The Nationals have signed reliever Carl Edwards Jr . to a minor league contract, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post( on Twitter ). As a minor league free agent, he was still eligible to sign during the ongoing lockout.

Edwards has pitched in the majors in each of the past seven seasons, although he’s only met twelve compounded forms the last two years. The lanky right-hander is best known for his early-career epoches with the Cubs, where current Nationals administrator Dave Martinez made as bench manager. Edwards was a solid contributor to Chicago’s World Series winning club in 2016, then directed over 50 innings of sub-3. 00 ERA ball in each of the following two seasons. Between 2016 -1 8, he affixed a 3.03 ERA in 154 1/3 chassis, striking out an privileged 34.2% of adversaries and hampering smashes to a. 152/.271 /. 250 gash line.

Control was an issue for Edwards even at his best, as he doled out free passes at an hoisted 13.5% time. The saunters spiked even more in 2019( up to 16.7%) and his strikeout and shaking strike paces collapsed that season. The Cubs sold Edwards to the Padres at the deadline, but he immediately shored on the injured list due to a shoulder strain and was eventually cut loose. He signed off by the Mariners that offseason but suffered a season-ending forearm strain after just five jaunts in 2020; Seattle let him go at the end of the year.

Last season, Edwards returned between three companies. He ratified a minors deal with the Braves and became the big league club in May. Atlanta marked him for undertaking after just one day, and Edwards elected free busines upon clearing waivers. He signed off by the Blue Jays and was quickly selected to their MLB roster, but an oblique strain mail him to the injured list after exclusively six competitions. Toronto liberated him rather than raising him back after he recovered. Edwards ratified another minor league deal — this time with the White Sox — late in the season but didn’t get a big league call and reached the open market again at the end of the year.

The past three seasons have obviously been trying, particularly from a health perspective. Yet Edwards had a decent guide of early-career success, and he’s still only 30 year olds. It’s a sensible no-risk booklet for the Nationals, and the South Carolina native should have a decent shot at cracking the big league bullpen if he affects in Spring Training. Washington’s easing contingents was a disaster last year, finishing 29 th in ERA( 5.08) and 25 th in SIERA( 4.32 ). Swingman Paolo Espino is the only returning reliever “whos working” 20+ innings with a SIERA below 4.00 in 2021.

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