The Mariners introduced they’ve claimed reliever Jonathan Hernández off waivers from the division-rival Rangers. Seattle designated righty Brett de Geus for task to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The M’s additionally introduced that commerce pickup JT Chargois has joined the staff and can step into the MLB bullpen. Gregory Santos lands on the 15-day injured listing, retroactive to August 1, with biceps irritation.
Hernández, 28, modifications groups for the primary time in his profession. He spent greater than a decade as a member of the Rangers group after signing in January 2013. Hernández reached the massive leagues within the second half of the 2019 season, not lengthy after his twenty third birthday.
The correct-hander had a pair stable seasons to start out his MLB profession. He turned in a 2.90 ERA throughout 31 innings in the course of the shortened 2020 schedule. He misplaced all the following season after present process Tommy John surgical procedure in April ’21. Hernández returned for the second half in 2022 and selecting up the place he’d left off. He tossed 30 1/3 frames of two.97 ERA ball for the stretch run. He picked up 4 saves and 10 holds whereas ending 16 video games as a medium-leverage reliever.
Issues have gone downhill over the previous two seasons. Hernández struggled to a 5.40 earned run common a yr in the past. Texas shuttled him backwards and forwards between Triple-A on a number of events, burning his closing minor league possibility within the course of. That meant the Rangers wanted to maintain him on the MLB roster this season.
Texas gave Hernández loads of runway, affording him 41 innings throughout 26 appearances, however his outcomes didn’t flip round. He allowed a 5.05 ERA with a career-worst 19.9% strikeout proportion and a lofty 14.4% stroll charge. The Rangers pushed him out of their bullpen (and thus off the 40-man roster) on Tuesday with their deadline pickup of Andrew Chafin from the Tigers.
Seattle will attempt to assist Hernández proper the ship. They’ll additionally must maintain him on the massive league roster until they determine to designate him for task themselves. Hernández nonetheless averages practically 97 MPH on his sinker and misses an honest variety of bats together with his slider. That stable uncooked stuff has too typically been undercut by poor command, however there’s minimal value for the M’s in looking. They’re assuming rather less than $400K on his $1.245MM wage for the stretch run. Hernández can be beneath arbitration management for an additional two seasons if he holds his bullpen spot in Seattle.
The Mariners added de Geus to their 40-man roster again in April. He has made 4 huge league appearances, working 3 1/3 frames of one-run ball. Seattle has principally stored the 26-year-old on non-obligatory task to Triple-A Tacoma, the place he has allowed a 6.60 ERA throughout 30 innings within the Pacific Coast League.
de Geus is a former teammate of Hernández with the ’21 Rangers, who plucked him from the Dodgers within the Rule 5 draft. He mixed for 50 innings of seven.56 ERA ball between the Rangers and Diamondbacks that season and didn’t get again to the massive leagues till this yr. Seattle will doubtless put him on waivers this weekend.
As for Santos, the offseason commerce pickup missed a lot of the first half because of a lat pressure. He returned to make six appearances earlier than leaving Wednesday’s look with biceps soreness. He’ll miss not less than the following two weeks, although Ryan Divish of the Seattle Occasions happily tweeted this afternoon that imaging got here again clear.
