The Cleveland Indians signed Tyler Clippard to a minor league contract with a bonus

The veteran will battle for a bullpen role this spring"for making the 25-man roster and additional incentives.In 754 Major League innings the two-time All-Star owns a career 3.16 ERA. While most bullpen arms are expected to enter the game and throw an inning with blistering fastballs and withering off-speed offerings Denny McLain Jersey , Clippard differs in his approach. He ranked in the bottom quarter of all MLB pitchers last season in fastball velocity. Still, he induces weak contact and misses bats as well as many flamethrowers:That Expected Batting Average based on quality of contact (xBA) puts him in the 93rd percentile, and his hard hit % in the 90th, to give some additional context to the statistical sliders generated by Statcast above. This weak contact profile isn’t a fluke; Clippard owns a career BABIP of .242 through last season. According to Brooks Baseball he achieved this primarily with a 4-seam fastball, change-up, splitter http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-jimenez-jersey , and slider. Toward the end of the 2018 season his 4-seam usage dropped dramatically as he also toyed with a curveball and 2-seamer.With an average of 66 innings pitched per season since 2015, Clippard represents a stable, affordable, moderate-upside addition to the Indians’ bullpen. It isn’t likely that he’ll step up and become a bullpen ace, but he may settle nicely into a setup role. Morning news and notes for Friday, April 5 Kirk Gibson Jersey , 2019"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections NewsAnalysis & EditorialsCleveland Indians prospects & minor leaguesGame RecapsTransactionsMorning news and notesKipnis taking ground balls, heading to Columbus todayNew,67commentsMorning news and notes for Friday, April 5, 2019EDTShareTweetShareShareKipnis taking ground balls, heading to Columbus todayJoe Camporeale-USA TODAY SportsHappy Friday http://www.tigersfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-jimenez-jersey , everyone!Indians 4, Blue Jays 1LGT Recap | MLB Recap | Cleveland.com Recap | Box ScoreTrevor Bauer walked six hitters and threw 117 pitches, but he didn’t allow a hit through 7 innings and may have thrown a no-hitter had it not been for his high pitch count. Leonys Martin (!) and Tyler Naquin (!!!) each picked up a pair of hits AND the team only struck out 7 times (!!!!!).Tribe newsKipnis (calf) ready for rehab assignment | MLBJason Kipnis was at Progressive Field taking ground balls yesterday and he said everything felt good. Now he’ll head to Columbus to start a rehab assignment with the Clippers. Get well soon, Kip.When it comes to the draft, Carlos Santana adds, subtracts for Cleveland Indians | Cleveland.comHow did reacquiring Carlos Santana impact the Indians’ draft pool bonus? Find out here!Around the leagueThe Mets had a day game following a night game Victor Martinez Jersey , but their travel was delayed by a random drug test.Shohei Ohtani feels he may be ready to come back this month.Chris Davis keeps striking out and Baltimore fans keep booing him.Clayton Kershaw took another step on his road to return with a rehab start in Triple-A.Corey Dickerson is on the IL with a strained right shoulder.Troy Tulowitzki is the latest member of the Yankees to hit the IL.