Left-Handed Specialist
by Jon Shields ~ October 6th, 2008
We all know how devastating the Erik Bedard trade was to the organization, but while most of the hurt comes when we look into the future and don’t see Chris Tillman, Adam Jones or Tony Butler, it hurt Seattle’s 2008 bullpen as well.
George Sherrill wasn’t a huge loss in the grand scheme of things. He’s not young, doesn’t have much more upside than he showed in 2007 and shouldn’t have been hard to replace. Unfortunately, Seattle was mostly unable to patch up the hole left by the flat brimmed fan favorite.
Sherril’s role, of course, was that of left-handed specialist: the pitcher that is brought into the game to get the opposition’s best left-handed hitter out in a tight spot, typically exiting the game after just one or two batters.
Seattle pitched seven different lefties out of the bullpen in 2008 and only one of them was a true left-handed specialist: Arthur Rhodes. Seattle didn’t get a lot of use out of Rhodes, as he started the year in the minors as he continued to recover from offseason surgery before pitching just 36 games for the Mariners. He was traded at the deadline where he finished out a stellar season with the Florida Marlins.
The other six lefties used out of the ‘pen this year:
Eric O’Flaherty - imploded
Cesar Jimenez - can only get right-handed hitters out
Ryan Rowland-Smith - converted into a starter
Jarrod Washburn - pitched just 2 of his 153.2 innings in relief
Jake Woods - see: September 10, 2008
Justin Thomas - rookie, pitched just 4 innings
Seattle has a lot to deal with this offseason, but one of the smaller issues will be that of left-handed specialist. Who steps up next season?
Internal options:
Eric O’Flaherty - Many Mariner fans would love to never see this guy again, but he showed a knack for getting lefties out in 2007 and is still young, so he will probably get another chance come Spring Training unless a clear favorite emerges.
Justin Thomas - Primarily a starter up to this point in his career, Thomas has begun the transition to reliever after consecutive lackluster seasons in the upper levels of the system. So far he has been significantly better as a reliever, which is often the case, and he has gotten lefties out all season. He’s heading to the Arizona Fall League to further his transition to the bullpen, and he could be someone to watch for.
Jason Kershner - The 31 year old journeyman started the season in the Phillies organization before pitching 18.2 innings in the Seattle Mariners organization between Tacoma and West Tennessee. He struggled a bit in West Tenn overall, but his splits show that he is much better suited at facing only lefties. Right-handers hit a whopping .331 off of him and had a knack for putting the ball in the air and over the fence. Kershner held lefties to a .230 batting average thanks to an extremely good 60.9% ground ball rate. He has 100 big league innings under his belt, and if he gets an invite to Spring Training he could find himself a spot in Seattle’s bullpen.
Potential Free Agent Options:
Jeremy Affeldt- Having expressed interest in playing for his hometown Mariners last offseason, Affeldt might have been Sherrill’s replacement had he not been offered a starting gig with the Reds (that he lost before the season even started). Affeldt has established himself as a very good reliever over the past two seasons and would be a great addition by Seattle if the price is right.
Scott Eyre - After being let go by the Cubs after pitching an awful first 19 games, Eyre was picked up by the Phillies where he’s effectively serving as their middle inning lefty specialist. He’s been a matchup pitcher for years now and could come cheap.
Eddie Guardado - After struggling with injuries following his trade from the Mariners, Guardado showed he had something left in the tank as closer/setup man for the Rangers. Despite the resurgence I don’t think he’ll have many offers to become a regular late inning pitcher, so Seattle could consider him in a limited role. Would bringing Guardado back help keep JJ Putz motivated and on track as well? Also, his loose presence could potentially help heal a deteriorating clubhouse. That’s three birds with one stone!
Trever Miller- The Rays seem to like him so I expect them to pick up his option, but if they don’t Seattle should definitely take a look. The veteran’s numbers don’t look fantastic at first glance, but he’s holding lefties close to the Mendoza line.
Will Ohman - His name was coming up a lot at the trade deadline but he remained with the Braves. The 30-year old put it all together this season, but has been great against lefties for a few years now. He could enter the market as the premium left-handed non-closer reliever, which could put his pricetag higher than he’s worth.
Arthur Rhodes - Rhodes surprised a lot of people this season, myself included. I really didn’t expect him to make it back from Tommy John surgery as a 38 year old, but he did and was great. Would Seattle bring him back a few months after trading him away? It’s not unheard of.
Brian Shouse - The 40 year old has been an outstanding matchup pitcher for the last couple years with the Brewers, holding left-handed hitters to a skimpy .189 batting average this season. I think the Brewers will want to bring him back, but if he hits the market he’ll be one of the better options and should come relatively cheap considering his age.
