The Diamondbacks have signed righty Keyvius Sampson to a minor league deal, and he’s expected to compete for a bullpen role this spring, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets. Sampson is a client of Reynolds Sports Management.
The Reds non-tendered Sampson earlier this month after he posted a 4.35 ERA with 9.6 K/9 but also 6.2 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings in 2016. The 25-year-old Sampson did have success at Triple-A Louisville, though, posting a 1.88 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 62 1/3 innings while both starting and pitching in relief.
Sampson has yet to latch on in two seasons with the Reds and didn’t attract a waiver claim either time he was designated for assignment this year. He is, however, young for a minor league signee with big league experience, and he has never gotten an extended chance, either in the Majors or the minors, to blossom as a reliever rather than as a starter. His fastball has also averaged about 93 MPH in the big leagues.
Good signing by the DBacks, Sampson excelled as a starter in AAA this season, increasing his strikeout rate and slashing his BB rate.
The Reds technically used Sampson as a reliever this year, but as a long reliever who was essentially a starter-without-warning, pitching 39.1 innings in 18 games. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs in a short reliever role, I think he’ll do a lot better.
I was surprised when the Reds finally DFA-d and non-tendered Sampson after he survived several earlier rounds of cuts. I was hoping he’d return to the organization on a similar minor league deal.
He’s a no-risk signing who could prove useful in a new role, and he’s certainly ready to win a spot on opening day, if they have an opening.
Orioles should’ve looked into this but instead are intent on signing older guys who hit 20 dongs to go with 150 strikeouts