The Rays are in settlement with reliever Joey Gerber on a minor league contract, experiences Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Instances. The suitable-hander receives a non-roster invitation to MLB camp.
Gerber, 27, is trying to get to the massive leagues for the primary time in 5 years. The Illinois product debuted with the Mariners throughout the shortened 2020 season. He allowed eight runs (seven earned) throughout 15 2/3 innings. A forearm harm primarily robbed him of the subsequent two years, main the Mariners to launch him halfway by way of the ’22 season. Gerber caught on with the Yankees shortly after being launched by Seattle, however accidents continued to plague him. He missed all of 2023 and spent the primary half of this previous season on the minor league IL.
In late June, Gerber was lastly wholesome sufficient to be reinstated. The Yankees assigned him to Double-A Somerset. He struck out 18 whereas solely permitting three runs throughout 15 1/3 frames. That earned him a bump to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Gerber wasn’t fairly as dominant as he’d been in Double-A. He tossed 14 innings and allowed 10 runs (six earned). He punched out 15 and issued eight walks.
Gerber’s fastball averaged 93.5 MPH throughout his Triple-A piece this yr. That’s in keeping with his velocity from his 2020 debut marketing campaign. He obtained swinging strikes on a stable 13.4% of his choices for Scranton. The arm energy and swing-and-miss had been intriguing sufficient for the Rays to present him a non-roster camp invitation. If Gerber is ready to keep wholesome, he might discover his approach into Kevin Money’s bullpen sooner or later.
