Nationals sign Yusmeiro Petit to one-year contract

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms on a one-year contract with a conditional option for a second year with right-handed pitcher Yusmeiro Petit on Monday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Petit comes to Washington after spending the previous four seasons as a member of the San Francisco Giants' pitching staff. The right-hander, who has played parts of eight seasons in the Major Leagues, was 10-7 with a 3.66 ERA during his tenure with the Giants. The versatile reliever appeared in 90 games (245.2 IP) in that span, starting 21 and finishing 29. Establishing a reputation for having a durable arm and a penchant for strike-throwing, 57 of his 90 appearances with the Giants were more than an inning in length - including 13 starts - and his 4.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio as a reliever was the fifth-best such mark in the National League from 2012-2015. The past two seasons, in particular, Petit has been a key cog on the Giants staff. Tough on right-handed batters throughout the course of his career, he has been exceptionally stingy against them since the start of the 2014 season. Petit has held the 422 batters he's faced in that span to a .213 average against, and struck out 124. In helping the Giants secure the 2014 World Series Championship, Petit threw 117.0 regular-season innings, struck out 10.2 batters per nine innings and posted a 6.05 strikeout-to-walk ratio, all of which were career highs. In three postseason appearances that year, Petit was 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA (2 ER/12.2 IP). Over the course of his Major League career, which has also included big league time with the Florida Marlins (2006) and Arizona Diamondbacks (2007-2009), Petit has worked to a 20-27 record and a 4.29 career ERA. Originally signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in Nov. 2001, Petit was not tendered a contract by the Giants on Dec. 2, 2015, and was granted free agency. With the addition of Petit, the Nationals currently have 40 players on their 40-man roster.