Marlins add versatile pitcher Detwiler
The Miami Marlins opened the new year by adding a new pitcher to their roster.
The Marlins are signing veteran left-handed pitcher Ross Detwiler to a oneyear deal, a source confirmed Friday night. The deal, first reported by Sports Grid’s Craig Mish, is pending a physical. A corresponding move will have to be made once the deal is official because the Marlins already have a full 40-man roster.
Detwiler, 34, has bounced between starting and throwing out of the bullpen. The No. 6 overall pick in the 2007 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals, Detwiler has made 224 career MLB appearances over a dozen MLB seasons. That includes 95 starts and one complete game back in 2009.
He has a career 4.56 ERA over 673 1⁄ innings, with 415
3 strikeouts against 243 walks. Opponents have hit .283 against him all-time.
Detwiler spent the last two seasons with the Chicago White Sox after opening his career with the Nationals (2007-14) and also having stops with the Texas Rangers (2015), Atlanta Braves (2015), Cleveland Indians (2016), Oakland Athletics (2016) and Seattle Mariners (2018).
He made 16 appearances in 2020 for the White Sox, posting a 3.20 ERA over 19
2⁄ innings.
3
Detwiler has a five-pitch mix, but the main pitches he relies on have varied by season depending on his role.
In the shortened 2020 season, when he was used exclusively out of the bullpen, he leaned more heavily on his slider than he had at any point in his career. The pitch, which he threw 30.5 percent of the time, averaged 83.2 mph and resulted in swings and misses 34 percent of the time. Detwiler also has two fastballs — a sinker primarily used against lefties and a fourseam fastball primarily used against righties.
His role heading into
2021 is undetermined at this point, but he will mostly likely be part of a bullpen that is once again undergoing an overhaul.
Detwiler could potentially get occasional spot starts with the Marlins potentially placing inning restrictions on their starting pitchers as MLB expands back to a full 162-game season from 2020’s 60-game slate.
— JORDAN MCPHERSON
ETC.
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