Seattle Mariners Recall Former A's Reliever

Last Trade Deadline, the Athletics made a deal with the Kansas City Royals, sending Lucas Erceg out in exchange for right-handed starter Mason Barnett, righty reliever Will Klein, and outfielder Jared Dickey.

Klein had made his MLB debut with Kansas City on April 28, and just days after the trade, he was in Oakland pitching for the A's. His first two outings against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox went well, as he totaled 1.1 innings of work, one walk and one strikeout.

In his third appearance, Klein got just one out against the New York Mets, surrendering five earned runs on two hits and three walks. The A's optioned him to Triple-A Las Vegas not long after, where he'd pitch another 5.1 innings while holding 5.06 ERA.

In January, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations, which looked to be an interesting addition, since the M's are a pitching factory. They can seemingly turn anyone they target into a late-inning reliever that can work in key situations.

While Klein didn't make the Mariners roster out of camp, they recently recalled him to the 26-man roster, optioning right-hander Gregory Santos. Across seven innings, Santos held a 5.14 ERA with a 2.29 WHIP.

In the minors this season, the 25-year-old Klein has a 12.79 ERA and has been walking 19.4% of the batters he's faced across 6.1 innings of work.

On the bright side, his FIP, which stands at 3.37, believes that he's pitching much better than a reliever with an ERA above ten. He's also striking out 36.1% of the opposition in the early going. That's his highest strikeout rate since he was in High-A back in 2021 when it sat at 40.9%.

So is this move going to work out for the Mariners? Given their track record, of course it will. He'll be working the eighth inning in a matter of weeks.

On a more serious note, he has good stuff, which he showcased in his time in the big-leagues last season. The trouble for him has always been with his location. It he can elicit enough swings and misses, then his location will matter a bit less.

In his most recent outing on April 15, Klein touched 98.6 with his four-seamer, and was sitting at 97.3. That includes a small velocity bump from last season when he averaged 97. His slider was also being thrown a bit harder, seeing a 0.9 mph jump from last season and sitting 87.6 mph. He also mixed in a pair of curveballs.

The big difference, at least in this game, is that he was using his slider 31% of the time, and his curve 13%. Last season in the bigs, those two numbers were essentially reversed, with his four-seamer being used 56% of the time, which has stayed consistent.

In his outing on Tuesday, he earned his first save of the season.