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Dodgers make trade, acquire Orioles’ 27-year-old rookie
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- Dodgers make trade, acquire Orioles’ 27-year-old rookie
The Los Angeles Dodgers took a flier on 27-year-old pitcher Chayce McDermott , acquiring the right-handed pitcher from the Baltimore Orioles in a trade for minor league pitcher Axel Perez on April 16.
McDermott had been designated for assignment by the Orioles on April 16. Perez, a 20-year-old right-hander who was pitching out of the Dodgers’ Dominican Summer League complex, is a relatively small price to pay.
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Signed as an 18-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, Perez debuted last year with the Dodgers’ DSL affiliate. He went 1-1 with a 5.48 ERA in 10 games (nine starts).
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McDermott was a fourth-round draft pick by the Houston Astros in the 2021 MLB Draft. In five major league appearances over the last two seasons, he’s 0-1 with a 12.79 ERA.
The former Ball State standout quickly rose through the minor league ranks. In 2024, he made his Triple-A debut and struck out 144 batters in 100 innings with the Norfolk Tides, going 4-5 with a 3.78 ERA across 22 games (21 starts).
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But McDermott struggled for a year at Norfolk, going 2-7 with a 6.21 ERA. He still got into four big league games, and allowed 15 runs in 8.2 innings (15.58 ERA) in his first cup of coffee in Baltimore.
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The Orioles converted McDermott to full-time relief work last year, a role he’s likely to reprise at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
It’s not unusual to see the Dodgers take an early-season flier on a low-leverage relief pitcher who has struggled elsewhere. Earlier this week, they acquired former prospect Griff McGarry from the Phillies .
Last year, the Dodgers had some success stories ( Will Klein , Paul Gervase ). However, they had some flops ( Ryan Loutos , Noah Davis) too, as they shuffled personnel to keep their high-leverage relievers fresh for the postseason.
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With McDermott, the Dodgers will likely try to winnow down his pitch arsenal. He’s thrown six different pitch types according to Statcast since the start of 2025 — necessary breadth for a starter, optional for a reliever.
Of those six pitches, he’s seen impressive results with his splitter (50 percent whiff rate, .116 opponents’ slugging percentage) in the minors. But the pitch is underutilized compared to his fastball, slider, and cutter, a trend that might change in the Dodgers’ organization.
