The Yankees and right-hander Geoff Hartlieb are in settlement on a minor league deal, as famous within the transactions tracker on Hartlieb’s MLB.com profile web page. The deal presumably consists of an invitation to massive league Spring Coaching subsequent yr.
Hartlieb, 31 in December, bought his begin in professional ball as a Twenty ninth-round decide by the Pirates within the 2016 draft. The righty made a reasonably speedy ascent up the minor league ladder with the intention to debut with the Pirates through the 2019 season. The then-25-year-old Hartlieb struggled badly in his first style of massive league motion as he surrendered a 9.00 ERA in 35 innings of labor throughout his rookie yr, thanks primarily to a ten.5% stroll fee and a whopping eight dwelling runs surrendered throughout that point. Issues appeared to show round for the right-hander through the shortened 2020 marketing campaign as he settled in on the massive league degree and posted a strong 3.63 ERA in 22 1/3 innings of labor, however a glance below the hood revealed that Hartlieb walked as many hitters (19) as he struck out that yr.
Within the years since then, Hartlieb hasn’t gotten very a lot taking part in time on the massive league degree. He’s appeared within the majors through the 2021, ’23, and ’24 seasons however has mixed for a complete of simply 22 innings throughout that point, posting an 8.59 ERA with a 17.3% strikeout fee in opposition to a 16.4% stroll fee throughout stints with the Pirates, Mets, Marlins, and Rockies. Colorado was his most up-to-date cease, and he surrendered ten runs (9 earned) whereas putting out seven and strolling 4 in 9 innings of labor for the membership this yr earlier than being outrighted off the membership’s roster again in June.
Regardless of his lackluster ends in the majors, the right-hander has regarded strong sufficient at Triple-A all through his profession with a 4.30 ERA and a 24.8% strikeout fee throughout 226 profession innings on the degree. His management leaves one thing to be desired even at that degree, nonetheless, as he’s surrendered free passes to 10% of his Triple-A opponents over time. For a Yankees membership that’s at the moment taking part in within the World Sequence, the addition of Hartlieb is much from an apparent needle-mover. With that being mentioned, nonetheless, the membership’s bullpen has generated usually spectacular outcomes by using gamers like Luke Weaver, Tim Hill, and Ian Hamilton who hadn’t been capable of finding constant success on the massive league degree previous to becoming a member of the membership.
Given the membership’s strong observe report of turning the castoffs of different organizations into high quality massive league contributors lately, it’s straightforward to see why the Yankees may suppose they may flip Hartlieb and his 97.3 mph heater right into a reputable massive league weapon. Unearthing one other hidden gem for the bullpen this winter might be extraordinarily useful for the membership given the upcoming free companies of Hill, Tommy Kahnle, and Clay Holmes. Every of these arms have been a serious a part of the membership’s success this yr, with Holmes particularly serving because the membership’s nearer within the early a part of the season earlier than being changed within the function by Weaver down the stretch.
