Mariners sign senior right-handed relief Brian Shaw A minor league deal was reached yesterday. The team never officially announced this, but Shaw's signature appeared in the MLB.com transaction log, and the correct match was called last night for Triple-A Tacoma's match.
Shaw returns to the Mariners – who also pitches for Seattle in 2020 – underperforms. He retired only one of five batsmen he faced, allowing the other bats and three walks (one was intentional). The 37-year-old right-hander had previously earned five runs in 1 2/3 innings as the Reds were top member in Louisville and then cut.
Xiao only made four major league innings last year, the fewest single-season total since his debut in MLB in 2011. It's been several years since he was Iron Man's peak in the Cleveland bullpen, but Shaw, a good traveler, had worked in 2023 with White Sox in 2023 as an effective middle reliefist. He dropped 45 2/3 innings that year and recorded a 4.14 ERA with a strikeout rate of 21.1% and a walking rate of 8.9%.
Starting from 2013-17, Shaw is tied for left-handed Tony Watson For 358 2/3 innings MLB leader. During this period, Xiao performed the most in total 378 appearances. He isn't just a rubber arm. In these 358 2/3 innings, Shaw recorded 3.11 ERA and ranked third with 110 holdings (except 9 rogue savings). Since that peak run, he has had more seasons than better seasons. It seems like arguably that Shaw's almost unparalleled workload has hurt his arm, but it's worth noting that he still only appeared on the MLB injury list once throughout his career: three weeks due to a 2018 calf strain with the Rocky Mountains.
