The Mariners announced they’ve designated right-hander Mike Baumann for assignment. The move opens a spot in the bullpen for southpaw Gabe Speier, who is back from the 15-day injured list. Baumman is out of options so Seattle couldn’t send him down without taking him off the 40-man roster.
Seattle acquired Baumann from the Orioles for Triple-A catcher Blake Hunt a couple of months ago. The O’s had designated him for assignment despite a decent 3.44 earned run average at the time, projecting his middling strikeout and walk profile to lead to regression. That has been the case in Seattle as Baumann allowed 11 runs across 16 1/3 innings. He punched out 16 against eight walks while surrendering four home runs. Between the two teams, the former third-round pick now carries a 4.41 ERA over 34 2/3 innings. His 20.8 strikeout percentage, 11 percent walk rate and 1.56 homers per nine are all on the wrong side of league average.
Baumann was a solid piece of Baltimore’s middle relief corps a year ago. The Jacksonville product worked to a 3.76 ERA with an average 22.3 percent strikeout percentage while logging 64 2/3 innings. This season hasn’t gone to plan, but he hasn’t lost any velocity off a fastball that sits north of 96 mph.
Seattle has five days to try to trade Baumann. If the Mariners don’t find a taker, they’ll place him on waivers. Any claiming team would need to install him directly into the big league bullpen. Baumann has never cleared outright waivers and has less than three years of MLB service, so he wouldn’t have the ability to decline an outright assignment if he goes unclaimed.
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