Baseball

Mariners Sign Eric Stout To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have added some left-handed pitching depth, bringing in Eric Stout on a minor league deal, per Baseball America’s transactions page. The 30-year-old was a free agent after being released from the Cubs’ organization.

Drafted in the 13th round in 2014 by the Royals, Kansas City handed Stout a brief debut in 2018. He was knocked around for six earned runs in just three outings and was released by the organizations not long after. Since then Stout’s largely bounced around the league providing bullpen depth.

Seattle will be the seventh team he’s been employed by, with the Cubs and Pirates the only two beyond the Royals that he’s made it to the big leagues. Those appearances came last year, when Stout pitched a combined 22 1/3 innings across Chicago and Pittsburgh, working to a 5.64 ERA with a 22.7% strikeout rate and a 14.6% walk rate. As is often the case with left-handers, the splits were stark as right-handed hitters torched Stout to the tune of a .359/.477/.623 line, while left-handers were held to a .158/.289/.184 line.

Gabe Speier and Tayler Saucedo are the current left-handers in the Mariners’ bullpen, and while Stout will link up with the team’s Triple-A affiliate, the inevitable churn of a major league bullpen over the course of a long season could see opportunities for Stout to contribute down the line.

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