The Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday claimed infielder Mike Freeman and right-handed pitcher Chris Heston off waivers from the Seattle Mariners. Both players were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Freeman was designated for assignment in March, and was recently optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. Heston was designated for assignment last Wednesday, when the Mariners acquired outfielder Andrew Aplin from the Houston Astros.
Freeman went 2-for-30 with three runs and one home run over 16 games with the Mariners this season. His previous MLB experience came last season with Seattle (16 games) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (eight).
Over 37 career games in the Majors, Freeman is a lifetime .135/.224/.212 hitter, with two RBI. This season with the Mariners, Freeman logged three games (two starts) at first base, three games (two starts) at second base, and made two starts at third base. He was also called upon to pitch on May 20 against the Chicago White Sox.
In 15 games this year with Tacoma, the versatile infielder batted .356/.424/.492 with three doubles, one triple, one home run and nine RBI.
Heston has appeared in 40 games (33 starts) over parts of four seasons with the San Francisco Giants (2014-16) and Mariners (2017). He threw a no-hitter against the New York Mets on June 10, 2015.
Heston is a career 13-13 with a 4.57 ERA and 1.43 WHIP, with 151 strikeouts and 78 walks in 193 innings pitched. Heston went 0-1 and allowed 12 runs (11 earned) on 14 hits over five innings pitched in two games (one start) for the Mariners this season.
The 29-year-old was 2-1 with a 3.41 ERA in six starts for the Rainiers this season. In eight Minor League seasons, Heston is 50-55 with six complete games, one save, a 3.63 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 157 games (151 starts).
Scott Kazmir and Andrew Toles were transferred to the 60-day disabled list to create room on the 40-man roster for Freeman and Heston.
