The Orioles have signed LHP Mark Hendrickson to a 1 year contract for $1.2 million and an option for 2011.
Grade: C+
This was only a matter of time and the only thing that comes as a surprise is that it took this long for it to happen. Hendrickson was mostly a failure out of the rotation in 2009, but he was really effective coming out of the bullpen. You could argue that he was the best relief pitcher we had last year. In 2010 he will be used strictly as a reliever unless theres some kind of emergency and we need a spot start on little notice. He was 6-5 with a 4.37 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 33 walks in 2009, but was 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA as a starter and 4-0 with a 3.44 ERA as a reliever. Hes not much of a “left handed specialist” as lefties and righties hit him pretty similarly, but it seems it takes hitters a second time through the lineup to get a read on him. He’ll be a nice complement to our improved bullpen.
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