Baseball is a cold business. One day you’re the high-upside lefty with a deceptive changeup, and the next, you’re just a name on a transaction wire. That’s exactly what happened when the news broke regarding the Joey Wentz Pirates DFA. It wasn't necessarily a shock to those grinding through the box scores every night, but it marked the end of a very specific experiment in the Pittsburgh bullpen.
He’s a big guy. 6-foot-5. Left-handed.
Usually, that combination buys you a decade of "potential" in the big leagues. But in Pittsburgh, the clock finally ran out on June 7, 2024. The Pirates designated Wentz for assignment after a stint that was, honestly, a total rollercoaster. One week he looked like a found-money waiver claim; the next, he was struggling to find the zone or keep the ball in the park.
The Short But Wild Pirates Tenure
When the Pirates first grabbed Joey Wentz off waivers from the Detroit Tigers back in September 2024, it looked like a classic Ben Cherington move. Low risk. High pedigree. Wentz was a former first-round pick of the Braves (40th overall in 2016) and had been a top-10 prospect in the Tigers' system as recently as 2023.
He actually started his time in Pittsburgh brilliantly.
During those final few weeks of the 2024 season, Wentz shoved. He put up a 1.50 ERA over 12 innings. He was striking guys out and, more importantly, he wasn't walking the house. Fans were hopeful. Maybe a change of scenery was all the kid needed to unlock that mid-rotation ceiling everyone talked about when he was a prospect.
Then 2025 rolled around.
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The "honeymoon" ended pretty quickly. While he managed to stick on the roster for the first couple of months, the underlying metrics were screaming for a regression. In 19 appearances for the Pirates in 2025, Wentz posted a 4.15 ERA over 26 innings. On the surface? Not terrible for a middle reliever. But look deeper. A 1.38 WHIP and a walk rate that started creeping back toward his career averages made him a liability in high-leverage spots.
The Pirates were trying to stay competitive, or at least pretend to, and they simply couldn't afford a "length" guy who couldn't reliably get through an inning without traffic on the bases.
Why the DFA Happened When it Did
Roster spots are premium real estate in June. The Pirates were facing a crunch. They had young arms like Mike Burrows coming back from injury and a need for more stability in the middle innings. Wentz, unfortunately, was out of minor league options.
That’s the "death knell" for a struggling pitcher.
If you can’t be sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis to work on your mechanics, the only options are to keep you on the active roster or let you go. The Pirates chose the latter. They needed the 40-man roster spot, and Wentz hadn't done enough to prove he was indispensable.
Life After the Pirates: The Waiver Carousel
If you think the Joey Wentz Pirates DFA was the end of his 2025 journey, you haven't been following modern baseball. Lefties with velocity don't stay unemployed.
- The Minnesota Twins claimed him almost immediately on June 11.
- It was a disaster. Like, "don't look at the ERA" kind of disaster.
- In 8 innings for Minnesota, he gave up 14 runs.
- They DFA'd him in July.
Ironically, he ended up right back where it all started: the Atlanta Braves. They claimed him in mid-July 2025, betting on the same 2016 draft profile they once loved. And surprisingly? He stabilized there. The Braves moved him into a bulk-relief and occasional spot-starter role, where he managed to post a sub-4.00 ERA over his first nine starts with the club.
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What Most People Get Wrong About Wentz
There’s a common narrative that Wentz is just "bad." That’s lazy.
The reality is that Wentz has "plus" vertical movement on his fastball. When he's "on," his changeup is a legitimate out-pitch. The problem—and the reason for the Joey Wentz Pirates DFA—is consistency. He’s a "tinkerer." He’s constantly changing his pitch mix.
In Detroit, he was a starter. In Pittsburgh, they tried to make him a multi-inning reliever. In Minnesota, they used him in short bursts. It wasn't until he got back to Atlanta and they simplified his approach (focusing more on that high-spin heater) that he looked like a Major Leaguer again.
Was It a Mistake for the Pirates?
Honestly? Probably not.
The Pirates have a decent track record of finding value in other teams' castoffs, but Wentz was a square peg in a round hole in Pittsburgh. They didn't have the luxury of "waiting it out" while he found his command.
Wait. Did they give up too early?
Some would argue yes, considering he signed a one-year, $900k deal with the Braves for the 2026 season to avoid arbitration. He's still only 28. If he turns into a solid 4th starter in Atlanta, it'll be another "one that got away" for the Bucs. But at the time, the move was 100% justifiable. You can't keep a guy on the roster just because he might figure it out three months from now for a different team.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Analysts
If you're tracking Wentz heading into the 2026 season, keep an eye on these specific markers:
- First-Pitch Strike Rate: This was his undoing in Pittsburgh. If he's below 60%, he’s going to struggle regardless of the jersey he's wearing.
- Four-Seam Usage: In his best stretches with the Pirates and Braves, he leaned on the "ride" of his fastball at the top of the zone.
- Health: He’s had Tommy John surgery and various shoulder issues. His velocity needs to stay at 93-94 mph to be effective.
The Joey Wentz Pirates DFA is a perfect case study in how the "waiver wire" economy works in MLB. A player can be "not good enough" for a 70-win team like the Pirates, but "just right" for a contender like the Braves who has the coaching infrastructure to refine a specific tool.
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If you are a Pirates fan, don't lose sleep over it. The team is currently focused on the development of Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. In that hierarchy, a fringe lefty reliever who can't find the zone is always going to be the odd man out. Wentz is a survivor, and he'll likely be in the league for a while longer, but his time in black and gold was destined to be a short chapter.
Keep an eye on the Braves' rotation depth this spring. Wentz is slated to compete for a spot, and given his history, he’ll either be a Comeback Player of the Year candidate or back on the waiver wire by May. That’s just the Joey Wentz experience.