Mariners sign Andriese to Major League deal

HOUSTON -- The Mariners have added another innings-eating arm to the mix, signing 30-year-old veteran right-hander Matt Andriese to a Major League contract ahead of their series finale against the Astros on Sunday.

Andriese joined the club at Minute Maid Park and will be worked into low-leverage situations immediately, if game circumstances allow.

The seventh-year veteran was off to a stellar start with Boston before suffering right hamstring tendinitis in July. He limited hitters to a .577 OPS and a 1.42 ERA in nine outings in April then posted 1.090 and 8.39 marks, respectively, in 17 outings from May through July.

“We've seen him at different stops along the way,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “He does have experience. He’s been a starter, been a reliever. He’ll fit in our bullpen. He’s a guy that has a really good changeup. That's kind of been his pitch, and he'll work off of that. And he has done a number of different roles in the bullpen.”

Early on, Andriese proved to be an important cog among Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s relief corps, filling an extremely versatile role that saw him pitch in multiple spots. But he slowly lost his grip on mid- to high-leverage opportunities with his struggles and the emergence of Garrett Whitlock and Josh Taylor. Cora seemingly always had positive things to say about Andriese and didn’t seem to want to give up on him.

Andriese’s extremely high .407 batting average on balls in play this season suggests he may also been hindered by some poor luck.

“I think it's a really good pickup for us,” Servais said. “The fact that he does have experiences -- he's pitched in multiple roles in the past -- will really help us going forward.”

Andriese also has a starter profile, having made 50 career starts over parts of seven seasons in the big leagues, including 38 from 2016-17 with the Rays. For the 2021 season, he has a 6.03 ERA in 37 1/3 innings, and for his career, he has a 4.68 ERA in 209 outings.

For now, Andriese will plug a spot in a Seattle bullpen that could certainly use him. Diego Castillo was placed on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with right shoulder inflammation, and though an MRI he underwent revealed no structural damage -- a far more promising sign than it initially appeared -- he’ll still be out for the minimum number of days.

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“He does have some fatigue in his right shoulder, so he's getting treatment on that,” Servais said. "He’ll take some anti-inflammatories, get his strength back in the shoulder.

"So again, I'm going to stay optimistic on this. He's not going to be out too long. Of course, he's on the 10 day IL, so you won't see him before then. But hopefully, it's not too much more than that. That's what we’ve been led to believe, but we'll just have to wait and see how he responds to it.”

Casey Sadler, who is on the paternity list, should be back for Seattle’s upcoming series in Oakland that begins Monday.

In a corresponding move to add Andriese, right-hander Robert Dugger was designated for assignment. Dugger gave up six runs on six hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings of Saturday’s 15-1 loss, entering in relief of Logan Gilbert after the game was essentially out of reach.