The Orix Buffaloes of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball announced Wednesday that Sparkman signed with the club.
The 29-year-old right-hander will continue his career overseas after few lucrative opportunities emerged stateside once the Twins released him from his minor-league deal in May. Sparkman has spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues, compiling a 5.99 ERA across 52 appearances (26 starts) with the Blue Jays and Royals.
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Glenn Sparkman: Cut loose by Minnesota
Rotowire
The Twins released Sparkman on Wednesday, Brandon Warne of Access Twins reports.
After failing to win a spot in the Twins' Opening Day bullpen, Sparkman has spent the 2021 season at Triple-A St. Paul. He's looked good through his first two relief appearances for St. Paul -- he's allowed one run and struck out six over three innings -- but a promotion to the big leagues likely wasn't forthcoming. Sparkman will presumably look to move on to an organization that can present him with a clearer path back to the big leagues.
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Twins' Glenn Sparkman: Falls short in roster bid
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The Twins reassigned Sparkman to their alternate training site Thursday.
Sparkman had been attending big-league camp as a non-roster invitee, hoping to win a spot in the Twins' Opening Day bullpen. The right-hander tossed five innings in relief for the Royals in 2020, giving up three earned runs on nine hits and a walk.
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Twins' Glenn Sparkman: Improves in second spring outing
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Sparkman threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout in Sunday's win over Tampa Bay. He bounced back after giving up five earned runs without recording an out in his spring debut March 3.
Sparkman missed most of the 2020 season with a forearm strain but looks healthy as spring training begins. He'll likely need to prove himself again at Triple-A after a 5.40 ERA in 2020 (though just five innings) and a 6.02 ERA in 2019.
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Twins' Glenn Sparkman: Inks MiLB contract
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Sparkman (forearm) reached a minor-league deal with the Twins on Thursday as a non-roster invitee, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
Sparkman was let go by the Royals in late November, but he'll be invited to spring training with the Twins in 2021. The right-hander gave up three runs on nine hits and one walk over five innings in 2020 before ending the season with a strained forearm, but he'll attempt to earn a spot in the Twins' bullpen next year.
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Glenn Sparkman: Released by Royals
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Sparkman (forearm) was released by Kansas City on Monday.
Sparkman was designated for assignment Friday, and he'll hit the open market after the Royals requested unconditional release waivers. He appeared in just four games in 2020, surrendering three runs on nine hits and a walk over five innings of work. Sparkman ended the year on the shelf with a strained forearm, which is likely the primary reason the Royals decided to move on.
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Royals' Glenn Sparkman: Designated for assignment
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Sparkman (forearm) was designated for assignment by the Royals on Friday.
Sparkman missed most of the 2020 season with a forearm strain, and he'll now be cast off the 40-man roster to make room for several prospects who will now be protected from the Rule 5 draft. The right-hander struggled to generate much production once again last year, allowing three runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out two over five relief innings.
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Royals' Glenn Sparkman: Moves to 45-day injured list
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Sparkman (forearm) was transferred to the 45-day injured list Friday.
Sparkman landed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a forearm strain. The issue is evidently a serious one, and he'll now miss at minimum the majority of the rest of the season.
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Royals' Glenn Sparkman: Moves to IL
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Sparkman was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a strained right forearm.
Scott Blewett was recalled from Kansas City's alternate camp site to take Sparkman's place on the roster. The move is retroactive to Aug. 3, making Sparkman eligible to return Aug. 13 should he prove ready. Prior to landing on the shelf, Sparkman made four appearances and allowed three runs on nine hits across five innings.
Royals' Glenn Sparkman: Increased velocity in relief
Rotowire
Sparkman, whose velocity ticked up to 96-97 mph in relief this spring, was on track to make the big-league bullpen when camp was suspended, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.
He was converted to the bullpen this spring and logged a 1.08 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and 12:0 K:BB in 8.1 innings. It's a very small sample, but now that he is throwing in the upper-90s, Sparkman immediately becomes an intriguing name to track in the Royals bullpen. Even so, Ian Kennedy is the closer until further notice.
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Royals' Glenn Sparkman: No decision in decent outing
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Sparkman allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in five innings Saturday against the Twins, striking out four. He did not factor into the decision.
Sparkman didn't exactly dominate, but he kept his team in a game which they would eventually lose by one run. That's better than one can say about most of Sparkman's starts this season, as he'll finish the year with a 6.02 ERA. His poor 13.4 percent strikeout rate makes it hard to envision significant improvement for him next season.
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Royals' Glenn Sparkman: Bailed out by offense
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Sparkman didn't factor into the decision in Saturday's 12-5 win over the Twins, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks over four-plus innings while striking out four.
The right-hander was nursing a 2-1 lead through four innings, but the wheels came off in the fifth, as Sparkman put the first four batters aboard before getting the hook, with all four eventually coming around to score. Fortunately for him, he avoided his 12th loss when the Royals rallied to tie it in the top of the sixth before erupting for seven runs in the ninth. Sparkman is set for one more start in 2019, taking a 6.11 ERA and 77:40 K:BB through 131 innings into a home rematch with the Twins on Sept. 28.
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Royals' Glenn Sparkman: Struggles in no-decision
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Sparkman threw 4.1 innings in a no-decision against the Athletics on Monday, giving up four earned runs on six hits, striking out one and walking three in the Royals' 6-5 victory.
Oakland jumped on Sparkman for all four of his earned runs in the first two innings. The right-hander has struggled this season, posting a 6.02 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, thanks in large part to his propensity for giving up the long ball, with 29 homers to his name over 127 innings.
Sparkman (4-11) picked up the win in Wednesday's 8-6 victory over the White Sox, allowing three runs on four hits and a walk over five innings while striking out four.
The right-hander coughed up all three runs in the first inning but settled down after that, and the Royals backed him up with five homers on the night. It's Sparkman's first win since July 16, and he'll take a 5.94 ERA and 72:35 K:BB through 122.2 innings into his next start Monday in Oakland.
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Royals' Glenn Sparkman: Takes 11th loss
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Sparkman (3-11) allowed four earned runs on seven hits and no walks while striking out two across four innings to take the loss Thursday against the Tigers.
Sparkman held the Tigers to just one run through three innings, but was burned by the long ball in his final frame. After getting the leadoff batter out, Sparkman surrendered solo home runs to three of the final five batters he faced to sour his outing. He now owns an ugly 5.97 ERA and 1.50 WHIP across 117.2 innings for the season and will draw his next start Wednesday at the White Sox.
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Royals' Glenn Sparkman: Roughed up by Athletics
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Sparkman (3-10) allowed seven earned runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out one across 4.1 innings to take the loss Thursday against the Athletics.
Sparkman immediately ran into problems, allowing two singles and hitting two batters in the first inning, which resulted in one earned run. While he held the Athletics scoreless for the following two innings, he allowed a combined six earned runs across his last 1.1 frames to conclude the disastrous outing. Sparkman had a brief stretch of effectiveness in two mid-August starts, though his 5.86 ERA and 1.49 WHIP across 113.2 innings for the season are indicative of his reliability.
