The Astros are designating reliever Nate Pearson for assignment, according to Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Rome adds that infielder Ray Delgado is in the team’s clubhouse, suggesting he’s been recalled from Triple-A. With Pearson’s designation, the Astros have three open 40-man roster spots.

It’s a mild surprise to see Pearson lose his roster spot. The righty has made 16 appearances out of Houston’s bullpen this year with a decent 3.60 ERA. He’s done well at keeping the ball in the yard, allowing just one home run in 20 innings. However, Pearson’s 19.0% strikeout rate and 14.3% walk rate both grade out below average, particularly the walks. Meanwhile, his expected numbers suggest Pearson should have an ERA in the low- to mid-4.00’s, painting the picture of a decent, but flawed reliever.

Looking more broadly, Houston may simply be willing to move on from Pearson to clear space for deadline upgrades. As noted by MLBTR’s Steve Adams in our Trade Deadline Outlook series, the Astros figure to be buyers over the next couple of weeks. While a left-handed hitting outfielder and starting pitching are arguably bigger needs, the bullpen remains a clear spot to upgrade. Houston relievers have a 4.77 ERA entering today, which ranks fifth-worst in the Majors. They also have the highest walk rate (11.4%) out of any big league bullpen.

Decent ERA aside, Pearson’s 14.3% walk rate is the second-highest mark of Astros relievers with at least 20 innings pitched. Cutting him loose will marginally improve the bullpen’s control, depending on who takes his place. It’s possible that could be left-hander Bennett Sousa, as Rome comments that he has been traveling with the team this weekend and could soon be activated off the 60-day injured list. Sousa has only thrown 3 1/3 innings this year thanks to left elbow inflammation, but he had a 2.84 ERA, a 29.6% strikeout rate, and a 7.5% walk rate in over 50 innings last year. All three metrics are better than average and would be significant upgrades over Pearson if Sousa can perform like that again.

Pearson is out of minor league options, so he needed to be designated to be removed from the 40-man roster. Given his serviceable bottom-line results, he’s a better candidate than most to be claimed on outright waivers. Pearson is playing on an affordable $1.35MM salary, with about $510K remaining through the end of the season. Given teams’ ever-present need for bullpen arms and the shortage of clear sellers, perhaps a team will take a low-cost flier on Pearson in hopes he can remain serviceable from a run-prevention standpoint.

Delgado was acquired by Houston last month in a cash trade with the Rays. He’s since appeared in 16 big league games, grading out right at league average with a 100 wRC+ in 33 plate appearances. He’s been less successful at Triple-A this year, batting .251/.319/.359 with a 76 wRC+ in 260 plate appearances between the Rays’ and Astros’ affiliates. Delgado joins Nick Allen as infield options off the bench, with the lefty-swinging Delgado potentially being an option against right-handed pitchers.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images