Today, the Mets claimed LHP Jay Marshall off waivers from the Oakland Athletics after they designated him for assignment on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old left-hander was 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA in 10 relief appearances last season for the A’s, but was slowed and hampered by shoulder tendinitis.
He fared much better in the minors where he went 5-3 with seven saves and a 3.20 ERA in 50 games with Triple-A Sacramento.
The Mets could use another left-handed reliever to join Pedro Feliciano in the bullpen, and Marshall’s dominance over fellow southpaws indicates that could certainly fill that role.
In his minor and major league career, Marshall has held left-handed hitters to a .164 batting average, and in 99 innings pitched against them he has allowed just 54 hits, 8 walks and one homerun, while sporting a 0.64 WHIP. That’s pretty dominating…
Against right-handed hitters he is absolutely dreadful and they roughed him up for a .303 batting average against. If Manuel uses this guy exclusively against the big left-handed hitters of the NL East, he could become an impressive weapon late in games.
He has a side-arm delivery that he only learned in 2005, but it resulted in giving his fastball a heavy sink and transformed him into an extreme groundball pitcher.
With his addition to the bullpen, it could lessen the load on the usually over-worked Pedro Feliciano and allow him to remain effective for an entire season.
I like this move.