Ron Villone - Sticking with the former-Mariner theme, Seattle could consider bringing back their former first round pick for his third tour of duty with the franchise. Villone has yet to be used exclusively as a left-handed specialist, but his splits over the course of his entire career and especially his past few seasons indicate that he could excel in the role. Right-handers teed off on Villone this year with St. Louis, and it may be time for a position change as he enters the twilight of his career.
Of course, relievers come out of nowhere and Seattle could end up with another Sherrill/Corcoran type of steal, which would be nice.
Again, this is obviously no where near Seattle’s most pressing need coming into the offseason, but I thought it would be an easy one to get out of the way. Anyone in particular you’d like to see come to Seattle, or are you favoring the internal options?
12 Responses to Left-Handed Specialist
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1 October 6th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Putz, Lowe, Jimenez, Corcoran, Dickey, Batista + specialist is basically what we’re looking at, right? Lowe needs to improve. Corcoran and Jimenez have more to prove. Batista is horrrrrible. Putz is halfway on the trading block.
It may behoove us to sign more than one of the guys you’ve listed. I like Affeldt the most, but Rhodes or Guardado would be worth looking at.
Anytime you can add a name FA bullpen guy you’re also adding potential trade bait come deadline, and what’s not to like about that?
2 October 6th, 2008 at 7:55 am
We need an overhaul. That bullpen listed above by raffish just doesn’t cut it for a championship team, let alone the winners in the West. We made a huge mistake with Bedard, who Baltimore would not give Adam Jones back straight up for the “ace”. To dig ourselves out, we have to make a splash in the free agent market, and I believe I have heard the front office already squash that idea. We need to get our guy Soriano back and healthy, Lowe as I remembered was more than decent before this year, and many young guys have an upside. Maybe if we went out and got some bats, we wouldn’t need to worry about if Dickey’s knuckleball is on day to day. Ohman would be my choice for a lefty specialist, but what about going and getting Fuentes? We NEED some change, the time to win is now, before Ichiro retires and Felix gets sick of pitching for a loser.
3 October 6th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Fuentes isn’t coming back to Seattle, especially in any role other than closer. Don’t waste your time thinking about him. He’ll have much more lucrative offers elsewhere, and we don’t need to spend $9-10M+ on a reliever anyway.
Soriano’s long gone, so I don’t know how you plan on getting him “back and healthy.”
Also, I don’t see any reason for Dickey to be in next year’s ‘pen. He’s too inconsistant, and dropping him would mean Batista becomes the swing man, which would be much better than Batista the middle reliever.
4 October 6th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
EOF was never shiny but he did do okay but he is injured or something right now. Thomas I could see starting actually since Feierabend is still learning the ropes and pending the status of Wash Batista and Silva.
5 October 6th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I would love to see Soriano back. In his late twentys, still able to get the ball in the mid to upper 90’s, I believe he would fit like a glove.
As for Dickey, I hope I have seen him throw his last pitch as a Mariner, and Fuentes is not too far of a stretch if Putz cannot get back on track. Not saying that he won’t, because I think he will, but what I’m saying is that we should go out and spend the money to get reliable 7-8-9th inning guys to shorten the game, much like the Astros used to with Dotel, Lidge and Wagner. The bullpen has proven to be the X-factor for all playoff teams, and would be a better investment than the $14 million we spent on Sexson.
6 October 6th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
IF we spend it won’t be for high profile players since the M’s FO made it clear we’re going internal or low money contracts.
7 October 7th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
>>EOF was never shiny but he did do okay>>
You’re joking right?
Refusal to throw his fastball transformed into batters sitting on his slider, which then transformed into 15 runs (all earned) in 6.2 innings.
EOF was many than “never shiny”. EOF was matte. A black matte wall in a dark basement with no windows and a empty light socket.
8 October 7th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
It appears that Jeremy Affeldt will have Type-B free agent status, meaning Seattle or whoever signs him will lose draft picks by aquiring him.
9 October 7th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
>>EOF was never shiny but he did do okay>>
You’re joking right?
Refusal to throw his fastball transformed into batters sitting on his slider, which then transformed into 15 runs (all earned) in 6.2 innings.
EOF was many than “never shiny”. EOF was matte. A black matte wall in a dark basement with no windows and a empty light socket.
Well that was this year he imploded big this year and given he is 23 I would gladly give him a chance to pitch last year is the not so shiny year where he was 7-1 with a 4.something ERA and given Jimenez’s ability to only get righties out I would give EOF a chance.
10 October 7th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Not true Jon. Type B FA means the Reds would get a supplemental 1st round pick for losing him but the team that signs him does not have to give up anything. Only signing Type A FA’s result in the team that signs him giving up a draft pick.
11 October 7th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Eric has two big league pitches. One slightly above average the other he refuses to throw. That is not a formula for success. Can Eric have mild success in the bigs? Sure, but he is not an answer for a late inning role in key situations.
12 October 7th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Good call, Rob. I was thinking the signing team would lose a second round pick, but I obviously didn’t double check.