MLB: Giants sign Venezuelan reliever who allowed five home runs in six innings

The San Francisco Giants they signed the reliever Venezuelan Mauricio Llovera with a minor league contract, according to his transaction log at MLB.com. The right-hander chose minor league free agency at the end of the season after being eliminated from the 40-man roster of the Los Philadelphia Phillies in August, making him eligible to sign a minor league contract during the lockout.

Rookie Llovera’s stay in San Francisco will be his first outside of the Philadelphia organization. The 25-year-old has appeared briefly at the Major League level for the Phils in each of the past two years, adding 7 2/3 combined innings of relief. Llovera was not very successful during his six major league appearances last season, but he averaged a solid 94.5 MPH on his four-seam fastball, although he allowed five home runs in 6 2/3 runs:

The native of El Tigre, Venezuela hasn’t built up much of a history in the majors, but Llovera is coming off a 2021 campaign in which he posted 52 frames at Triple-A in 32 appearances. His 3.46 ERA with the Phillies’ top affiliate in Lehigh Valley was solid, but his strikeout rate of 21.4% and his walking percentage of 10.7% at that level were slightly worse than average.

It may interest you: MLB Giants release veteran outfielder Alex Dickerson

However, the Giants will take a risk-free wheel to see if Llovera can make his way into the bullpen mix in the coming months. He has a year of minor league option left, so San Francisco can take him between the majors and Triple-A Sacramento next season, even if he wins a spot on the 40-man roster.

Rafael Martinez

I am fond of the King of Sports, especially the Boston Red Sox in MLB and in general all of Mexican baseball. This profession has given me the opportunity to cover major events such as the Caribbean Series, the LMB All Star, LMP (uninterrupted since 2009), signings of important players. I had the chance to attend the 2013 World Classic in Arizona, USA, albeit as a fan. Apart from this beautiful sport, I love basketball, where I have also narrated games and even a friendly NBA 10 years ago, but I carry baseball in my veins. Graduated in Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , from which I graduated in 2011. I was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and started in the world of sports journalism in 2004 in the newspaper El Sol de Mazatlán, where I was a baseball columnist and reporter at the same time. In January 2009 I came to El Debate as a journalist reporter and it was almost six years (in the first stage), until in November 2014 I emigrated to the radio providing my services in Línea Directa-Grupo RSN. My cycle there ended in July 2019 and within days, El Debate gave me another opportunity to work and opened the doors for me again. That is how I came to Al Bat, where I have been since 2019 as a web journalist.

see more