The Marlins and left-hander Cory Luebke are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter). Luebke, a client of Meister Sports Management, was designated for assignment by the Pirates and subsequently released earlier this year.
There were both positives and negatives to be drawn from Luebke’s stint in Pittsburgh. On the one hand, the 31-year-old was able to return to a big league hill for the first time since 2012 after battling through a host of arm injuries, including a pair of UCL tears. On the other, he wasn’t exactly successful in his reincarnation as a reliever.
Over 8 2/3 frames, Luebke allowed 11 earned runs an coughed up 11 walks to go with his nine strikeouts. That’s obviously not a viable pitching line, but the 2016 results haven’t all been bad. He returned to his usual fastball velocity levels (91.6 mph) at the major league level, and was rather dominant over his time at Triple-A. In 18 1/3 innings there, Luebke pitched to a 2.45 ERA with 14.2 K/9 against just 1.5 BB/9.
Just needs more time. Great signing.
He’s 31…
I was hopeful, but he’s gotten killed in nearly every inning that he’s thrown. It could happen, but it’s not looking promising.