The Marlins signed right-hander Bryan Mitchell to a minor league contract last week. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville, where he made his first appearance over the weekend.
Mitchell pitched in the big leagues every year from 2014-18, spending the first four years with the Yankees before logging his most significant seasonal workload (73 innings) with the Padres in 2018. He flashed some intriguing raw stuff but generally struggled from a results perspective, managing a 5.15 ERA/5.20 SIERA across 171 1/3 cumulative innings. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since, bouncing between a few organizations on minor league deals.
The 30-year-old signed a non-roster pact with the Phillies over the offseason. He spent the year with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, tossing 28 1/3 frames of 6.04 ERA ball with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (15.7% and 12.6%, respectively). The Phils released him a couple weeks ago. Mitchell has worked exclusively out of the bullpen this season but has vast starting experience and offers the Marlins a high minors multi-inning relief/swing option for the stretch run.
Buy low, and DFA in a couple weeks
Why buy at all?
I will always remember him for that weekend game against the Orioles when he played first base in extra innings and dropped a popup then caught another to end the inning.
WHY????
He was a bust, bad attitude with fans from day one in San Diego. Bad enough that the Padres took Chase Headcase’s contract just to acquire that useless jerk.
Fools to sign him.
Too much back and forth between starting and the bullpen was he was on the Yankees he never developed into more than a mop up guy