The Nationals announced Wednesday that outfielder Joey Wiemer has been placed on unconditional release waivers. Assuming he clears, he’ll be a free agent in 48 hours. The move opens a spot on Washington’s 40-man roster.
Wiemer was an early-season hero in D.C., tallying four multi-hit efforts and popping a pair of home runs in his first five games of the season. The former top prospect’s offensive production quickly waned. Wiemer followed that early frenzy with a .189/.295/.340 slash and a 41% strikeout rate over his next 61 plate appearances before being optioned to Triple-A Rochester.
Things haven’t gone any better for Wiemer in Rochester. If anything, they’ve been worse. He’s played in 42 games, stepped to the plate 166 times, and logged a .196/.277/.257 batting line while fanning in 31% of his plate appearances. Even after trading Luis Garcia Jr. and placing James Wood on the 10-day injured list, the Nationals didn’t see fit to bring Wiemer up to the big leagues.
Wiemer, 27, was a fourth-round pick by the Brewers back in 2020 and mashed his way onto MLB.com’s top-100 prospect list in both 2022 and 2023. He’s a solid outfielder defender who’s shown some power in limited major league opportunities but sports an overall .216/.296/.380 batting line in 582 plate appearances as a big leaguer. Wiemer does have a strong .273/.324/.535 career batting line against left-handed pitching, but even that impressive platoon split is a bit dubious; he’s punched out in 32.4% of his plate appearances against southpaws and benefited from a .356 average on balls in play.
Another club could take a look at Wiemer in minor league free agency, but his lack of track record and this year’s struggles in Triple-A make it unlikely he’ll land right on the major league roster with a new team.
