Michael Wacha will earn $2,775,000 in 2017.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- St. Louis' Michael Wacha lost his salary arbitration case Tuesday, as did two other players. Three players emerged as winners.
Milwaukee's Chase Anderson and Arizona's Taijuan Walker were arbitration losers. Tampa Bay's Jake Odorizzi, Houston's Collin McHugh and Toronto's Marcus Stroman won their cases.
Decisions for all six starting pitchers were announced simultaneously. Teams and players have split 12 cases this winter and the sides are on track for 16 hearings, the most since teams won 10 of 16 decisions in 1994.
Wacha was awarded a raise from $539,000 to $2,775,000 by Dennis Archer, Gary Kendellen and Elizabeth Neumeier instead of the $3.2 million he wanted.
Wacha, a 25-year-old right-hander, was 7-7 with a career-high 5.09 ERA last year in 24 starts and three relief appearances, down from 17-7 with a 3.38 ERA in 2015.
St. Louis had not gone to a hearing since beating pitcher Darren Oliver in 1999.
Among the other arbitration losers, Anderson, who had a $520,200 salary last year, was given a $2.45 million salary by Howard Edelman, Mark Burstein and Neumeier rather than his $2.85 million request. Walker received a raise from $528,600 to $2.25 million from Gil Vernon, Robert Herzog and Jeanne Wood instead of the $2.6 million he submitted.
Odorizzi was given a raise from $520,700 to $4.1 million by arbitrators Edna Francis, Margaret Brogan and James Oldham rather than the $3,825,000 figure submitted by the Rays.
McHugh received a hike from $529,000 to $3.85 million from Sylvia Skratek, Neumeier and Andrew Strongin instead of Houston's $3.35 million offer.
Stroman got a boost from $525,900 to $3.4 million from Steven Wolf, Wood and Oldham rather than Toronto's $3.1 million figure.
Oakland outfielder Khris Davis ($5 million), Miami pitcher David Phelps ($4.6 million) and New York Mets infielder Wilmer Flores ($2.2 million) won earlier this month, and Arizona pitcher Shelby Miller ($4.7 million), Boston pitcher Fernando Abad ($2 million) and Baltimore catcher Caleb Joseph ($700,000) lost.
Four relief pitchers remain scheduled for hearings this week: the New York Yankees' Dellin Betances, Baltimore's Brad Brach, the Chicago Cubs' Pedro Strop and Pittsburgh's Tony Watson.
