With the need in the bullpen being that of a left-handed reliever – kind of weird to say anything about the bullpen after yesterday – I want to discuss a few legitimate options that may help the Cubs out sooner than later.
Lefty relievers are valuable, ever more so in today’s game with such an emphasis on splits. The Cubs are fortunate to have four “super-utility” – coined by Brett over at BleacherNation – pitchers in Adam Warren, Travis Wood, Clayton Richard, and Trevor Cahill, who can give multiple innings in one game or throw to a specified amount of hitters based on splits.
Jamie originally brought up the need for a lefty reliever last week after the Cubs blew the lead in St. Louis, and saw Matt Adams (#!*&^%$) hit a homer off Wood to tie the game late. Having all of these guys are great, as Jamie put it, “it’s a good problem to have,” but a guy who’s sole job is to get left-handed hitters out is going to prove to be necessary.
That being said, I’m going to discuss a few options the Cubs could look at as the season progresses.
A lefty reliever that catches my eye is Fernando Abad from Minnesota. In 19.1 innings this season, Abad has a 0.47 ERA and a 0.931 WHIP. In terms of fWAR, the lefty already has accumulated half of one win (0.5). His splits are pretty amazing, too, as he is dominating left-handed hitters. With 25 batters faced from the left side so far in 2016, Abad has held the opposition to a .047 batting average and .080 on-base percentage. His wOBA against is .063. Yeah, the dude’s killing it.
Abad had a really good 2014 season with Oakland in which he had a 0.6 fWAR, including 8 K/9 and a 1.57 ERA. He saw a hefty drop in 2015, when his fWAR fell to -0.7 (yes, negative). His FIP ballooned to 5.50, and despite a rising K/9, Abad also walked one more batter per nine innings.
It appears as if Abad is back to his 2014 form, and with the Twins being a meager 15-35, one would think they will be willing and getting ready to move him. Remember, it’s only May 31 so there’s still two months before the deadline, but Abad is a name to need not forget as it gets a little closer.
Another name to keep an eye on is Sean Doolittle in Oakland. Ever since the lefty reliever entered the league, he has been one of the best in the game in that respective field.
After being injured after only 12 appearances in 2015, Doolittle has matched his fWAR total of 0.3 this season. In 22.1 innings in 2016, the pitcher has a 2.91 ERA and .969 WHIP, including 10.8 K/9.
Doolittle has a proven track record, being named an All-Star in 2014 as he saved 22 games for Oakland, while finished 40 in total. During that season, the lefty accumulated a 1.71 FIP and .734 WHIP, just domination from the left side.
In 2016, Doolittle is showing a huge advantage against left-handed hitters, as the opposition is slashing .152/.176/.273 with a .449 OPS against and 10 K/9.
The A’s are currently 23-29, but 7.5 games out of first place in the AL West. With their team as a whole and the known tendencies of Billy Bean, Oakland will be sellers come July. Doolittle does have 2+ seasons left under contract, and with hos good he has been his whole career thus far, he will probably require a nice haul. I don’t put this at the top of the list of possibilities, but do think it’s worth mentioning.
One last name I’m going to discuss is Brad Hand from the Padres. Hand posted a 3.05 ERA in 20 innings, which saw him start two games. The Marlins decided to keep trying their hand (very much pun intended) as him as a starter, and over the next two seasons accumulated around a 5.00 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.
Even though he started around half of his appearances, he did appear out of the bullpen, but most of the same results ensued. The Padres decided to try him out of the bullpen, and even though the team isn’t very good (lulz), he has provided a nice spark as a go-to lefty reliever. Overall, Hand has thrown 27.1 innings and has a 3.26 FIP to go along with it. His 11.5 K/9 is BY FAR the most in his career, but his 4.9 BB/9 the worst in his career since his first season in 2011.
His lefty splits are what stick out to me (duh). In 50 plate appearances so far this season against left-handed hitters, Hand has held them to a collective slash line of .156/.240/.222 and a .219 BABIP against. It appears as if Hand has finally been dealt the right cards (Okay I’ll stop now).
In all seriousness, Hand is only 26 and isn’t a free agent for another few years. For relievers, this typically doesn’t matter as much because we see them tossed around from team to team all the time, especially lefty relievers. In his case, he was given the chance to come out of the bullpen, and maybe the Padres could use this as a stepping stone to give him another chance at the rotation with how bad they are, and probably will be for the next couple seasons.
The Cubs have an arsenal in which they could release from and send forth to the designated team of their choosing in order to improve the bullpen (anything really, but I’m talking about lefty relievers, just in case you haven’t paid attention). I don’t have any doubt Theo and Jed will add the necessary piece(s) when they deem it appropriate, but as of now I think these guys are the lefty relievers we should be keeping our eyes on as the time for #hugwatch will soon be upon us.
Other names to remember: Ian Krol (ATL) and Ryan Buchter (SDP).
*Featured image courtesy of the startribune.com
