Cardinals Reportedly Sign High-Leverage Reliever Coming Of Stellar Season

The St. Louis Cardinals have been quiet as of late after adding three free-agent starting pitchers earlier this offseason.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak's only notable addition following his rotation revamp was right-hander Andrew Kittredge, who came over from the Tampa Bay Rays via trade.

Since then, the Cardinals have been in search of a second high-leverage reliever and reportedly found their guy.

"Free-agent reliever Keynan Middleton and the St. Louis Cardinals are in agreement on a contract, pending physical, according to sources familiar with the deal," FanSided's Robert Murray reported late Thursday night.

The 30-year-old hurler posted a 3.38 ERA with a 64-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .214 batting average against and a 1.24 WHIP in 50 2/3 innings between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees in what became a career year.

Middleton posted a 133 ERA+ last season -- meaning he was 33% better than the league average pitcher -- largely in part due to a unique pitch usage strategy. 

The veteran deployed his changeup as his primary pitch (42.9% usage rate) and his slider as a secondary pitch (30.8%), which made his 95.5 mph fastball incredibly effective -- 26.3% usage rate with a .122 batting average against.

Middleton will accompany Kittredge, Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos and JoJo Romero to form a potent back-end of the bullpen.

The terms of the contract have yet to be released.