Pirates sign lefty Chasen Shreve, invite him to spring training

PITTSBURGH — The Pirates are bringing another left-handed reliever to spring training to compete for a spot in the bullpen, signing Chasen Shreve to a minor-league deal Sunday.

Shreve, 30, pitched 25 innings over 17 appearances with the Mets last year, recording a 3.96 ERA and 34 strikeouts. He has a 3.74 career ERA over 235 games pitched between the Braves, Yankees, Cardinals and Mets.

He will make $1.5 million if he is added to the roster, per Jeff Passan.

Shreve’s fastball sits in the low-90s, but he makes up for it by getting good movement and about 2,400 RPM of spin. He also has a splitter that gives hitters plenty of trouble, holding batters to a .204 batting average with a 55.1% whiff rate against it. Of his 34 strikeouts, 28 came on his split-finger. He’ll also mix in a slider.

While Shreve gets a lot of whiffs and strikeouts, finishing in the top 10% league wide in both categories last year, he also gives up some hard contact. His 90.8 mph average exit velocity allowed was in the bottom 10% for pitchers last year, according to Baseball Savant.

Read this full article at our partners, DKPittsburghSports.com.

New Jersey brothers kicked off flight to Super Bowl over specialty face masks (NCD)