The Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to terms on a minor league contract with former Marlins starter Tom Koehler on Wednesday. The right-hander will report to minor-league camp and spend most of the 2019 season continuing rehab from surgery on right shoulder last summer.
Koehler, 32, had a 4.39 ERA in 161 games (133 starts) between 2012-17 for the Marlins and Toronto Blue Jays. He is 36-55 with 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.39 walks and hits per inning in his career. His season-low ERA is 4.08 in 2015.
Koehler, though, put up solid numbers in his first extended MLB stint as a reliever late in 2017 for Toronto: 2.65 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 17 innings. There perhaps is merit for the idea of Koehler excelling as a reliever: his career ERA in innings 1-3 is almost a full run less (3.99-4.94) to innings 4-6.
Koehler did not pitch in 2018 after signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.
