Barnstormers Sign Pair of Big League Arms
April 10, 2016 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Lancaster Stormers News Release
The Lancaster Barnstormers have signed veteran Major League left-hander Phil Coke and right-hander Ryan Kelly, who raced to the big leagues in a whirlwind 2015 season, it was announced today by manager Butch Hobson.
Coke, 33, has 401 big league regular season appearances, as well as 26 post-season appearances, under his belt. The southpaw from California debuted with the New York Yankees on September 1, 2008 and remained with New York through the 2009 season. He entered 72 regular season games with the Yankees in 2008 and also appeared six times in the playoffs, including twice in the World Series against Philadelphia.
He moved on to Detroit following 2009 in a three-team, seven-player deal that also brought Max Scherzer to the Tigers and sent Curtis Granderson to New York. The third team involved, the Arizona Diamondbacks, picked up Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy. With the Tigers in 2010, he was summoned 74 times, third most in the American League that season.
He remained with the Tigers for five seasons and returned to the post-season with Detroit the final four of those campaigns, again getting to the World Series against the San Francisco Giants in 2012.
In 2015, Coke pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago Cubs, getting into a total of 18 games. He also pitched in Class AAA with Oakland.
Overall, the lefty has a career 22-27 record and 4.20 ERA in the Major League regular season. In post-season play, he is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA over five years.
"Coke is a veteran left-hander that can pitch in long relief as well as occasionally start for us," said Hobson. "We're really excited to have him, and he's really excited about coming here."
Kelly, 28, put together an incredible run in 2015, his ninth professional season. The right-hander from Bluffton, SC opened the year with Class AA Mississippi and allowed only one earned run in 17 appearances, going 1-1 with ten saves and a 0.48 ERA. He was moved to Class AAA Gwinnett in late May and pitched scoreless baseball in nine of 10 appearances to earn his first promotion to Atlanta. He returned to Gwinnett after one appearance but was recalled to the big leagues two more times.
Overall, he was 3-1 with 13 saves and 0.91 ERA with Gwinnett. In 17 big league appearances, Kelly went 0-0 with a 7.02 ERA.
Prior to last season, Kelly had made only 20 appearances at Class AAA with the San Diego Padres organization in 2012 and 2013. He originally signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates and also spent some time in the Texas Rangers organization. The right-hander has struck out 442 and walked only 135 in his minor league career."
"Kelly's numbers from last year were just outstanding," said Hobson. "He commands the zone really well and will be another guy we can count on in the back end of our bullpen."
In another note, infielder Yusuke Kajimoto and right-hander Hitoshi Fujie have not received their visas and will not be available at the beginning of spring training.
Atlantic League Stories from April 10, 2016
- Somerset Patriots Invite Two from Tryout to Spring Training Including Basking Ridge's J.B. Kole - Somerset Patriots
- Barnstormers Sign Pair of Big League Arms - Lancaster Stormers
- Somerset Patriots Sign Right-Handed Pitcher Greg Ross - Somerset Patriots
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