With the New York Mets trading left-handed reliever Joshy Smoker to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday they now have Jerry Blevins as the only lefty reliever on the 40-man roster.
That is an obvious issue going into the 2017 season when you have to face Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Freddie Freeman and Justin Bour in keys spots all year.
The free agent market for left-handed relievers was not strong to begin with Mike Minor and Jake McGee leading the way and both have already signed. Brian Duensing, Boone Logan and Zach Duke have also signed leaving a weak market for teams looking to add a LOOGY.
Let’s take a look at some of the options left on the free agent market.
Fernando Abad – The 32-year-old tossed 43.2 innings and registered a 3.30 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.237 WHIP and 7.6 K/9 across 48 games last season for the Boston Red Sox. Lefties had just a .636 OPS against him and struck out 21 times in 66 at-bats compared to only four walks. For his career, he’s held lefties to a .237/.287/.383 slash line over 573 plate appearances.
Jorge De La Rosa – For the first time since 2005 the veteran lefty pitched exclusively out of the bullpen and he had varied results. Overall, he had a 4.21 ERA, 4.58 FIP, 1.31 WHIP and 7.9 K/9 in 51.1 innings for the Diamondbacks. The former starter dominated lefties in 2017 holding them to a .194/.253/.292 slash line. He also inherited 33 runners last year and only allowed ONE to score. His fastball velocity went from 91.13 MPH in 2016 to 93.70 in 2017.
Tony Watson – The 2017 season was a tale of two different outcomes for the 32-year-old. He posted a 3.66 ERA and 1.52 WHIP for the Pirates before being traded to the Dodgers. With LA he had a 2.70 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and only allowed 15 hits in 20 innings. He’s held lefties to a .574 OPS in his career and does have some experience closing with 25 saves the past two seasons.
Kevin Siegrist – Former Cardinal would be a bounce back candidate after a bad 2017 season in which he had a 4.81 ERA, 4.38 FIP and 1.55 WHIP. The good news is he struck out 43 in 39.1 innings but also walked 22 in that span. He did have a 2.77 ERA in 2016 and 2.17 ERA in 2015 after a horrendous 2014 season with a 6.82 ERA. Lefties have a .339 wOBA against him over the last three seasons.
Oliver Perez – The former Met has carved out a career for himself as a lefty reliever with the last two seasons coming with the Washington Nationals. He had a 4.81 ERA, 4.01 FIP and 1.40 WHIP with the Nats. He did strike out 85 natters in those 73 innings. Since becoming a reliever in 2012 with the Seattle Marines, Ollie has held lefties to a .237/.317/.352 slash line while striking out 28.7% of them.
Francisco Liriano – Seems tough to believe Liriano is 34 already but the lefty has struggled the last two seasons. His overall numbers last year (5.66 ERA, 1.63 WHIP) are ugly but he did hold lefties to a .247/.300/.355 slash line last season with a 4.40 SO/W. He also made 18 starts last year and would give the Mets a longman type.
Robbie Ross, Ian Krol, Craig Breslow, David Holmberg and Eric O’Flaherty round out MLB Trade Rumor’s list of free agent left-handed relievers.
We have yet to hear of any interest in players listed above though it would be pretty surprising (and a mistake) for the Mets not to add a second lefty. Mike Puma of the New York Post did report yesterday that the Mets could add a second lefty to complement Blevins.
