Milwaukee Brewers sign Jeanmar Gomez to minor league deal

As we continue to wait with bated breath to see whether or not the Milwaukee Brewers will pull off a blockbuster deal this summer, the team has made official yet another depth move in their bullpen. Earlier this week the venerable Jim Goulart of Brewerfan.net reported that the Brewers had inked right-hander Jeanmar Gomez to a minor league deal, and this morning the club formally announced the signing via Twitter.

Gomez, 29, has pitched parts of 8 seasons in the major leagues with the Indians, Pirates, and Phillies. In 273 appearances (46 starts) covering 515.0 innings he owns a 4.39 ERA/4.83 DRA with 5.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, and a 52% ground ball rate. He had a nice run from 2013-15, posting a cumulative 3.19 ERA in 217.1 innings during those three seasons. He served as the closer for the rebuilding Phillies in 2016 and saved 37 games, though that was accompanied by a less-than-stellar 4.85 ERA/4.77 DRA. He lost his hold on that role - and an MLB gig - this season by compiling a 7.25 ERA/5.60 DRA in 22.1 innings before getting DFA’d and subsequently released on June 24th.

Gomez’s fastball velocity was down some 2 miles per hour this season according to Pitch Info data, sitting at 91.5 MPH in the earlier going this season. He also throws a splitter, sinker, and slider. Historically Gomez hasn’t generated many strikeouts, instead heavily relying on inducing ground balls, though his 10.6% swinging-strike rate and 8.5 K/9 this season are both career-best marks. The Brewers will give Gomez a chance to see if he can work things out and get his home run problems (2.8 HR/9) from this season under control while pitching in AAA.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs