You didn’t think Doug Melvin was done making moves just because he has his 25-man roster set, did you?
According to ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, the Brewers plucked a former Mets reliever off waivers Thursday:
Source: Josh Stinson claimed by Milwaukee Brewers.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) April 4, 2012
Stinson is a tall (6’4″) 24-year-old right-hander who was a 37th-round pick out of high school in 2006. He’s bounced between a starting and relieving role during his six-year minor league career, but odds are the Brewers see him as a reliever.
A look at his minor league numbers to this point don’t give you a lot of reason to expect much from him — he’s only struck out 6 batters per 9 innings for his career, and that K/9 dropped to 5.3 at Triple-A Buffalo. He’s also walking 3.4 batters per 9, and that BB/9 rose to 4.1 at Buffalo.
The limited PITCH f/x data from his 2011 September call-up paints him as a fastball-slider pitcher, using his 93-mph four-seamer 64.4% of the time and 86-mph slider 28% of the time that year. He also throws a curveball in the upper 70s and a changeup in the mid-80s, although he very rarely used the change in 2011.
In all reality, he won’t be much more than minor league bullpen fodder, but it’s never a bad idea to stockpile relief arms in the minors. With the Nashville pitching staff looking pretty stacked, Stinson’s first assignment isn’t that much of a surprise:
Stinson will start the year in the Double-A bullpen, GM Doug Melvin said. And as @Mass_Haas said, he’ll have an option remaining for ’13.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 4, 2012
He’ll have to go on the 40-man roster, but at least he does have an option left for next year.
Come on, Jaymes, “minor league bullpen fodder”. Is that any way to welcome a new member of the team? Good luck on improving your stuff, Josh, and hope you enjoy pitching in the Brewers organization.