Thursday, January 21, 2021

Seibu Lions sign pitcher Matt Dermody

 


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The offseason has been slow for both MLB and NPB with two posted players not signing with a club. However, the Saitama Seibu Lions made a move for the first time in two months as they signed P Matt Dermody on Thursday. 

"I am very honored to be a member of Saitama Seibu Lions," Dermody said in a statement. "My biggest goal is to contribute to the team so that the Lions can be the best in Japan."

General Manager Hisanobu "Nabe-Q" Watanabe said he has expectations for Dermody to be a rotation starter. Despite having several appearances as a reliever in the minors, Nabe-Q thinks he can be a power pitcher. 

Dermody, 30, spent most of 2020 with the Sugarland Skeeters (Now an AAA affiliate of the Houston Astros) in an independent league, where he pitched 17.2 innings with four starts, five appearances. It was during this time he was also teammates with former Seibu Lions pitcher Kyle Martin. 

He was able to sign with the Chicago Cubs later in the year and made one MLB appearance pitching only one scoreless frame. Dermody was designated for assignment and brought back on a minor league deal before he was outright released to allow him to join the Lions. 

Majority of Dermody's career has been with the Toronto Blue Jays organization, where he only made it to MLB in 2016 and 2017 having a combined two wins and 25.1 innings pitched in those years. He was drated a combined four different times, once out of high school and three times out of college. After his junior year, the Arizona Diamondbacks took him in the 23rd round, but chose not to sign him for a fear of Tommy John surgery and potential UCL damage. 

Dermody is the only foreign addition for the Lions in this offseason. Previously, they let Sean Nolin go and added Mitsuo Yoshikawa. With the Lions lacking left-handed pitching depth, Dermody hopes to be a regular at the ichi-gun level. Five imports should be allowed on the ichi-gun roster with only four given permission in an active game, allowing Dermody and Zach Neal to trade spots as starting pitchers. 

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