The Mariners have announced the claim of lefty Dean Kiekhefer off waivers from the Cardinals. Seattle now has four open spots remaining on its 40-man roster.
Kiekhefer, 27, debuted last year for the Cardinals, but didn’t impress in his 22 frames. He allowed 13 earned runs with a 14:7 K/BB ratio over that span while averaging just 88 mph with his fastball. Right-handed hitters mashed against the soft-tossing southpaw, though he did limit opposing lefties to a .209/.261/.326 slash. Presumably, Seattle has thoughts of possibly using him in a LOOGY role.
Things do look a lot more promising when you glance at the minor league numbers. Kiekhefer has shown masterful command, permitting just 1.2 walks per nine to fuel a 2.38 ERA through 151 Triple-A innings, though he has never been much of a strikeout pitcher (6.5 K/9 in the highest level of the minors).
Good depth piece for Seattle. Could be a cheap lefty-killer. I doubt he’s anything more than that though.
He is cheap, I wouldn’t call him a lefty killer though.
I’m thinking best case scenario here. Wait, didn’t Zach Duke go down for all of 2017? Why would the Cardinals drop left-handed bullpen options?
Tyler Lyons will be back from injury, so that lessens the damage a bit. Would have wanted Kiekhefer back in Memphis for depth though, he would have been probably the first man up.
Cardinals have too much minor league depth to leave this guy on the 40 man
Because he was not very good and no room for him on the 40 man roster. I saw this one coming but didn’t see the hazelbaker one.