The San Diego Padres have added an intriguing arm to their bullpen mix by claiming hard-throwing right-hander Jandel Gustave off waivers from the Kansas City Royals. The move was reported by Dennis Lin of U-T San Diego, via Twitter.

Gustave, 22, is a hard-throwing right-hander who spent last season pitching for Low-A Quad Cities in the Midwest League. He was selected by the Red Sox in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft and was later traded to Kansas City.

Last season in the Midwest League, Gustave struggled to a 5-5 record, with a 5.01 ERA in 23 games (14 starts). He pitched well this spring for Kansas City, as he has pitched to a 3.68 ERA with six strikeouts in 7.1 innings.

The move seems strange for San Diego, since they have a deep bullpen that may not have room for a 22-year-old who has never pitched above A-ball. The upside is intriguing; Gustave has been clocked at 100 MPH and the Royals were rumored to be toying with the idea of carrying eight pitchers in their bullpen, in order to stash Gustave. Instead, Gustave will be joining the San Diego organization.

For San Diego, they can see if Gustave’s intriguing upside fits within their bullpen, or they can attempt to work out a trade with Houston, since they were Gustave’s original club. San Diego must keep Gustave on the active roster all season, or offer him back to Houston.

San Diego will have to make a quick decision on the young righty, as the season is set to start in 10 days. To make room for Gustave on the 40-man roster, San Diego moved catcher Tim Federowicz to the 60-day disabled list. 

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Kevin Charity
Hello, my name is Kevin Charity. I am 29-years-old, and I reside in San Diego, California. I have been blogging for about four years, mostly writing about baseball. I am a huge San Diego Padres fan, and I have had my work featured on MLBTraderumors.com. No one knows as much as the Padres organization as I do.