San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Chris Heston has reportedly been traded to the Seattle Mariners after falling out of favor in the Bay Area.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported the deal after first reporting on word of talks between the two sides. Janie McCauley of the Associated Press (h/t The Press-Democrat) noted the Giants will receive a player to be named later.
It’s been a swift and sudden fall from grace for Heston, who was called up to the Giants during the 2015 season due to injuries suffered by Matt Cain and Jake Peavy.
He developed into a solid option in the middle of the rotation, going 12-11 with a 3.95 ERA and headlined by a no-hitter against the New York Mets:
But the return of Peavy and Cain along with the acquisitions of Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija forced Heston to start the 2016 season as the Giants’ long man out of the bullpen, and it was a role he struggled mightily with.
He pitched just five innings in four appearances, posting a 10.80 ERA while walking six compared to just three strikeouts before he was optioned to Triple-A in April.
He stayed there for the remainder of the season while the Giants called up Albert Suarez and Clayton Blackburn from Triple-A later in the season, per Matt Kawahara of the Sacramento Bee.
It looks as though the Giants’ acquisition of Mark Melancon on Monday accelerated the process of sending Heston out of town.
According to Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News, the Giants needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for the closer, and Heston was the odd man out.
Mariners manager Scott Servais told MLB Network Radio on Wednesday that Seattle was “still looking to add pitching,” especially after the team dealt Taijuan Walker to the Arizona Diamondbacks in November.
His departure left a void in the rotation after Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton for Heston to contend with if he was to be dealt to Seattle while giving him a regular gig as a starter in the majors to build off of that promising 2015 season.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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