Tag: AL West

Diaz Sets Record with 50th Career Strikeout in Just 25.1 Innings

Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Edwin Diaz has reached 50 career strikeouts faster than any major leaguer since at least 1893, needing just 25.1 innings to reach the mark, which he accomplished during Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

Recently promoted to the closer’s role, the 22-year-old Diaz picked up his first save Tuesday night, striking out three of the four batters he faced to finish out a come-from-behind victory after the Mariners rallied from a 4-0 deficit with a five-run eighth inning.

The Puerto Rican rookie right-hander has quickly established himself as one of baseball’s most dominant relievers, now boasting a 1.73 ERA and 1.27 WHIP with 52 strikeouts (and just eight walks) in 26 innings.

Diaz has struck out a whopping 46 percent of the batters he has faced, which ranks tops in MLB among all pitchers who have thrown 20 or more innings, though New York Yankees relief pitcher Dellin Betances (44.3 percent) and Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Andrew Miller (44.3) aren’t too far behind—with both having already topped the 45-inning mark this season.

Just as encouraging as his robust season-long numbers, Diaz has now gone 10 straight appearances without allowing a run, striking out 20 of the 37 batters (54.1 percent) he’s faced while allowing just seven hits and two walks over that span.

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Cano Becomes 4th Player with 50 Extra-Base Hits in Each of 1st 12 Years

Seattle Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano mashed his 50th extra-base hit of the season in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox, per MLB Stat of the Day. He joins Carlos Lee, Albert Pujols and Eddie Mathews as one of just four players in major league history to begin his career with 12 straight seasons of 50 or more extra-base hits.

Even better, Cano’s milestone hit came at the perfect time. His three-run, no-doubt homer to right-center field capped off a five-run eighth inning that propelled the Mariners to a come-from-behind 5-4 victory against a team they may end up battling for a wild-card spot.

Cano’s 24 homers this season already represent his best total through three years in Seattle. And he’s now on pace to hit 37 for the year, which would top his previous career-high mark of 33, set in 2012 during his second-to-last season with the New York Yankees.

He also has 25 doubles and a triple, putting him on pace to finish with 78 extra-base hits, which would be his best total since he had 82 in 2012.

It certainly helps that the 33-year-old second baseman has yet to miss a game, allowing him to rank eighth in the American League in plate appearances (468) and fifth in at-bats (426) entering Wednesday’s action.

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Rangers Shake Up AL Pennant Chase with Carlos Beltran, Jonathan Lucroy Haul

Major League Baseball’s 2016 trade deadline passed with a veritable bang. Deals were being made left and right, and many included big names.

In no place, however, was the noise louder than in Texas.

The Texas Rangers approached the deadline sitting pretty with a six-game lead over the Houston Astros in the AL West. But rather than be content with a straight shot at a division title, they declared their lust for the franchise’s first World Series title with a pair of deadline deals:

  1. Acquired OF/DH Carlos Beltran from the New York Yankees for minor league RHPs Dillon Tate, Eric Swanson and Nick Green.
  2. Acquired C Jonathan Lucroy and RHP Jeremy Jeffress from the Milwaukee Brewers for minor league OF Lewis Brinson and RHP Luis Ortiz.

Before anyone asks, yes, the Lucroy trade is official. It’s natural to have doubts after he used his no-trade clause to nix a deal to the Cleveland Indians over the weekend, but the man himself announced he’s happy to be on his way to Arlington:

While we’re on the topic of doubts, it’s also fair to feel wary at the amount the Rangers gave up to do these deals. Tate has struggled in 2016, but he was Texas’ No. 4 pick in the 2015 draft. Brinson and Ortiz, meanwhile, were rated by MLB.com as the Rangers’ No. 2 and No. 3 prospects, respectively.

But in times like these, the words of MLB Network’s Tom Verducci (via Dan Kolko of MASN Sports) must be heeded: “The idea is to win the last game of the World Series, not to brag about your farm system.”

There’s no question the Rangers had a shot at winning the World Series even before their flurry of deadline activity. But there’s also no question said shot looks a lot better after the fact, in no small part because their lineup is legitimately formidable.

