Reports: Cubs To Sign Reliever Koji Uehara

(CBS) The Cubs have added to their bullpen once again, agreeing to a one-year deal with right-handed reliever Koji Uehara, according to multiple reports.

The 41-year-old Uehara has spent the past four seasons with the Red Sox. In 2016, he had a 3.45 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 50 appearances in 47 innings. His strikeout/nine innings rate was strong at 12.1, and he only walked 11 batters on the season.

One trait that makes Uehara appealing to the Cubs is that he held left-handers to a .139 batting average last season. The Cubs are short on left-handed arms in the bullpen with Aroldis Chapman signing with the Yankees and Travis Wood receiving plenty of interest from others in free agency, so signing a reverse-splits pitcher like Uehara is a different route to achieving the bullpen balance the team seeks.

At a shade above 0.86, Uehara has the lowest career WHIP in MLB history for pitchers with a minimum of 400 innings, according to CSN Chicago's Christopher Kamka.

Uehara has a career 2.53 ERA in eight MLB seasons.