Rays' Jake Odorizzi, Cardinals' Michael Wacha go to salary arbitration

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jake Odorizzi of Tampa Bay and Michael Wacha of St. Louis have gone to salary arbitration and are among six first-time eligible starting pitchers who could get decisions Tuesday.

Odorizzi asked arbitrators Edna Francis, Margaret Brogan and James Oldham for a raise from $520,700 to $4.1 million. The Rays argued during Monday's hearing that he should be paid $3,825,000.

Wacha asked arbitrators Dennis Archer, Gary Kendellen and Elizabeth Neumeier for a raise from $539,000 to $3.2 million, and St. Louis advocated for a $2,775,000 salary.

Lawyers for players and teams agreed the panels should withhold decisions for the pair along with cases involving Milwaukee's Chase Anderson, Houston's Collin McHugh, Toronto's Marcus Stroman and Arizona's Taijuan Walker until all had completed hearings.

The sides are on track for 16 hearings, the most since teams won 10 of 16 decisions in 1994.

A right-hander who turns 27 next month, Odorizzi was 10-6 with a 3.69 ERA last year, his third full season with the Rays.

Wacha, a 25-year-old right-hander, was 7-7 with a career-high 5.09 ERA last season 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.

Teams and players have split six decisions: Oakland outfielder Khris Davis ($5 million), Miami pitcher David Phelps ($4.6 million) and New York Mets infielder Wilmer Flores ($2.2 million) won, and Arizona pitcher Shelby Miller ($4.7 million), Boston pitcher Fernando Abad ($2 million) and Baltimore catcher Caleb Joseph ($700,000) lost.

Four players, all 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.