Brewers reportedly sign right-hander Jacob Waguespack to minor league contract

Yesterday, the Milwaukee Brewers signed a former first-round pick, Reese McGuire, to a minor league contract. Today, they have agreed to a minor league pact with former 37th-round pick Jacob Waguespack, according to team insider Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the social media platform Bluesky. However, while the right-handed Waguespack doesn't have the same draft pedigree as some of the Brewers' recent acquisitions, there's still plenty in his profile to be intrigued by.

Waguespack is entering his age-32 season, and after being drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2012, the 6'6" right-hander has bounced around to a few different spots. Waguespack actually decided to forgo the Pirates' offer and attend the University of Mississippi instead, where he put together a few solid seasons as a relief arm. However, after going undrafted through his collegiate career, Waguespack signed a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies prior to the 2015 campaign.

By 2018, Waguespack reached Triple-A, and at the midseason trade deadline, he was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for left-hander Aaron Loup. Waguespack made his MLB debut with the Blue Jays during the 2019 season, posting a decent 4.38 ERA in 16 appearances, of which 13 came as a starting pitcher.

However, Waguespack hit a wall during the shortened 2020 campaign, with an 8.15 ERA in 11 relief appearances to prove it, and after spending the entire 2021 season in Triple-A, the now-28-year-old headed to Japan, where he spent the next two years. His 2022 campaign in Nippon Professional Baseball was especially strong, but 2023 was a different story. As a result, prior to the 2024 season, Waguespack landed a minor league deal (rather than a major league one) with the Tampa Bay Rays, where he spent the next season and a half, and even made the team's 2024 Opening Day roster.

A rotator cuff injury cut his 2024 season short, but when Waguespack returned to the Durham Bulls, Tampa Bay's Triple-A affiliate, in 2025, he was lights out, allowing just one earned run in 19.2 innings. However, due to a roster crunch at the 2025 trade deadline, the Rays released Waguespack, and he landed back with the Phillies, finishing out the season with their Triple-A squad.

Now, according to Hogg, Waguespack joins the Brewers on a minor league pact with a chance to prove himself in big-league spring training, which kicks off in a couple of weeks.

According to team insider Curt Hogg, the Brewers have signed right-handed pitcher Jacob Waguespack to a minor league deal

Despite the inconsistency, there's plenty to be intrigued by in Waguespack's profile. Standing at 6'6", Waguespack produces seven feet of extension in his delivery, which ranked in the 92nd percentile back in 2024. That extension means his body is very low to the ground when he delivers his pitches, which generates a great deal of induced vertical break (IVB) on his four-seam fastball. At 18.3 inches of IVB on his four-seamer, Waguespack averages roughly 2.5 more inches of "rise" than the average MLB four-seam fastball.

In addition to the four-seamer, he has the ability to throw both a cutter and sinker, giving him three fastball shapes, which is something the Brewers covet. He averaged 93 mph on the four-seamer, 86 mph on the cutter (which has become more of a tight slider in recent years), and 92 mph on his sinker, though he hasn't thrown it since the 2024 season.

At a 70-degree arm angle, it's no surprise that Waguespack's 12-6 curveball drops roughly 4.5 inches more than the average MLB curve, but he sacrifices horizontal movement on both his curveball and changeup as a result.

Thanks to the growingly popular tool "Prospect Savant" (prospectsavant.com), it's easy to see that Waguespack effectively limited hard contact in Triple-A last year; his hard-hit rate, barrel rate, and expected slugging percentage against were all in the 77th percentile or better last year.

Though Waguespack will have a chance to prove himself in big-league camp in the coming weeks, it's highly unlikely that he impacts the big-league roster during the early part of the 2026 season. However, when injuries inevitably rear their ugly head, and if the Brewers' right-handed bullpen options thin out, Waguespack, who will otherwise serve as valuable depth in Triple-A, could be called upon to help out the major-league squad.