February 16, 2012 at 10:09 AM
Red Sox sign RHP Ross Ohlendorf to minor-league contract
Peter Gammons is reporting the Red Sox
have signed right-handed pitcher Ross
Ohlendorf to a minor-league contract. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe confirms that Ohlendorf has reported to Fort Myers and that he has been invited to major league camp.
Ohlendorf, 29, was originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2004 draft out of Princeton by
the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has major league experience with both the New
York Yankees, where he pitched primarily in relief, and Pittsburgh Pirates,
with whom he was a starter exclusively. Ohlendorf has a career 14-28 record and
4.77 ERA. His best season was 2009, when he started 29 games, going 11-10 with a
3.92 ERA and compiling 109 strikeouts over 176.2 innings pitched.
In 2011, Ohlendorf struggled with
injuries and ineffectiveness. He left his second start of the season in the
third inning due to a recurrence of the right-shoulder posterior strain that had
caused him to miss the last six weeks of the 2010 season. While the injury did not require surgery,
Ohlendorf did not return to the Pirates until late August and struggled upon
his return, reaching the sixth inning in only one of his final seven starts. He
finished 2011 with an 8.15 ERA and 9 home runs allowed in only 38.2 innings.