The St. Louis Cardinals have been quiet as of late after adding three free-agent starting pitchers earlier this offseason.
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak’s only notable addition following his rotation revamp was right-hander Andrew Kittredge, who came over from the Tampa Bay Rays via trade.
Since then, the Cardinals have been in search of a second high-leverage reliever and reportedly found their guy .
“Free-agent reliever Keynan Middleton and the St. Louis Cardinals are in agreement on a contract, pending physical, according to sources familiar with the deal,” FanSided’s Robert Murray reported late Thursday night.
The 30-year-old hurler posted a 3.38 ERA with a 64-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .214 batting average against and a 1.24 WHIP in 50 2/3 innings between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees in what became a career year.
Middleton posted a 133 ERA+ last season — meaning he was 33% better than the league average pitcher — largely in part due to a unique pitch usage strategy.