The Padres announced Friday afternoon that they’ve signed left-handed pitcher Ian Krol to a minor league contract. The deal includes an invite to major league spring training.
Krol, 30, joined the free-agent market last November following the Tigers’ decision to outright him from their 40-man roster. After scattering usable results throughout his career and his inclusion in a few notable trades over the years, the former seventh-rounder is now set to join his ninth organization in San Diego. This comes on the heels of an 18-plus-inning run out of Detroit’s bullpen where Krol contributed a useful 4.34 ERA, albeit with opposing hitters batting .303/.365/.474 off him in that limited showing.
The Padres will look to coax a sharper performance out of Krol in the next few weeks at major league camp. Given the left-hander’s general excellence in the minors, it’s not out of the question that he can build off of last year’s performance. It would certainly behoove San Diego if he did, as the team is currently projected (per RosterResource) to start the season with only one healthy, established lefty in the bullpen — Tim Hill.
Krol hasn’t exactly mystified left-handed hitters in his career, but their collective OPS is more than 70 points lower than right-handed hitters’ OPS against the pitcher. If the veteran can crack the club’s Opening Day roster it will provide manager Bob Melvin a wider variety of tools to use out of a bullpen that was a top-five run-prevention unit last season.
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