Former Toronto Blue Jays right-handed reliever elects free agency

Pop, 28, had a brief run in Dan Wilson's bullpen. He signed a minor league contract in mid-April and was selected onto the MLB roster on June 13.

The Kentucky product made four appearances over the next two weeks.

The brief audition didn't gone well, as Pop has allowed three homers over just 5 1/3 innings pitched, resulting in a 13.50 ERA to show for his four appearances in a Mariners uniform.

Most of the damage came in Minnesota, when Pop was charged with eight runs (seven earned) during a disastrous inning of work in the Twins' 10-1 win over the Mariners.

Pop recorded only three strikeouts among 30 batters faced with a well below-average 7% swinging strike percentage.

Before his brief run in Seattle, Pop spent a couple seasons as a middle reliever with the Blue Jays.

That said, Pop has a 6.42 ERA in 67 1/3 MLB innings with Toronto and Seattle since the start of the 2023 season, as the excellent numbers the grounder specialist posted in 2022 fade further into memory.

Opposing batters have gone yard 16 times on Pop in those 67 1/3 frames, translating to a 27.6% home run rate.

He hasn't missed many bats but recorded a gaudy 55% ground-ball rate across 48 1/3 innings last year.

While hitters had a difficult time elevating the ball, they did a lot of damage when they were able to get it in the air.

More than 20% of fly balls cleared the fences, leading to a 5.59 earned run average.

Pop owns a 4.75 ERA in parts of five big league campaigns.

He'll probably be limited to minor league offers but should intrigue teams as a depth option thanks to a sinker that averages around 96 MPH.

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