Kansas City Royals pick up Bangor’s Kinney off waivers

It turns out the distance back to Major League Baseball was only 438 miles for Bangor native Matt Kinney.

The former Bangor High School standout athlete was claimed off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers by the Kansas City Royals Friday. The righthander and starter-turned-reliever will remain a middle reliever with the Royals.

The 27-year-old Kinney, who was 3-4 with a 5.78 ERA for Milwaukee this season, was 3-1 with a 3.13 ERA in 26 relief appearances. According to Stats Inc., Kinney is 1-2 at home, 2-2 in away games, and 3-4 on grass this season. Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium features a grass playing surface.

To make room for Kinney on their 40-man roster, the Royals designated catcher Mike Tonis for assignment. To make room for him on the 25-man roster, Kansas City is expected to put pitcher Nate Field on the disabled list Saturday.

This will be Kinney’s second go-around in the American League as he pitched for the Minnesota Twins (2000-2002) after being traded there by the Boston Red Sox, who drafted him in the sixth round of the 1995 amateur draft.

Kinney is 17-26 in four full major league seasons with a 5.18 ERA. He has allowed 397 hits and 161 walks in 361 1/3 innings while striking out 273 batters. He has a lifetime fielding percentage of .968 with 24 putouts, 37 assists, five double plays and just two errors in 87 games.