The Rangers entered Monday ranked third in the American League in runs scored, but only seventh in OPS. They’re not short on good hitters, but Ian Desmond was their only regular with an OPS over .800.

Not anymore.

Beltran joins the Rangers with an .890 OPS and 22 home runs. Lucroy comes with an .841 OPS and 13 home runs. What’s more, they fit into spots where the Rangers needed help the most:

For his part, Lucroy could also influence the Rangers’ run prevention. 

One thing Rangers catchers have struggled with in 2016 is framing strikes. StatCorner.com’s metrics claim Bobby Wilson, Robinson Chirinos, Bryan Holaday and Brett Nicholas have combined for minus-10.9 framing runs above average. Lucroy has resided on the opposite side of the spectrum, accounting for 5.5 framing runs.

Assuming he can carry that over, that’ll be a boost to a Rangers starting rotation that, led by Cy Young contender Cole Hamels and strikeout fiend Yu Darvish, is already fifth in the American League with a 4.15 ERA. Lucroy’s framing would also help the bullpen, of course. 

But not as much as the other guy the Rangers got from the Brewers.

Although Jeffress isn’t a big-name reliever, he’s done nothing but dominate since the Brewers picked him up off the scrapheap in 2014. In 158 outings with the Brewers, he put up a 2.38 ERA in 151.1 innings.

It’s not that Jeffress is unhittable. He’s averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings in his career, which isn’t great in this time of high-octane relievers. The trade-off is that Jeffress is hard to hit well. His career ground-ball rate is 57.5 percent. And per Baseball Savant, his average exit velocity of 84.4 miles per hour is the lowest in MLB this season.

This makes Jeffress the second savvy relief pickup Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has made in less than a week. Lucas Harrell may have been the headliner in last week’s trade with the Atlanta Braves, but Dario Alvarez could prove to be the key piece. In light of his ability to miss bats, Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs sees Alvarez as a potential relief ace.

There should be better days ahead for a Rangers bullpen that’s struggled to the tune of a 4.78 ERA. With Jeffress and Alvarez joining Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman, Tony Barnette and Matt Bush, Texas skipper Jeff Banister has quite a few options to help shorten games.

How good are the Rangers now? According to Yahoo Sports writer/smart person Jeff Passan, arguably the best of all AL clubs:

Baseball’s great and all-powerful sphere of numbers isn’t too sure about that. Per Baseball Prospectus, the Rangers began the day with a 5.5 percent chance of winning the World Series. That’s compared to 17.9 percent for the Cleveland Indians, who’ve added the monstrous Andrew Miller to a pitching staff that was already loaded.

However, there’s no disputing the Rangers are indeed “damn good.” They now have a lineup that can hit (and field), and it’s backed by a quality starting rotation and a deeper bullpen. These things should make them a shoo-in to finish off their pursuit of a second straight AL West title. After that, they’ll be a good bet to play deep into October.

That didn’t go so well in 2010 and 2011. But in 2016, maybe the third time will be the charm.

 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. 

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Jonathan Lucroy to Rangers: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

The Milwaukee Brewers traded catcher Jonathan Lucroy after all.

Milwaukee moved Lucroy to the Texas Rangers along with pitcher Jeremy Jeffress ahead of Monday’s MLB trade deadline, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reported Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz would be heading to the Brewers in exchange for Lucroy and Jeffress.

Lucroy commented on his departure from Milwaukee and move to Texas on his Twitter account after being informed of the trade:

This comes after the Brewers already tried to trade the catcher to the Cleveland Indians before the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports initially reported on the prospective deal and said Milwaukee would have gotten four players in return for Lucroy.

While Lucroy would have moved from the Brewers to the AL Central-leading Indians in the deal, the catcher used his no-trade clause to prevent it from happening, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Lucroy wanted the Indians to get rid of the 2017 club option on his contract. Once Cleveland declined, Lucroy vetoed the deal and remained on the Brewers until Monday’s trade.

Cleveland’s loss was Texas’ eventual gain, as Lucroy is one of the better offensive catchers in the league. He was named to the National League All-Star team for the second time in his career this season (he was also an All-Star in 2014) and currently sports a .299 batting average with 13 home runs and 50 RBI.

