Pirates agree with the southpaw Chasen Shreve in a minor league contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link) The deal will guarantee him $ 1.5 million if he gets on the Pittsburgh MLB list, by Passan. The Pirates have already announced the move.
Shreve, 30, is coming out of a decent 2020 season with the Mets, where he pitched for 3.96 ERA / 3.45 SIERA in 25 innings of relief. Impressively, Shreve hit one-third of the hitters he faced, the best career mark that he tied for twenty out of 141 relievers with at least 20 entries thrown. Likewise, Shreve’s 17.1% swing strike rate tied for thirteenth in that group.
It is somewhat surprising that a southpaw with this kind of swing-and-miss ended up settling for a secondary league deal, but Shreve proved to be susceptible to walks and home runs throughout his career. This continued in the last season, as he allowed four home runs (1.44 HR / 9) while walking above the average 11.8% of the opposing hitters.
Despite control problems, it would still be a surprise if Shreve didn’t win a place in the Pittsburgh big league squad after spring training. At the moment, only Austin Davis and Sam Howard fill left-handed positions on the Pittsburgh 40-man list.