In terms of fWAR the Oakland A’s bullpen rates 15th in baseball and 9th in the American League. As a group it’s not bad, but also not good, and that is a problem for the team’s postseason dreams.
Don’t get me wrong, starting pitching depth has long been a problem for the A’s and may continue to be. However, thanks to some help on its way to the starting rotation the Oakland bullpen remains the area most in need of refurbishment.
State of the Bullpen
By ERA the A’s have a top-10 bullpen among MLB teams and are 6th in the AL, marks they’ve been lucky to achieve. The A’s have the 4th biggest gap between their ERA and FIP, and not in the good way, as their FIP is nearly a half-run higher than their ERA. With too many home runs allowed and not enough strikeouts the A’s relief corps doesn’t fare well by the more advanced pitching metrics. The unit is among the bottom-half of the league in xFIP, SIERA, and xwOBA.
A’s Bullpen: 2018 Totals
Name | K% | BB% | K-BB% | HR/9 | WHIP | BABIP | LOB% | ERA | FIP | E-F | xFIP | SIERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | K% | BB% | K-BB% | HR/9 | WHIP | BABIP | LOB% | ERA | FIP | E-F | xFIP | SIERA |
Blake Treinen | 30.7 % | 6.8 % | 23.9 % | 0.20 | 0.90 | 0.248 | 85.5 % | 0.81 | 1.80 | -1.00 | 2.57 | 2.59 |
Ryan Buchter | 25.4 % | 9.9 % | 15.5 % | 0.54 | 1.32 | 0.311 | 77.7 % | 2.16 | 3.00 | -0.84 | 4.29 | 3.79 |
Lou Trivino | 27.8 % | 10.6 % | 17.2 % | 0.70 | 1.02 | 0.222 | 94.8 % | 1.41 | 3.20 | -1.79 | 3.25 | 3.31 |
Josh Lucas | 23.2 % | 10.7 % | 12.5 % | 0.73 | 1.54 | 0.343 | 59.1 % | 5.84 | 3.77 | 2.07 | 4.31 | 3.85 |
Santiago Casilla | 17.5 % | 15.0 % | 2.5 % | 0.00 | 1.24 | 0.221 | 71.8 % | 3.49 | 3.97 | -0.48 | 5.88 | 5.33 |
Ryan Dull | 25.4 % | 6.0 % | 19.4 % | 1.69 | 1.44 | 0.372 | 74.5 % | 5.06 | 4.18 | 0.88 | 3.38 | 3.20 |
Yusmeiro Petit | 17.6 % | 4.3 % | 13.3 % | 1.38 | 1.12 | 0.263 | 76.9 % | 3.63 | 4.22 | -0.58 | 4.20 | 3.93 |
Emilio Pagan | 22.8 % | 8.0 % | 14.8 % | 1.43 | 1.27 | 0.279 | 84.1 % | 3.58 | 4.42 | -0.84 | 4.74 | 3.90 |
Chris Hatcher | 16.4 % | 9.7 % | 6.7 % | 1.26 | 1.74 | 0.351 | 72.7 % | 4.71 | 4.87 | -0.16 | 4.65 | 4.52 |
Carlos Ramirez | 8.3 % | 16.7 % | -8.3 % | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.118 | 71.4 % | 3.00 | 4.96 | -1.96 | 5.77 | 5.94 |
Liam Hendriks | 21.8 % | 12.7 % | 9.1 % | 2.45 | 2.18 | 0.424 | 75.8 % | 7.36 | 6.39 | 0.97 | 4.78 | 4.47 |
A’s relievers have fared much better recently with the returns of Ryan Buchter and Emilio Pagan plus the continued dominance of Lou Trivino and All-Star Blake Treinen.