This year has been a bounce-back effort from his 2015 season, when he slashed .264/.326/.391 with seven home runs and 43 RBI. Injuries held the catcher back last year, and he appeared in only 105 games as the Brewers struggled on their way to a fourth-place finish.

Fortunately for Lucroy’s new team, his 2015 effort appears to be an anomaly. He has demonstrated solid power numbers and the ability to hit for average from the catcher position on a consistent basis:

Lucroy is also a steadying presence behind the plate. He rated as a plus-10 in defensive runs saved in 2014, per FanGraphs, and brings veteran experience and the capability of handling a pitching staff regularly.

The Lucroy trade was the second in a big day for the AL West-leading Rangers. Prior to sealing the deal for Lucroy, Texas announced it had acquired outfielder Carlos Beltran from the New York Yankees.

The Brewers are looking up at the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central and don’t have any realistic hope of contending for a playoff spot this season. Trading Lucroy accelerates their rebuild as they eye the future with a farm system that Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com ranked as the 11th-best in baseball before the 2016 season.

Milwaukee lost an All-Star catcher Monday, but it can at least take solace in its talented crop of young players becoming even more formidable with this trade.

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Carlos Beltran to Rangers: Latest Trade Details, Comments, Reaction

With their season slipping away, the New York Yankees have traded All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran to the Texas Rangers.   

The Rangers announced that they have acquired Beltran and cash in exchange for Dillon Tate, Erik Swanson and Nick Green. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports first reported the trade.

Beltran has been one of the few bright spots for the Yankees in 2016. The 39-year-old was named to his first All-Star team in three years thanks to leading the team in home runs (22), doubles (21), RBI (64) and slugging percentage (.546). 

The Yankees had to make a decision about where they were headed down the stretch this season, with Beltran being a perfect test case. 

Wallace Matthews of ESPN.com reported after the All-Star break that people within the Yankees front office were divided on what path to take:

According to a baseball source who spoke to ESPN on condition of anonymity, the opposing factions are composed of the baseball operations people, led by general manager Brian Cashman, who believe the team should sell off its assets and plan for the future, and the business side, which is led by owner Hal Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine, who hold to the belief that the club is still in contention.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports later reported that even though there was “nothing certain,” the Yankees would “take offers for both [Beltran] and [Aroldis] Chapman if they [fell] out.” They already dealt Chapman to the Chicago Cubs last week.

Ultimately, Cashman’s side won out. It’s also the right decision for the franchise at this moment. The Yankees have plenty of contracts that aren’t movable, such as Mark Teixeira’s, CC Sabathia’s, Jacoby Ellsbury’s and Alex Rodriguez‘s. 

Beltran is making a reasonable $15 million salary this season, especially given his offensive production, and was likely to net a good return. 

The Yankees will get more salary relief this offseason when Teixeira becomes a free agent. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the team will have $95 million coming off the books in 2017. That may not include Sabathia’s $25 million salary for his vesting option, but at least the team is going to have more money to work with soon. 

Beltran may be nearing the end of his career, but he doesn’t play like someone who is 39 years old. He’s a tremendous hitter for average and still providing plenty of pop to be a great asset for the Rangers’ playoff push.

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Rougned Odor Reaches 20 Home Runs for 1st Time in 3-Year Career

Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor hit his 20th and 21st home runs of his year in Friday’s 8-3 win over the Kansas City Royals, reaching the 20-homer barrier for the first time in his three MLB seasons.

He had just nine homers in 386 at-bats as a rookie in 2014 but improved to 16 (in 426 at-bats) last season, with 12 of those coming after the All-Star break.

The 22-year-old has built on last year’s strong finish for a true breakout campaign in 2016, and he is on pace for 33 home runs, 84 RBI and 100 runs in 608 at-bats.

Also boasting a .282 batting average and .508 slugging percentage, Odor’s only weakness has been his inability to draw walks, with just nine in 96 games limiting his on-base percentage to .301.

He was frequently used as the team’s lead-off hitter early in the year, but the Rangers have wisely deployed him from the 5-, 6- and 7-slots over the past couple months, which makes far more sense for a player with Odor’s unusual high-slugging, low-OBP profile.

