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Kevin Siegrist is earning a spot on the Pirate Opening Day roster
By Marty Leap
Kevin Siegrist is well on his way to earning a spot on the Opening Day roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates
On February 24, the Pittsburgh Pirates and left-handed relief pitcher Kevin Siegrist came to terms on a minor league contract. Even though Siegrist’s deal was of the minor league variety, it was rather obvious that barring a disastrous spring he would make the team out of Spring Training.
Kevin Siegrist brings a ton of experience to the Pirate bullpen. The lefty was a key cog in the bullpen for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 seasons. This included pitching in the postseason in each of those seasons except 2016.
In 2017 Kevin Siegrist split time between the Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies and struggled. Despite averaging 9.84 K/9, he also averaged 5.03 BB/9 and owned a 4.38 FIP. However, a lot of this could be attributed to back issues that he dealt with for most of the season.
After his 2017 struggles Siegrist needed to prove two things this spring. First and foremost, he needed to show the Pirates that he is healthy. Secondly, he needed to show improved control. So far, both of these have happened.
Kevin Siegrist has pitched in three Grapefruit League games for the Pirates thus far. In these three games he has not walked a batter, he has struck out seven, and he has allowed just three hits in three scoreless innings of work.
Now, three innings is, obviously, an extremely small sample size. And to boot, it has been in meaningless Spring Training games. However, Siegrist has still flashed good things for the Pirates thus far. This also extends past his Grapefruit League outings and into his bullpen sessions and the minor league games he has pitched in at Pirate City as well.
Next: Polanco appears primed for a big 2018
Left-handed reliever Kevin Siegrist is well on his way to earning a spot on the Opening Day roster for the Pirates. This is a great thing for the Bucs, as a healthy Siegrist will be a great weapon for Clint Hurdle to have coming out of his bullpen.