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Jordan Weems pitches for the Astros in 2025 before signing a last-minute Dodgers deal
The World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers are leaving nothing to chance when it comes to addressing their weaknesses from last season, their bullpen most of all. On Monday, the Dodgers announced a new signing that could add needed depth to their relief corps, which ranked a lowly 21st in ERA among all MLB bullpens last season.
The Dodgers announced that they signed six-year veteran Jordan Weems, who pitched for the Houston Astros last season, to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training, which officially opens on Friday at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona. The announcement appeared on the Dodgers’ official transaction ledger.
Despite appearing in only 144 big league games over six seasons, Weems brings a long and varied depth of experience to the Dodgers’ camp. Drafted in the third round out of Columbus High School in Georgia by the Boston Red Sox in 2011, Weems did not make his major league debut until 2020 with the then-Oakland Athletics.
Weems is a Converted Catcher
There was a reason why he spent nine seasons in the minor leagues. When the Red Sox drafted Weems, he was a catcher, known as an all-defense, no-hit backstop with an outstanding arm.
Weems’ inability to be effective at the plate caused the Red Sox to keep him at the Single-A level — except for 17 games with Double-A Portland in 2015 — until the 2016 season when the Red Sox converted him to a pitcher. But after another three seasons in the minors, Weems elected to become a free agent and was signed by Oakland.
That’s where Weems seemed to find his groove. Receiving an invitation to spring training from the Athletics, he pitched so well that they named him to their Opening Day roster. But of course, there was no Opening Day in 2020. The start of the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When teams finally began play on a truncated, 60-game schedule in July, Weems was kept with the club and got into nine games. In 14 innings he posted a respectable 3.21 ERA and struck out 18 against seven walks.
New Dodgers Pitcher Had Best Years With Washington
Weems could not duplicate his 2020 success in the following season, and on July 3, 2021, Oakland designated the righty reliever for assignment. Two days later, the Arizona Diamondbacks claimed him off the waiver wire.
But Weems was used for just 1 1/3 innings over two games by Arizona, giving up seven earned runs. Not surprisingly, the Diamondbacks let him go as a free agent, and Weems signed with the Washington Nationals.
It was in Washington that Weems saw his best run in the majors. He pitched 136 innings in 124 games over three years, putting together a 5.04 ERA with 135 strikeouts and 64 walks.
Weems Gets Chance to Crack Dodgers Bullpen
Last season, Weems started with the Atlanta Braves organization, but was given his release on May 19. The Astros then signed him and he spent most of the remainder of 2025 with the team’s Sugar Land Space Cowboys Triple-A affiliate — surfacing in Houston for just 4.1 innings over four games, allowing seven runs.
But according to an analysis by Matthew Moreno of SI.com, “Weems has a fastball that averages 95.7 mph and could be the type of pitcher the Dodgers look to make some refinements with.”
The Dodgers must have agreed, making Weems their final new signing before spring training gets underway.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering Japan Pro Baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin
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