A’s Bullpen: Last 30 Days
Name | K% | BB% | K-BB% | HR/9 | WHIP | BABIP | LOB% | ERA | FIP | E-F | xFIP | SIERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | K% | BB% | K-BB% | HR/9 | WHIP | BABIP | LOB% | ERA | FIP | E-F | xFIP | SIERA |
Blake Treinen | 31.0 % | 6.9 % | 24.1 % | 0.00 | 0.78 | 0.222 | 91.7 % | 0.59 | 1.56 | -0.97 | 2.52 | 2.60 |
Ryan Buchter | 28.0 % | 12.0 % | 16.0 % | 0.00 | 1.33 | 0.333 | 75.0 % | 3.00 | 2.29 | 0.71 | 4.47 | 3.89 |
Lou Trivino | 31.3 % | 6.3 % | 25.0 % | 0.66 | 0.59 | 0.138 | 100.0 % | 0.66 | 2.54 | -1.88 | 2.42 | 2.35 |
Emilio Pagan | 30.7 % | 6.5 % | 24.2 % | 1.15 | 0.96 | 0.243 | 73.8 % | 3.45 | 3.12 | 0.32 | 3.34 | 2.82 |
Santiago Casilla | 22.6 % | 12.9 % | 9.7 % | 0.00 | 1.50 | 0.333 | 75.0 % | 4.05 | 3.72 | 0.33 | 4.95 | 4.22 |
Chris Hatcher | 15.8 % | 13.2 % | 2.6 % | 0.00 | 1.75 | 0.346 | 66.7 % | 5.63 | 3.87 | 1.75 | 4.69 | 4.93 |
Carlos Ramirez | 12.5 % | 18.8 % | -6.3 % | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.091 | 50.0 % | 4.50 | 4.37 | 0.13 | 5.60 | 6.29 |
Liam Hendriks | 33.3 % | 3.3 % | 30.0 % | 2.84 | 1.74 | 0.471 | 85.4 % | 5.68 | 4.54 | 1.14 | 2.25 | 2.13 |
Josh Lucas | 14.3 % | 10.7 % | 3.6 % | 1.80 | 2.20 | 0.368 | 37.7 % | 12.60 | 6.52 | 6.08 | 6.21 | 4.87 |
Yusmeiro Petit | 17.7 % | 7.8 % | 9.8 % | 2.77 | 1.15 | 0.206 | 95.7 % | 4.15 | 6.66 | -2.51 | 5.05 | 4.65 |
The top three performers in each time frame stand out as obvious. Treinen, Trivino, and Buchter have been rock solid back-end options. Emilio Pagan has suddenly become another strong relief option. Overall Casilla has been fine, if unspectacular, and he’s more closely matched his peripherals to his ERA lately. Still, in an ideal scenario Casilla is this team’s mop-up option and last-ditch high-leverage reliever.
The biggest problems have obviously been Liam Hendriks (sadly), Chris Hatcher (duh!), and Yusmeiro petit (strangely). Hendriks has rightfully be jettisoned off the 40-man roster and into triple-A Nashville’s bullpen. Hatcher simply needs to go. He brings no apparent value to the organization at this point. Josh Lucas has had a moment or two of triumph but isn’t a difference maker and should merely be considered triple-A depth.
Perhaps Petit’s mediocre season can be attributed to A rough June in which he posted A 4.95 ERA and even worse peripherals. Even still, Petit’s strikeouts have seemingly disappeared and appears more suited for a long-relief role as we head to the second half of the season.
Conclusion
It will be a struggle for the A’s to reach the postseason and they shouldn’t be making it harder on themselves by carrying dead weight relievers. So what are the options to improve?
The team could decide to proceed with just 7 relievers instead of the 8 they’re currently carrying. But that still leaves them with either Hatcher or Lucas, and neither can justify a spot right now.
The team could pull any of the three standouts from triple-A Nashville: Ryan Dull, Bobby Wahl or JB Wendelken.
2018 at Triple-A Nashville
Player | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | SwStr% | HR/9 | BABIP | WHIP | ERA | FIP | xFIP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | SwStr% | HR/9 | BABIP | WHIP | ERA | FIP | xFIP |
Ryan Dull | 14.1 | 28.1 % | 7.0 % | 21.0 % | 13.3 % | 0.63 | 0.33 | 1.19 | 2.51 | 3.29 | 3.71 |
JB Wendelken | 26.2 | 37.6 % | 6.4 % | 31.2 % | 14.3 % | 0.68 | 0.36 | 1.13 | 3.38 | 2.46 | 2.31 |
Bobby Wahl | 35.2 | 39.3 % | 12.1 % | 27.1 % | 18.7 % | 0.50 | 0.23 | 0.95 | 2.52 | 2.93 | 3.28 |
Or the team can make a trade and acquire another late-inning option such as Kirby Yates, Joakim Soria, or Jake Diekman, to name a few.
MLB Trade Candidates
Player | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | SwStr% | HR/9 | BABIP | WHIP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | SwStr% | HR/9 | BABIP | WHIP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA |
Kirby Yates | 35.1 | 31.2 % | 7.8 % | 23.4 % | 14.6 % | 0.25 | 0.256 | 0.93 | 1.53 | 2.19 | 2.93 | 2.66 |
Joakim Soria | 33.2 | 28.5 % | 5.6 % | 22.9 % | 14.5 % | 0.53 | 0.326 | 1.19 | 2.94 | 2.26 | 3.29 | 2.83 |
Jake Diekman | 31.1 | 26.6 % | 13.7 % | 13.0 % | 11.0 % | 0.57 | 0.325 | 1.50 | 3.45 | 3.51 | 3.98 | 3.94 |
I’d prefer the trade route, other than that I think Dull could make the most sense given that he’s already succeeded at the MLB level. Let us know what you think!
Poll
You’re in Charge - how do you solve the bullpen problem?
This poll is closed
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3%
Roll with what he have?
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4%
Use what we have, but carry only 7 relievers?
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75%
Call up Dull, Wendelken, or Wahl?
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16%
Make a trade!!