Friday, March 14, 2008

No hope from Lohse; Cards officially sign right-hander

-Courtesy of the St. Louis Cardinals

JUPITER -- The St. Louis Cardinals today announced that they have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with free-agent right-handed pitcher Kyle Lohse for the 2008 season.

Lohse, 29, has compiled a 63-74, 4.82 career mark in seven seasons with the Minnesota Twins (2001-06), Cincinnati Reds (2006-07) and Philadelphia Phillies (2007).

"Adding an established starter like Kyle offers added protection while we wait for returning pitchers such as Matt Clement, Mark Mulder and Chris Carpenter to continue their recovery from injury and it will make us that much stronger when they do return," said Cardinals' Vice President/General Manager John Mozeliak. "We also feel that the added depth to the rotation will not only help in the short term, but it will also strengthen our bullpen."

Lohse, 29, split the 2007 season between Cincinnati and Philadelphia, going 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA while pitching in two of the National League's most hitter-friendly ballparks. He went 3-0 down the stretch for the Phillies in 13 games (11 starts), helping them to an N.L. East Division title after coming over from the Reds in a July 30 trade.

The 6-2, 210-pound Lohse made his Major League debut for the Twins in 2001 and he strung together four straight seasons of 30 or more starts from 2002-05. He has surpassed 175 innings pitched in five of his seven seasons and won a career-high 14 games for the Twins in 2003.

Lohse has worked 6.0 or more innings in 117 of his 195 career starts and has gone 7.0 or more innings 49 times. His 179 games started since becoming a regular in 2002 rank T19th in the Majors and his 83 quality starts are ranked 46th in the Majors during that same time period.

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