Kendall Graveman

Graveman quickly settled in as Seattle's highest-leveraged reliever, earning five saves and four holds across his first 14 outings before he missed almost a month after a bout with COVID-19. He finally gave up his first earned run of the season on June 12 in his first appearance back from the IL. Graveman was able to maintain a share of the closer role in Seattle until he was traded to Houston, where he was as equally effective in a setup role. The former starter finished the season with five wins, 10 saves and 11 holds over 53 appearances, with pristine ratios (1.77 ERA, 0.98 WHIP). Graveman inked a three-year deal with the White Sox in November and should slot into a setup role. He has the stuff to close, including a 96.6-mph sinker that he threw 63% of the time, but Graveman should still be a valuable high-leverage reliever even if he's not getting saves.

At age 29, Graveman impressed and broke camp with the Mariners, marking his return from 2018 Tommy John surgery. His stint in the Seattle rotation was short lived as Graveman hit the injured list with what was eventually diagnosed as a benign bone tumor in his spine. He was able to bypass surgery (for the time being) and got himself back on track in the bullpen following his return, pitching to a 3.60 and .182 BAA in 10 relief innings. It was enough for the M's to want to bring him back; the team declined his $3.5 million for 2021 but re-signed him days later, and Graveman can earn even more than $3.5 million if he hits all his incentives. That may seem like a long shot given his track record, but Graveman's velocity was way up in relief -- even to 96-97 mph through the final month. He could work his way up the bullpen ladder in a hurry if what he showed in relief is real.

Graveman rattled off four straight quality starts with a combined 2.25 ERA to start 2017, flashing a lethal sinker with tantalizing velocity, but he faded in May and proceeded to miss nearly three months with shoulder inflammation. The right-hander would again tease promise with a 2.14 ERA over his final four starts of September. Perhaps more tinkering can take him to another level, considering he's already one of baseball's best starting pitchers at inducing groundballs (51.2 percent last year) -- unsurprising, considering he threw a sinker more than any other hurler with 100-plus innings. However, he still lags in strikeouts (a sub-average 6.0 K/9 last year) and contact-based profiles hardly gel with poor defenses like the Athletics'. Though he might luck into his first sub-4.00 ERA, anyone rostering him for 2018 should optimally use him as a home stream and tread carefully when expecting anything more.

Graveman, part of the ragtag crew that was brought into the Oakland organization via the Josh Donaldson deal two years ago, finally began to bring some value in 2016, chewing 186 innings of league-average run prevention. The sinkerballer was supposed to keep the ball in the yard, yet in his first 306.1 innings of big league ball Graveman has coughed up 1.1 HR/9 (roughly league average). The strikeout rate was already an issue coming into last season, but it decreased further and his 13.7 percent frequency just doesn't cut it in today's strikeout-laden environment. Oddly, this happened in conjunction with an uptick of velocity on his 60-percent frequency sinker, shooting up from 91.9 mph in 2015 to 93.5 mph last season. He also limited the walks, but the run-prevention numbers remained largely the same despite the improvement in baseline skills, and in the end, what you see is what you get with Graveman: a pitcher who crosses his fingers for a league-average ERA and lacks the upside to appeal to those in standard leagues.

Graveman was one of the young pitchers acquired by the A's from Toronto in the blockbuster Josh Donaldson trade. After earning a job in the rotation to start the year with an exceptional spring, Graveman had a seven-run meltdown in his first Oakland start, but then settled in nicely and sported a 3.16 ERA over his first 13 starts. He tired down the stretch and stumbled in a big way his last eight starts, allowing 25 runs and seven homers in 38.2 innings. Graveman does not profile as a high strikeout guy, as his fastball sits just under 91 mph and he only has a 6.1 K/9 in the majors. He developed a cutter in 2014 that contributed to his rapid rise through the Jays organization, and the A's hope his ability to limit walks and flyballs in the first half of the season will re-surface with an offseason of rest. The A's rotation is wide open heading into 2016, and Graveman could certainly win one of the five slots in spring training.

Graveman began his 2014 campaign at Low-A Lansing, but progressed through three more minor league levels to earn a callup from the Jays during the second half of the season. A big part of his fast move through the system last season has been attributed to Graveman's discovery of a cutter. He started until he reached the big leagues, showing good control (career 5.3 BB%) and inducing an extremely high groundball rate (58.3%) during his ascent through the Toronto system. The A's acquired him as part of the Josh Donaldson blockbuster with Toronto in November. While Graveman initially appeared to be ticketed for bullpen work with the A's, he pitched his way into the back of the rotation after allowing one earned run over 21.2 innings in Cactus League play.