Marlins, Amos Willingham Agree To Minor League Deal

The Marlins and right-hander Amos Willingham have agreed to a minor league contract, per Ari Alexander of 7News. The Gaeta Sports Management client is headed to Triple-A Jacksonville for the time being.

Willingham, 27, has pitched in parts of two big league seasons, both with the division-rival Nationals. He’s been tagged for 20 runs on 37 hits and nine walks with 16 strikeouts in 25 1/3 frames, resulting in a 7.11 earned run average. Nine of those 37 knocks against him have been home runs.

Willingham began the season with the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate. He posted a quality 3.38 ERA in 13 1/3 frames but did so while walking more batters (11) than he struck out (nine). With the Astros organization, he was working at 94 mph with his heater — down from his career average of 95.9 mph in the majors — and had increased the use of his changeup at the expense of his cutter and slider.

Despite the lack of big league success, Willingham has an accomplished track record in Triple-A. He’s pitched parts of four seasons there and carries a career 3.59 ERA with a 22.1% strikeout rate, an 11.3% walk rate and a 43.8% ground-ball rate that’s a bit better than the major league average. He also has a minor league option remaining, so if the Marlins select Willingham’s contract and call him to the majors at any point, they can send him back down to Jacksonville without needing to expose him to waivers.