The Brewers have agreed to terms on a minor league contract with veteran righty Ernesto Frieri, reports MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (on Twitter). The former Angels closer will be invited to Major League Spring Training and vie for a spot in the bullpen.
Frieri, 32, did not pitch in the Majors or minors in 2016, but he used the 2017 World Baseball Classic as an audition to return to pro ball in North America. Frieri pitched for his native Colombia in that tournament and showed enough that the Yankees picked him up on a minor league pact. While Frieri didn’t make it to the big leagues in the Bronx, the 3.00 ERA and 24-to-9 K/BB ratio that he logged with their Triple-A affiliate was enough to draw the interest of the Rangers.
Frieri did log seven innings out of the Rangers’ bullpen last season, though that was his lone big league action in 2017. He spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A with the Yanks, Rangers and also the Mariners, pitching to a 3.43 ERA with 11.9 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9.
Overall, Frieri has a lifetime 3.59 ERA in 303 1/3 innings at the Major League level. He’s averaged a healthy 11.5 K/9 in the Majors against 4.2 BB/9 but just a 26.4 percent ground-ball rate. Frieri relies heavily on a four-seam fastball that he’ll often throw up in the zone, generating to plenty of whiffs above the zone and a sky-high 15.5 percent infield-fly rate (one of the best in the Majors over the past decade). However, home runs became an increasing problem for Frieri over the course of his career, as he averaged 1.7 HR/9 from 2012-15 before sitting out the 2016 campaign.
Not expecting him to make he big league club but another low risk/possible moderate reward deal by the Brewers.
the 1 dollar man
Hope he found some semblance of control? If he makes it to the majors and takes the mound against the Diamondbacks, Goldschmidt may refuse to bat against him.
Ernie!!! Good for him, always liked him when he came up with the Padres. Man that was such a good bullpen in 2011.
Closer- Heath Bell
Setup- Mike Adams
7th inning- Luke Gregerson
MRP- Brad Brach, Chad Qualls, Frieri
LOOGY- Joe Thatcher
Long man- Tim Stauffer
Maybe the best we’ve ever had. Although it wasn’t the prime years for a few of them
Gopher ball specialist. Derek Turnbow like. I mean the Turnbow near the end of is career that continually got behind in the count and had to groove one. Wham!!!
and Wham!!! there goes another on….Wham!!!…..Wham!!!!……Wham!!!!!
Turnblow
Yay! Another cheap bullpen pitcher who struggled last year but has had success in the past. Stearns is a genius. He knows how to build a contender without yankee money