Coonrod has added a cutter to his arsenal this spring, Mark W. Sanchez of KNBR.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

The 27-year-old righty made his big-league debut last season and finished with a 3.58 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 50 percent groundball rate. Strikeouts eluded him (17.5 percent strikeout rate) and he issued too many walks (13.2 percent), but he was nonetheless effective. His average fastball velocity (96.6 mph) ranked in the 93rd percentile while his curveball spin was in the 90th percentile. With the addition of a cutter, he may be able to keep hitters off balance, which could lead to more strikeouts. Tony Watson is the de facto favorite to open the year as the closer, but there are no defined roles at this point in camp, so Coonrod could pitch his way into a high-leverage role. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out two and blowing a save in one inning during his first appearance of the spring.