The Mets have claimed right-hander Geoff Hartlieb off waivers from the Pirates, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter). Pittsburgh designated the 27-year-old for assignment last weekend.
Hartlieb has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Pirates, totaling 62 innings with an unsightly 6.97 ERA. He’s fanned a below-average 20.7 percent of his opponents against a bloated 14.2 percent walk rate, though his 51.4 percent ground-ball rate is comfortably above-average. The 6’5″ righty relies primarily on a sinker that sits in the 94-95 mph range and a slider that clocks in around 84-85 mph.
While Hartlieb hasn’t had much success in the Majors to this point, he has an outstanding minor league track record. The former 29th-round pick has a 2.82 ERA in parts of six minor league seasons, including a 2.37 mark in 49 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball. He’s also whiffed 31.3 percent of his Triple-A opponents with a much better 9.4 percent walk rate and a massive 64.3 percent grounder rate.
Hartlieb was a starter in his college days at the Division-II Lindenwood University, but he’s worked exclusively as a reliever in pro ball. He has a minor league option remaining beyond the 2021 season, so he gives the Mets some flexibility in the ’pen beyond the current campaign as long as he sticks on the 40-man roster.
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