Mariners re-sign Kendall Graveman to 1-year deal a day after declining club option
Kendall Graveman will be back in a Mariners uniform in 2021.
A day after the club declined to pick up his option, the veteran right-hander was re-signed to a reported one-year, $1.25 million deal with up to $2.5 million more in incentives.
And, after dealing with so much uncertainty this season, the 29-year-old detailed during a video call with reporters Thursday how happy he is to return to the club and teammates he’s grown close to this past year.
“It feels like home,” he said. “It feels like family — teammates and coaching staff and front office alike. I’m super excited to be back and ready to go to work.”
Even if it is in a new role.
Graveman initially signed with the Mariners last November after starting in parts of five big league seasons with the Blue Jays and A’s.
He unleased impressive performances in spring training and summer camp coming off of Tommy John surgery, and seemed primed to be a staple in Seattle’s six-man rotation, but made only two starts before next spasms sent him to the injured list in August.
While rehabbing at the Mariners’ alternate site in Tacoma later in the month, Graveman opened up about the discomfort, caused by a benign bone tumor in his cervical spine. He continued to pitch in intrasquad games at Cheney Stadium in shorter stints, and the Mariners eventually brought him back as a reliever.
Graveman was electric in his return the final month of the season, and consistently touched the upper 90s with his sinker. Seattle saw enough in the nine appearances he made out of the bullpen — he allowed four runs across 10 innings with five strikeouts, three walks and a .182 opponent batting average — to remain interested in bringing Graveman back for another season.
He became a free agent Wednesday when the Mariners declined his $3.5 million option, but a new deal to sign him as a starter-turned-reliever was already in the works, and Graveman said he sees a lot of positives for the future.
“I’m learning it as I go to be a reliever, but I think I can make an impact on that side of the game,” he said.
Graveman said he doesn’t expect the lingering neck discomfort to be a problem moving forward as he pitches in shorter stints, and his physical, and images of his shoulder and elbow were good.
He said pitching in relief late this season had “zero effect” on his neck, and the longevity of starts was when he was bothered by the discomfort.
“In my mind, going into next season, I feel confident that pitching out of the bullpen is not going to have any problems or setbacks with it, so I’m excited about that,” he said.
Now, he’s focused on learning to be a reliever after spending his entire career up until this past season as a starter. He said he’s learned about the adrenaline rush of working with about 10-20 pitches in an outing instead of pushing 100 as a starter, and how to prepare to face hitters once instead of multiple times in an outing.
“I’ve been a starter since college,” Graveman said. “I mean, that’s since 2009. And now I’m trying to be a reliever, and I’m just figuring it out as I go and trying to do the most I can with the technology that’s available.”
Graveman said he ordered a Rapsodo unit to work with this offseason to continue to have access to analytics as he adjusts his arsenal to be effective out of the bullpen. He plans to refine the slider he’s been working on to add vertical depth, and to continue consistently reaching the high velocity with his sinker as he moves forward.
“That’s a big part of going forward is simplifying the repertoire,” he said. “I think my weapons have gotten better, actually, with the velo, with some of the stuff I’m doing with the spin, so now go out and use those weapons in good situations and see what happens.”
Graveman said he’s put on about 10 pounds of muscle so far this offseason, and has been focused on maintaining his athleticism by engaging in more explosive activities in short stints while working out, and making daily recovery a priority.
In the month he pitched out of the bullpen for the Mariners this season, Graveman said he realized how physically demanding it is on the body.
“I was always thinking, it’s 10-15 pitches and they turn around and do it the next day,” he said. “But, man, you have no recovery time. You have 24 hours sometimes to recover — sometimes less than that if you’re playing a day game the next day. … Over 162 (games), it’s a demand on your body that’s really tough, and I do have a newfound respect for guys that have had success in the bullpen role for a long time, and look up to those guys.”
As the roster is currently set, Graveman is the most experienced pitcher the Mariners have returning to the bullpen next season, despite having little experience in the role. He said he hopes the Mariners — who have identified the bullpen as an area to augment moving forward — can continue to add pieces there.
“I’m trying to figure it all out,” Graveman said. “So to learn from somebody that’s next to me would be awesome.”
Graveman will look to continue to offer veteran leadership as the Mariners continue to strive to end their two-decade postseason drought, said he saw growth in the shortened 2020 season, and believes Seattle can be contender moving forward.
“If we put everything that we have into winning, I believe that we are a playoff team,” he said.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 11:18 AM.
