The Mets have signed right-handed relievers Ben Rowen and Cory Burns to minor league deals. Rowen gets an invite to big league camp while Burns does not.
Rowen, 28, has made 12 total appearances in the major leagues. In those appearances, he has pitched 11.2 innings with a 6.94 ERA, 2.057 WHIP, and a 6.9 K/9. Aside from a brief cup of coffee in the majors, Rowe split time between the Blue Jays and Brewers minor league affiliates.
He made 45 appearances in the minor leagues going 0-4 with a 2.33 ERA, 1.224 WHIP, and a 7.0 K/9 in 58.0 innings. According to Brooks Baseball, the submarining Rowen is a sinker/slider pitcher that throws in the low 80’s.
Rowen has allowed only nine home runs in 415.1 innings and gets a ton of groundballs with his sinker. For his minor league career, Rowen has a 1.85 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and allowed just 309 hits in 384.2 innings.
FanGraphs ranked the top 25 minor league free agent pitchers and Rowen was at #16.
Burns, 29, has made 27 total appearances in the major leagues, but he has not made an appearance in the majors since 2013. In total, he is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA, 1.875 WHIP, and a 7.1 K/9 in 29.1 innings.
Last year, Burns pitched in the Atlantic League going 0-3 with a 2.17 ERA, 1.074 WHIP, and a 10.0 K/9 over 55 appearances. According to Brooks Baseball, Burns mostly relies upon his 90 MPH fastball and a changeup to try to get batters out.
