Royals claim pitcher Ryan Weiss off waivers from Arizona, call Wyatt Mills up

The Royals announced they have claimed pitcher Ryan Weiss off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks, and have designated pitcher Matt Peacock for assignment. Weiss will be assigned to Triple-A Omaha and taking Peacock’s place on the roster will be pitcher Wyatt Mills, who was recently acquired from Seattle in the Carlos Santana trade.

Weiss is a 25-year-old right-hander who was a fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft out of Wright State University. He had a 4.76 ERA with 15 strikeouts and just one walk in 17 innings for Double-A Amarillo before being promoted to Triple-A Reno where he had a 7.45 ERA with 10 strikeouts and 7 walks in 9 ²⁄₃ innings. The Diamondbacks designated him for assignment last week to make room for Dallas Keuchel.

Fangraphs ranked Weiss as the #36 prospect in the Arizona organization before the season. They note he has had a velocity spike since becoming a reliever full-time with a fastball that sits at 93-95 mph, adding “only his fastball and slider induced any swings and misses.”

The Royals designated Peacock for assignment after also acquiring him from the Diamondbacks earlier this year in a trade. The 28-year-old appeared in seven games with the Royals and had a 4.91 ERA with four strikeouts and two walks in 7 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Mills joins the roster after just one scoreless inning for Triple-A Omaha. He has appeared in eight games at the big league level for Seattle this year with a 4.15 ERA and six strikeouts and three walks in 8 ²⁄₃ innings. He throws from a sidearm angle with a fastball, sinker, slider combo, relying on groundballs to get hitters out.