In any case, Odor has repeated the feats of Ian Kinsler and Alfonso Soriano to become one of only three batters in franchise history to record 20 or more home runs in a season while primarily playing second base, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Kinsler accomplished the feat three times in eight years with the Rangers, topping out at 32 in 2011. Soriano did it twice in just two seasons with the franchise, including a 36-homer campaign in 2005.

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In a Wide-Open AL Cy Young Race, Why Not Cole Hamels?

Cole Hamels never really came close to winning a Cy Young Award when he was in the National League. He placed in the voting four times, but never higher than fifth. The competition was just too good.

So, maybe being in the American League and part of a race with too much competition is just the ticket he needs.

Hamels is taking care of his own business in his first full season with the Texas Rangers. The 32-year-old left-hander entered his Thursday assignment against the Kansas City Royals with an 11-2 record and a 2.87 ERA. He then improved on both marks in a 3-2 win, pitching eight innings of two-run ball with six hits, a walk and a season-high 12 strikeouts.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, the highlights:

The Rangers have gotten a full season’s worth of starts from Hamels since acquiring him from the Philadelphia Phillies on deadline day last year. He’s gone 19-3 with a 3.15 ERA in 217 innings. This is otherwise known as pretty good ROI.

Meanwhile, Hamels is as good a bet as anyone to win the AL Cy Young if he keeps this up.

Records aren’t all the rage anymore, but he’ll draw a crowd if he stays on a pace for 20 wins. His 2.84 ERA, which is second only to Aaron Sanchez’s (2.72) among AL starters, will too. With 133.1 innings, Hamels is also in the top 10 of the AL in innings pitched.

If he’s sounding like a top Cy Young candidate, that’s because he is. This according to years of experience talking about such things, and also to ESPN.com’s Cy Young predictor. It’s tough to explain—the short version is that it’s a doohickey that runs on thingamajiggery—but it has Hamels marked as one of the top five contenders for the award.

If you’re looking for some kind of proclamation for Hamels as the man to beat, look elsewhere. This year’s AL Cy Young race has no such thing.

In fact, it’s hard to even call it a race. To borrow a line from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, it’s less a race and more an endurance contest: a battle between evenly matched contenders in which the last man standing will win.

The Cy Young predictor makes that clear, showing Hamels in a thick bundle of well-qualified AL starters that also includes Sanchez, Chris Tillman, Chris Sale, Danny Salazar and, surprisingly, Zach Britton.

The wins above replacement leaderboard, a necessary go-to when discussing any awards race, doesn’t clear things up. At Baseball-Reference.com, which keeps things simple with a WAR formula that focuses on runs allowed and innings pitched, the top of the leaderboard looked like this at the start of play Thursday:

That’s a large number of good pitchers packed into a not-large amount of space. Hamels is going to get a boost from his Thursday performance, but it won’t be enough to put him clearly ahead of the rest of the pack.

With two months of baseball left, there’s hardly a guarantee the AL Cy Young “race” will stay this closely bunched. But even if the number of contenders is cut in half by the end, the voters will still have a pickle on their hands. And to solve this particular pickle, they’d have to get nerdy.

And for now, that’s where Hamels’ case gets tricky.

Although his surface numbers are strong, David Schoenfield of ESPN.com is right in pointing out Hamels has weak peripherals. He’s only ninth in the American League in strikeout rate (8.9 per nine innings) and in the bottom seven of the league in walk rate (3.4 per nine innings). 

Hamels isn’t knocking down any doors with his quality of contact allowed either. According to Baseball Savant, he entered Thursday allowing an average of 87.8 miles per hour on batted balls. Solid, but not near the top of the leaderboard. He is also allowing 1.15 home runs per nine innings.

This could mean Hamels is getting lucky, and that in turn could mean a regression in the final two months of the season. That would more than likely knock him out of the AL Cy Young race.

Or, it could mean Hamels is outpacing his peripherals in invisible ways. That hasn’t been his style in the past, but it’s not fair to compare his past self to his current self. His past self was a fastball-changeup guy. Brooks Baseball can show his current self is something else:

Hamels is now a fastball-cutter pitcher who also shows a sinker, changeup and curveball. That’s an unpredictable pitcher, which is precisely what he strives to be.

