Rowley agreed to a minor-league deal with the Padres on Thursday, Robert Murray of The Athletic reports.
It's unclear if the deal includes an invitation to big-league camp. Rowley spent the majority of the 2018 campaign at the Triple-A level, posting a combined 3.34 ERA and 1.38 WHIP across 24 starts (142.2 innings). He's struggled in a pair of brief major-league stints over the past two seasons, compiling a 7.91 ERA in 19.1 innings (three starts, five relief appearances).
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Rangers' Chris Rowley: Sent outright to minors
Rotowire
Rowley was outrighted to Triple-A Round Rock on Monday.
Rowley will stick with the Express after passing through waivers unclaimed. The 28-year-old spent most of the year at Triple-A, compiling a 3.34 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 96:58 K:BB across 142.2 innings (24 starts) combined between Buffalo and Round Rock. Rowley owns a 7.91 ERA and 1.91 WHIP across 19.1 career big-league innings.
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Rangers' Chris Rowley: Claimed by Texas
Rotowire
Rowley was claimed off waivers by the Rangers on Monday and optioned to Triple-A Round Rock.
Rowley has thrown 19.1 career major-league innings with an ERA of 7.91. He's spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Buffalo, where he had a solid 3.30 ERA in 17 starts. His underlying numbers don't back up that ERA, though, as his 14.5 percent strikeout rate and 9.6 percent walk rate are each poor, leading to a 4.89 FIP.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Optioned to Triple-A
Rotowire
Rowley was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on Monday.
Rowley was called up Saturday to make his season debut. He made two appearances over the weekend in Boston, allowing four runs (three earned) on two hits and a walk in a combined 0.2 innings. He'll head back to Buffalo to await his next opportunity.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Called up from Buffalo
Rotowire
Rowley was called up by the Blue Jays on Saturday, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports.
With no need for a fifth starter until July 24, the Blue Jays decided to send Ryan Borucki packing and bring up a fresh arm in Rowley to help in relief. Rowley has had a decent enough season in terms of results at Triple-A Buffalo, but his 58:41 K:BB in 94 innings with the top affiliate suggests he will have a tough time sticking in the majors.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Outrighted from 40-man roster
Rotowire
Rowley was outrighted from Toronto's 40-man roster Monday, Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 The Fan reports.
By outrighting Rowley from the 40-man roster, the Blue Jays opened up an additional spot that they can use to protect a player from the Rule 5 draft. Rowley pitched 18.2 innings over six games in the majors last season. In that time he allowed 14 runs on 10 walks and 24 hits, four of which were home runs.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Recalled from minors
Rotowire
Rowley was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Sunday, Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 The Fan reports.
Rowley had previously made three starts for the Blue Jays before being demoted to Buffalo on Aug. 23 after manager John Gibbons opted to replace him in the rotation with Tom Koehler. With the Blue Jays having since added Brett Anderson to the 40-man roster to fill out the back end of their rotation, both Koehler and Rowley will be ticketed for bullpen roles in September, likely seeing most of their usage in lower-leverage scenarios.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Demoted to minors
Rotowire
Rowley was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday, Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.
Rowley will head back to the minors to clear room on the roster for Thursday's starter, Tom Koehler. Whether Rowley will rejoin the big-league rotation at some later point in the season remains unknown. In three starts for the Blue Jays this season, he's compiled an unimpressive 4.61 ERA and 7:9 K:BB.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Rematch against Rays doesn't go well
Rotowire
Rowley (1-1) took a loss in Tampa on Tuesday after giving up four runs on five hits and three walks in just 3.1 innings.
He managed to navigate his way around five walks en route to a two-run outing against the Rays last week, but it's hard to get by consistently when you're totaling more bases on balls than strikeouts. Rowley's sharp decline in bat-missing ability after being promoted from Double-A to Triple-A makes it unsurprising that he's having trouble early on in the majors, and the 27-year-old won't hold much (if any) fantasy relevance until he proves he can turn that trend around.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Holds Rays to two runs through five
Rotowire
Rowley allowed two runs on four hits and five walks while striking out three batters through five innings during Thursday's win over Tampa Bay. He didn't factor into the decision.
Rowley has now surrendered just three runs through 10.1 innings over his first two starts in the majors. His five walks were definitely concerning Thursday, and if he sticks in the rotation for another turn, he'll face the Rays again in his next start. Typically, that's not ideal for an inexperienced hurler. Additionally, Rowley's body of work is extremely limited after a 30-month stint in the U.S. Army interrupted his professional career. Outside of cavernous fantasy settings, it's probably wise to take a wait-and-see approach with Rowley.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Set for another start Thursday
Rotowire
Rowley is listed as the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Rays.
The 27-year-old will get a chance to continue on with the Blue Jays after a strong performance against the Pirates in his major-league debut. His upcoming matchup is fairly enticing, as the Rays rank dead last in baseball in runs scored this month. However, until Rowley builds a larger body of work at the big-league level, he will make for a risky streamer. The right-hander allows a good amount of contact -- since returning to affiliated baseball following a 30-month stint in the U.S. Army, Rowley has totaled just 179 strikeouts in 235.1 innings -- and that could lead to some trouble against top-level hitters.
Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Picks up win in big-league debut
Rotowire
Rowley (1-0) earned the win over the Pirates on Saturday, giving up one run on five hits and one walk while striking out three over 5.1 innings.
He was behind in counts throughout much of the afternoon, but Rowley was able to battle back and beat a hot Pirates team in his major-league debut. Rowley induced 11 swinging strikes on just 75 total pitches. After two years away from the game, Rowley returned to affiliated baseball last season, and he's thrived at the upper levels of the minors this year. It's uncertain if he will make another start in the immediate future, but Rowley's success should put him near the top of the list for fill-in duty down the stretch.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Officially recalled Saturday
Rotowire
Rowley had his contract selected and was recalled ahead of his upcoming start Saturday.
Rowley takes over the rotation spot of the injured Aaron Sanchez (finger) and will make his major-league debut when he starts against the Pirates on Saturday afternoon. The right-hander owns a solid 2.82 ERA over 10 games with Triple-A Buffalo this season (six starts) in addition to a 1.21 WHIP and a 41:15 K:BB. Nonetheless, Rowley may need to impress in the spot start if he wants to earn a more permanent promotion with the club.
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Blue Jays' Chris Rowley: Will make major-league debut Saturday
Rotowire
Rowley will start Saturday's game against the Pirates for his major-league debut, Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Rowley will take the mound just two days shy of his 27th birthday, as he is set to make his big-league debut after spending time in Double-A and Triple-A this season. Throughout the 2017 campaign with both New Hampshire and Buffalo, the right-hander has impressed the Toronto brass, posting a combined 2.29 ERA in 106.1 innings this season. Over his last five starts with Buffalo, Rowley has given up eight earned runs in over 31 innings while accumulating 20 strikeouts. The undrafted West Point Military Academy graduate didn't pitch at all in 2014 or 2015 after signing a minor-league deal with the club in June of 2013, but came back to baseball last season and pitched well with High-A Dunedin. It remains to be seen whether Rowley will get another opportunity with the Blue Jays following this weekend's start, but there doesn't seem to be much left for him to accomplish at the Triple-A level.
