Astros designate Jake Buchanan for assignment, add Joe Thatcher to 40-man roster

The Astros have designated pitcher Jake Buchanan for assignment in order to add relief pitcher Joe Thatcher, per the Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich.

Jake Buchanan has been designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Joe Thatcher.

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) September 1, 2015

Buchanan has bounced between the Astros and Triple A Fresno (and Oklahoma City before that) for that past two season. He appeared in 22 games during his major league career, making two starts in 2014. This season, he has mostly been used as a long man -- allowing two runs on five hits over nine innings.

Buchanan is 5-4 with a 4.37 ERA in 29 games with Fresno in 2015.

Joe Thatcher made the Astros roster out of Spring Training as the second lefty in the bullpen with Tony Sipp. He started strong, allowing just two runs over 13 innings in May and June. But struggled in July, opposing hitters were batting .636 against him.

Houston designated Thatcher for assignment on July 21, and released him on July 28. He signed back with the Astros on Aug. 9. During that time, the Astros traded for Oliver Perez -- he has given up four runs over his last two appearances.