The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve signed left-handed reliever Daniel Norris to a minor league contract and invited him to big league camp. The Excel Sports client will vie for a job in the Cincinnati bullpen this spring.
Norris, 29, split the 2021-22 seasons between the Tigers, Brewers and Cubs, struggling to a combined 5.68 ERA through 115 2/3 innings across the three clubs. It’s a far cry from his excellent showing with the Tigers during the shortened 2020 campaign, when he pitched to a 3.25 ERA with a 24.1% strikeout rate against a 6% walk rate through 27 2/3 frames.
Once regarded as one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Norris was the headline piece in the 2015 trade that also sent Matthew Boyd and Jairo Labourt from the Blue Jays to the Tigers in return for then-ace David Price. Norris showed promise at varying points with Detroit — 3.55 ERA in 129 1/3 innings from 2015-16 — but was also slowed by health troubles, most notably including a frightening bout with thyroid cancer.
All told, Norris carries a 4.71 ERA in 569 2/3 innings at the MLB level. He’s punched out 21.6% of his opponents overall but has piled up strikeouts at an above-average 24.8% clip over the past three seasons. Conversely, he has a solid 8.6% walk rate in his career but has seen that mark creep up to 10.7% over the past three years.
The Cincinnati bullpen recently lost one of its most talented relievers, Tejay Antone, for as much as half the season following a flexor strain that required a platelet-rich plasma injection. Alexis Diaz is locked in as the closer, while Lucas Sims and Buck Farmer are virtual locks in the setup corps. At the moment, Reiver Sanmartin is the lone lefty reliever on the 40-man roster, but he’s coming off 57 innings with a 6.32 ERA, a poor 18.4% strikeout rate and a bloated 11.3% walk rate. Sanmartin was solid against lefties but walked nearly as many righties (12.1%) as he struck out (12.9%) while yielding a jarring .324/.404/.529 slash against them.
Norris will join Alex Young as one of two veteran non-roster lefties vying for a spot in manager David Bell’s bullpen, so he ought to have a decent chance at winning a job if he pitches well this spring.