Pirates Claim Jhan Marinez Off Waivers

May 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Jhan Marinez (53) pitches during the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
May 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Jhan Marinez (53) pitches during the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Pittsburgh Pirates made a waiver claim on Friday evening

Right-handed relief pitcher Jhan Marinez is now a Pittsburgh Pirate. This is due to the Bucs claiming him off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. He’s previously pitched in the Majors with Milwaukee, as well as the Marlins, White Sox, and Rays.

Jhan Marinez will be added to the Pirates’ 25-man roster on Saturday. This is when a corresponding move will be made. Odds are, Josh Lindblom or Johnny Barbato will be optioned to Triple-A. After pitching 2 1/3 innings in Friday night’s game, Lindblom is my guess for who goes.

So far this season Jhan Marinez had pitched 16 2/3 innings for the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s averaging 7.56 K/9, 1.08 HR/9, and has a strong 57.4 percent ground ball rate. However, he has struggled with his control averaging 5.94 BB/9.

This season Marinez owns a 5.08 FIP and a 4.84 xFIP. However, his .396 BABIP indicates that he has been victimized by bad luck and/or poor defense.

Split between the Brewers and Rays, Marinez had a strong 2016 season. He averaged 7.22 K/9, 3.03 BB/9, 0.58 HR/9, and generated a 50.3 percent groundball rate in 62 1/3 innings pitched. He owned a 3.18 ERA and a 3.68 FIP.

Jhan Marinez has a fastball, slider, changeup mix on the mound. The best of the bunch is his slider. Last season, opposing hitters owned a 17.1 percent swing and miss rate and a wRC+ of 34 against his slider. So far this season, those numbers are 20 percent and -53.

Neal Huntington has a good track record with identifying bullpen arms. Hopefully, Marinez will be the next diamond in the rough find for Huntington.

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Hopefully, Jhan Marinez will help bring some consistency to the Pirate bullpen. Clint Hurdle could use another reliable option out of the bullpen, and Marinez has the stuff to be that guy.