Nationals Sign Kevin Quackenbush

The Nationals have signed right-handed reliever Kevin Quackenbush to a minor league contract, Dan Kolko of MASN tweets. The deal includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Now 31 years old, Quackenbush was a valuable late-game option with the Padres at the outset of his career. Quackenbush amassed 172 1/3 innings of 3.50 ERA/3.63 FIP ball with 8.15 K/9 and 3.13 BB/9 from 2014-16, but it’s been all downhill since then. With the Padres and Reds from 2017-18, Quackenbush combined for an ugly 7.86 ERA/5.82 FIP with 7.86 K/9 and 5.47 BB/9 over 26 1/3 frames.

Quackenbush didn’t pitch in the majors at all last season, instead working at the Triple-A level with the Dodgers’ top affiliate. He also had his fair share of trouble preventing runs there, evidenced by a bloated 5.06 ERA in 58 2/3 innings. To his credit, though, Quackenbush did strike out 13 batters per nine while walking just 2.5.