Blue Jays sign LHP Shawn Morimando to MiLB deal

Shawn Morimando, who was a 19th round pick in 2011, has spent his entire career in the Cleveland Indians organization.

According to a tweet from the Vancouver Canadians PR department, the Blue Jays have gained some pitching depth, signing 25-year old southpaw Shawn Morimando to a minor league deal.

Morimando, a native of Canandaigua, New York, was the opening day starter for the Columbus Clippers, the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate, this year. In five starts since, he’s pitched to an ugly 7.03 ERA in 24.1 frames, striking out 11 and walking 10.

In 4.2 innings in the big leagues, he allowed six earned runs, allowed nine hits and struck out five. His major league appearances came during the 2016 season with the Indians. He has since been up and down between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus.

Despite his recent struggles, Morimando has put together some rather solid seasons in the upper minors. In 2016, split between Akron and Columbus, he pitched 152.1 innings, sporting an ERA of 3.25 and striking 119 while walking just 57. In 2015 with Akron, he pitched to a 3.18 ERA in 158.2 innings, striking out 128 and walking 65.

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Morimando, who confirmed the signing by updating his Twitter bio, was released by the Columbus Clippers on July 1st. For his career, he’s 61-57 in the minors with an ERA of 3.67 in 898.2 innings. In 2016, he was ranked as Cleveland’s 16th best prospect, and in 2015 was ranked as their 12th best prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

Prior to his release, he was on the 7-day DL. He’d been released as a corresponding move for the minor league signing of former Blue Jays Marc Rzepczynski.

As the saying goes, there’s no bad minor league contract. Given the fact that he’s a left-handed starter, and that he’s had some impressive seasons in the upper minors, it’s hard to criticize this rather minor move.

The above factors, combined with the fact that Bisons have recently lost fellow lefty Tim Mayza to the big club, make it easy to see why the Shapiro-led front office is taking a shot on Morimando. It’s also worth noting that while he wasn’t a particularly high draft pick, Morimando was drafted by the Indians while Mark Shapiro was at the helm of the franchise.

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