“It’s a matter of figuring it out and trying not to be predictable,” he said of making adjustments to Eno Sarris of FanGraphs last month.

Hamels may be at his most unpredictable when he absolutely needs to be. Compared to when nobody is on, it helps that his strikeout rate, walk rate and exit velocity are all better when runners are on base:

Because few things explain Hamels’ success like the fact he’s stranding runners at the highest rate in the league, him keeping this up will be a crucial part of his chase for his first Cy Young.

The odds are he won’t be an easy choice for the award even if he pulls it off. There’s still likely to be a crowd of good candidates, some of whom will have better peripherals than him.

But any time a guy can get to the end of the season with a sparkling record, low ERA and high innings count, he has a shot. And for Hamels, this is probably the best shot at the award he’s had yet.

 

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Prince Fielder Injury Update: Rangers 1B to Undergo Season-Ending Neck Surgery

Texas Rangers first baseman and designated hitter Prince Fielder will undergo a neck operation on Friday that will end his 2016 season.

Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram reported on Wednesday that Fielder is slated for fusion surgery.

Fielder appeared in 89 games this season, posting a slash line of .212/.292/.334 with eight home runs and 44 RBI.

The Star-Telegram‘s Stefan Stevenson reported last Wednesday that Fielder had herniation in his neck near the area where he had a fusion operation in May 2014.

Fielder, 32, is a six-time All-Star and one of the most dangerous power hitters in baseball when he’s healthy. Unfortunately, he appeared to be fighting through pain all year long, which was also limiting his productivity at the plate.

Although Texas has alternatives to turn to in Fielder’s absence, hopes of him returning to his prime form have taken a considerable hit, if not his career outlook. Due to make $24 million in each of the next four seasons, per Spotrac, Fielder has his work cut out to live up to that price tag.

Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, catcher Bryan Holaday and starting pitchers Derek Holland and Colby Lewis are among the key Rangers who are on the disabled list, via RosterResource.com.

The club’s once-commanding lead in the American League West has shrunk in July, putting all the more pressure on others to step up.

Fielder’s leadership and gregarious personality will also be missed in the clubhouse with his season being cut short. Jurickson Profar has played multiple games at every infield position for Texas in 2016, though, and has served as DH as well.

Joey Gallo just made his 2016 debut on Tuesday and had a solo homer against the Oakland Athletics, which bodes well for his future as he figures to fill in at first base.

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Will Joey Gallo Finally Seize Opportunity to Showcase Freakish Power in MLB?

Joey Gallo is very good at hitting the ball over the fence. In fact, he did it Tuesday in his first game since the Texas Rangers recalled him. 

It came in the fifth inning of the Rangers’ 6-3 loss to the Oakland A’s. Like most Gallo blasts, it was impressive—a no-doubt drive to left-center field off Oakland starter Sonny Gray that might as well have lit up the scoreboard the moment it touched his bat.

Now, the question becomes: Can the 22-year-old showcase his prodigious pop frequently enough to stick in The Show and help the Rangers win a second consecutive American League West title?

Gallo, a Texas first-round pick in 2012, made his MLB debut last season. He showed flashes, hitting six home runs in 36 games, including one that traveled an estimated “true distance” of 471 feet, according to ESPN’s Home Run Tracker, which tied him for the 13th-longest homer of the season.

At the same time, Gallo fell victim to his Kryptonite, striking out 57 times in 123 plate appearances. He was sent down in late June and didn’t get another taste of the big leagues until September. 

Now, after posting a .939 OPS with 19 homers in 70 games with the Round Rock Express, Gallo is back in Arlington.

Texas threw him straight into the fire, giving him a start at first base against Oakland and slotting him sixth in the order. 

The Rangers are far from anemic offensively. They rank among the top five in the AL in hits and runs scored.

But with the loss of veteran Prince Fielder to a season-ending neck injury and outfielder Shin-Soo Choo to lower-back inflammation, there are ample opportunities for Gallo to fill in.

The left-handed slugger has seen time in the minors at first, third and both the corner outfield slots, so he gives manager Jeff Banister flexibility.

He matters for this season, obviously, as the 58-43 Rangers try to maintain their 3.5-game lead over the Houston Astros.

