Brian

O'Keefe

O’Keefe bolsters Kansas City’s catching depth at Triple-A Omaha after failing to land a spot during spring training on Minnesota’s season-opening roster. The 30-year-old journeyman backstop has gotten into 10 contests at the major-league level, all with the Mariners, since 2022.

The 32-year-old right-hander will begin the 2024 season down at Triple-A after he posted a 4.15 ERA in 8 2/3 innings of work with the Twins in Spring Training. Bowman spent the past three seasons in the Yankees’ farm system and hasn’t made more than three appearances in the majors since 2019.

O’Keefe appeared in eight games for the Mariners during the 2023 campaign, going 2-for-19 (.105) with two doubles, two RBI and a 7/2 K/BB ratio in 21 plate appearances. He’ll add catching depth in big league camp for the Twins.

It’s possible O’Keefe will opt to stick around as organizational catching depth for the Mariners after being removed from the club’s 40-man roster, but he’ll likely wind up electing free agency. The 30-year-old backstop got into eight games this season for Seattle after spending the majority of the year at Triple-A Tacoma.

The move clears a spot for waiver claim Kaleb Ort on the 40-man roster. O’Keefe, 30, appeared in eight games with the Mariners this season while going 2-for-19 with two doubles and two RBI.

The Mariners will move ahead with Cal Raleigh and Luis Torrens behind the plate. O’Keefe has appeared in eight games with the Mariners this season while going 2-for-19 (.105) with a pair of doubles.

O’Keefe will be away from the club for a few days before returning to his backup catcher role.

It’s a routine off day for Raleigh after making four consecutive starts behind the dish. It’ll be Brian O’Keefe handling the catching duties on Saturday afternoon. The 26-year-old slugging backstop has a .789 OPS with 27 homers and 66 RBI across 125 games this season.

Seattle Mariners’ GM Jerry Dipoto mentioned that Murphy isn’t yet ready for a rehab assignment, but he has begun ramping up his recovery as he returns from a sprained thumb on his catching hand. The 32-year-old has been solid in a shared role with Cal Raleigh, slashing .290/.335/.538 on the season with eight home runs and 17 RBI in 47 games. When he is healthy, he will likely reclaim the back-up catcher job from Brian O’Keefe.

The catcher is coming off of a strong performance on Wednesday night but will sit out the day game on Thursday, as is typical. Brian O’Keefe, who was just called up from Triple-A on Wednesday, will start behind the dish in his place. Raleigh slashing just .221/.301/.448 on the year, but he has 21 home runs and 53 RBI in 408 plate appearances.