The Dodgers made a trade on their off day Thursday, acquiring right-handed pitcher Chayce McDermott from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor league pitcher Axel Perez.
McDermott, 27, started this season in Triple-A Norfolk, where struck out nine of his 28 batters faced (a 32.1-percent strikeout rate), but also walked six and allowed four runs in his 5 1/3 innings. He was designated for assignment last Saturday when Baltimore brought up catcher Maverick Handley.
In parts of two seasons in the
majors, McDermott pitched in five total games in 2024-25, but allowed 18 runs on 17 hits, including four home runs, and 14 walks in just 12 2/3 innings, with 12 strikeouts.
Drafted in the fourth round out of Ball State in 2021, McDermott had strikeout rates over 30 percent at every minor league level, including a 3.78 ERA in 100 innings for Triple-A Norfolk in addition to making his major league debut in 2024.
In March 2024, McDermott was named among a group of players outside of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects who could make an impact in the majors. From Eli Ben-Porat:
McDermott’s slider is excellent, with great depth and some sweep, and produced excellent results, both from a contact-quality standpoint, as well as plenty of whiffs and chases. He has a curveball with distinct shape from the slider, which isn’t a dominant pitch, but fits well within his arsenal. He rounds it out with a changeup to lefties, giving him plenty of weapons to work with.
In 2025, McDermott mised the first six weeks of the season with a lat strain, and posted a 6.18 ERA and 23.1-percent strikeout rate in 59 2/3 innings between Triple-A and Double-A in addition to his four games with the Orioles.
McDermott is the third major league pitcher acquired by the Dodgers since the start of the regular season, not including trading for minor league pitcher Griff McGarry on Tuesday. They also traded for Jake Eder on April 1, the same day they claimed Grant Holman of waivers. McDermott takes the 40-man roster spot opened up this week when Holman was claimed off waivers by the Tigers. Now, McDermott will join Eder and McGarry as part of the Oklahoma City Comets pitching staff in Triple-A.
McDermott has 56 days of major league service time and one option year remaining, having used options in 2024 and 2025.
Perez, 20, is a 6’4 right-hander signed out of the Dominican Republic last year. He had a 5.48 ERA in 10 games and 23 innings last year in the Dominican Summer League with in his professional debut, with 32 strikeouts and 13 walks.