But he’s also part of an impressive young core of hitters that includes outfielder Nomar Mazara, second baseman Rougned Odor and infielder Jurickson Profar, as Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan opined:

Speaking of which, it’s possible Texas could move Gallo from a position of strength before the trade deadline.

On July 17, Passan reported the Rangers might be willing to part with Gallo to acquire one of the Tampa Bay Rays‘ controllable starters, such as Chris Archer or Jake Odorizzi. And ESPN The Magazine‘s Buster Olney noted on July 20 that some rival evaluators believe Texas is open to moving Gallo for the right price.

The return, undoubtedly, would need to be massive—likely an ace-level arm to pair with Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish and shore up a wobbly rotation that general manager Jeff Daniels called the team’s top priority, per Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The point is, Gallo is not untouchable.

As long as he’s in a Rangers uniform, however, the idea is for him to change games with that head-turning pop. 

Gallo remains strikeout-prone, as he proved by whiffing twice Tuesday. But there’s room in today’s MLB for a guy with power who K’s a lot. And Gallo can get on base, as his .371 career minor league OBP attests. 

Mostly, the Rangers need a spark. They’ve gone 7-14 in July and have watched the Lone Star State rival ‘Stros creep too close for comfort. 

When Fielder and Choo landed on the disabled list, the Rangers called up outfielder Delino DeShields and infielder Hanser Alberto. At the time, Daniels said it was about “versatility,” per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

“We did talk about Joey, and if he keeps hitting the way he is, I expect at some point we’ll see him,” Daniels said, per Grant.

Some point has arrived. And it coincides with a scuffling Rangers squad that still has an opportunity to wrestle control of the wide-open Junior Circuit.

Joey Gallo hitting the ball over the fence on a semi-nightly basis would be an excellent start.

And you know what? We’re buying. The kid got a taste last season. While he’s still young, he’s a year older and, presumably, a year wiser.

He’s not going to quit whiffing, just as a zebra can’t change its stripes. But enough homers and walks will make the swings and misses tolerable. 

Maybe it’s the intoxicating effect of that big homer he hit Tuesday. Maybe we’re blinded by the allure of the long ball. But it says here Gallo’s powerand the Rangerswill play deep into October.

 

All statistics current as of July 26 and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com.

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Drew Storen to Mariners: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

The Toronto Blue Jays traded reliever Drew Storen and cash considerations to the Seattle Mariners for another reliever in Joaquin Benoit on Tuesday, according to the Mariners’ official PR Twitter account.

Storen, 28, has had his struggles at times with the Blue Jays this season, going 1-3 with a 6.21 ERA, 1.59 WHIP and 32 strikeouts in 33.1 innings pitched. He’s served primarily as the team’s setup man with Roberto Osuna firmly entrenched as the team’s closer.

Indeed, the past two seasons have been interesting ones for Storen.

After finally being handed the reins to the Washington Nationals closer’s gig for much of last season, Storen responded with 29 saves. But the Nationals traded for Jonathan Papelbon and moved him into the closer’s role, moving Storen back to the ninth inning.

The decision backfired dramatically. Not only did Storen desire to be traded (per James Wagner of the Washington Post) after Papelbon was acquired, but his performance dipped significantly, as he posted an 8.49 ERA in August and a 5.40 ERA in September.

That made his offseason trade to the Blue Jays for outfielder Ben Revere fairly inevitable. It’s a bit more surprising that he’s already been dealt less than a year later, however.

For Seattle, Storen offers the ability to either solidify the closer position—likely his preferred role—or continue to pitch in the setup role in the eighth inning. He’s a veteran arm who has postseason experience and has flashed the ability to be one of the finest relievers in baseball when he’s at his best.

Steve Cishek has done a rather fine job in the closer role for the Mariners, converting 24 of 29 save opportunities with a 2.80 ERA this season.

That means Storen will likely continue to be a setup man as Seattle hopes to bolster its bullpen and climb the American League wild-card standings down the stretch.

Tuesday’s move appears to be a savvy one-on-one swap for the Mariners. They got younger by dealing the 39-year-old Benoit, who’s had struggles of his own with a 5.18 ERA in 2016.

      

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