Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports
Trying to find the right veterans to fill its major league roster, the Miami Marlins have signed reliever Michael Wuertz to a minor league deal. The deal with the reliever will include an invitation to spring training in February. However, the Marlins will have to be careful with Wuertz because he is incredibly injury-prone.
Wuertz was injured for the majority of the 2011 season and did not pitch at all in 2012. Prior to his injuries, Wuertz was known as the most underrated setup man in all of baseball. He pitched for the Oakland Athletics in 2011, but was far less successful. With the A’s, Wuertz pitched in 39 games and recorded 6.68 ERA. However, before he started getting hurt, Wuertz had a 2.63 ERA in 2009 with 102 strikeouts.
If the Marlins could somehow get Wuertz back to that kind of form, the team’s bullpen will be somewhat of a strength this season. Wuertz will try to win a job in the Marlins bullpen that already includes a slew of youngsters. The Marlins already have most of their righties set but two of their righties that are scheduled to be in the bullpen are prospects that may not make it.
Wuertz has a good chance of knocking out Tom Koehler or Chris Hatcher out of the bullpen because they are so young, but it is all going to depend on how Wuertz fares in camp and during the exhibition games. It is not 100 percent that he will stay healthy come April.
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