Right-handed reliever Drew Steckenrider is in camp with the Athletics as a non-roster invitee to spring training, tweets Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Athletics Farm first tweeted the news a couple days ago.
Steckenrider, 32, has spent the past two seasons with the Mariners, thriving as a key member of the bullpen in 2021 but struggling in 2022 to the extent that he was outrighted from the team’s 40-man roster. The 2021 campaign saw Steckenrider pitch to a pristine 2.00 ERA, albeit with below-average strikeout, swinging-strike and ground-ball rates of 21.7%, 8.6% and 37.4%, respectively. He offset some of those flaws with a sharp 6.4% walk rate, but Steckenrider also benefited from a .257 average on balls in play and a tiny 6.6% homer-to-flyball rate — both well south of his career marks. Add in an alarming opponents’ average exit velocity of 90.7 mph, and some regression looked inevitable.
However, the magnitude of that regression nevertheless was still rather surprising. Steckenrider was rocked for nine runs on 21 hits and five walks in just 14 1/3 innings at the big league level. The resulting 5.65 ERA led the Mariners to option Steckenrider in late May and, perhaps more surprisingly, designate him for assignment the following month when the team needed a 40-man roster spot. Steckenrider’s $3.1MM salary understandably passed through waivers unclaimed, but the Mariners never game him another look down the stretch, thanks in part to a deep and talented relief corps that posted a combined 3.16 ERA in the season’s second half.
Had Steckenrider returned to form in Triple-A, perhaps he might’ve still garnered another look back in the big leagues. However, the veteran righty yielded a tepid 4.62 ERA in 25 1/3 frames. Even if one wanted to chalk some of that up to the excessively hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League, Steckenrider posted an uncharacteristic 13.8% walk rate in his time at Tacoma, which couldn’t have inspired much confidence that he’d rebound with a return to the big leagues.
Rocky as last season was, Steckenrider comes to the A’s as a 32-year-old with a career 3.27 ERA in 195 2/3 innings at the big league level. His strikeout rate has consistently declined from his early days with the Marlins — he punched out a gaudy 35.8% of opponents in 34 2/3 innings as a rookie — but his command has also steadily improved.
Oakland’s bullpen is teeming with uncertainty, giving Steckenrider ample opportunity to seize a spot. Trevor May, signed to a one-year $7MM contract, is a lock for late-inning work, and the out-of-options Domingo Acevedo is all but assured a spot as well. Beyond that pairing, there’s any number of ways the A’s could proceed. Each of Zach Jackson, Dany Jimenez and Sam Moll could have an inside track based on their 2022 ERAs, but each also posted a bloated walk rate that points to regression — and all three have minor league options remaining, as well.
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