D-backs sign veteran pitchers Matusz and Jepsen to minor league deals
Feb 13, 2017, 8:05 AM
On the day the Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitchers and catchers report to spring training, general manager Mike Hazen is still making moves.
The club signed pitchers Brian Matusz and Kevin Jepsen to minor league deals.
Matusz, 30, is a left-hander who played his prep ball at St. Mary’s High in Phoenix before becoming a first-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in 2008. Matusz spent seven-plus years with the Orioles before being traded to the Atlanta Braves last May. The Braves released him eight days later and he was snapped up by the Chicago Cubs.
He saw action in eight games total in 2016 and posted a 14.00 ERA in nine innings of work. For his career Matusz is 27-41 with a 4.92 ERA in 280 games (69 starts). He has 462 strikeouts, 204 walks and a 1.458 WHIP.
Jepsen is a 32-year-old right-hander who also split 2016 between two teams. In 58 games with the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays, he went 2-6 with a 5.98 ERA in 49.2 innings. Jepsen was a mainstay in the Angels’ bullpen from 2009 to 2014, pitching in 315 games in that span and posting a 13-18 record with a 3.94 ERA.
He led the American League with 75 appearances in 2015.
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