minor league right-hander Juaron Watts-Brown — was announced about an hour before the scheduled first pitch of the nightcap. Domínguez is 2-3 with a 3.24 ERA in 43 relief appearances this season. The last-place Orioles have also traded away relievers Bryan Baker and Gregory Soto as part of what has been a mild sell-off so far. The AL East-leading Blue Jays had a bullpen ERA of 3.94, which ranked in the middle of the pack heading into Tuesday's second game. Domínguez, who was in his sixth season with the Philadelphia Phillies when the right-hander was traded to Baltimore around this time last year, can help. The 23-year-old Watts-Brown was ranked as Toronto's No. 10 prospect by MLB Pipeline. He's 2-5 with a 3.54 ERA in 19 starts at Class A and Double-A this year. ___ AP MLB:
