The Cleveland Indians bolstered their bullpen on Tuesday, trading for St. Louis left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski. In exchange, the Cardinals will receive minor-league shortstop Juan Herrera, according to Tony Lastoria of IndiansBaseballInsider.com.
Marc Rzepczynski traded to Indians
Cleveland was finally able to acquire a left-handed reliever, trading for St. Louis’ Marc Rzepczynski.
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The 27-year-old Rzepczynski will slot into the Indians’ bullpen as a left-handed specialist. He struggled for the Cardinals this season, posting a 7.84 ERA in 11 appearances, but had more success at Triple-A and has fared well against left-handed batters during his MLB career. Rzepczynski posted a 3.07 ERA in Triple-A and limited lefties to a .185 batting average. He’s appeared in 177 MLB games during his career, holding lefties to a triple slash line of .224/.298/.310.
The Indians have been on the market for a left-handed reliever and were previously linked to Javier Lopez and Josh Outman. While Rzepczynski may not be on Lopez and Outman's level, he should help Cleveland's bullpen. The Indians are currently 2-1/2 games back in the the AL Central and just 1/2 game back in the Wild Card race.
The 20-year-old Herrera is hitting .275 in 39 games in Low-A ball. He signed as an international free agent in 2010 and has moved slowly through the Indians system. While not very advanced, Herrera has hit for average during his minor league career. He was not considered to be a top-20 prospect in Cleveland’s minor league system, according to MLB Daily Dish.
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