The Kansas City T-Bones announced they have signed Garrett Granitz and Joe Rapp to contracts for the 2015 season.
Granitz, 28, is a 6-foot-2 and 195-pound right-handed relief pitcher out of Sun Prairie, Wis. He’s played four professional seasons, all in independent leagues, most recently with Rio Grande Valley of United League Baseball.
In 34 appearances in 2014 with Rio Grande, Granitz went 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA. In 31 innings he struck out 22 and walked 15. Granitz has a 7-5 record and 2.89 ERA in 100 professional games.
“Garrett is a submarine pitcher who will scrape his knuckles on the CommunityAmerica Ballpark turf,” said T-Bones manager John Massarelli. “He’ll come out of the bullpen and hopefully make it tough for right-handed hitters to elevate the ball.”
Rapp, 24, is a 6-foot-2 and 225-pound first baseman-outfielder from Sarasota, Fla. He spent the first two seasons of his professional career in the San Francisco Giants organization after the club selected him in the 28th round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
He played last season for the Greys of the Frontier League, where he batted .256 with 95 hits, including 19 home runs and 55 RBIs. In three professional seasons, Rapp is a .264 hitter with 36 homers, 151 RBIs and 134 runs scored.
“Joe was on our radar last spring when he left the Giants organization, but we didn’t have a roster spot at the time,” Massarelli said. “So he spent last season in the Frontier League and put up solid numbers.”
The T-Bones open the 2015 regular season at home on May 22 against Lincoln.
– Story from T-Bones