Righthanded and late-inning relievers are fairly high on the Giants Hot Stove shopping list this winter. On Day 2 of the virtual Winter Meetings, they signed recently non-tendered Matt Wisler RHP to a 1 year/$1.15 M contract with up to $500 K in incentives. Wisler is known mostly for who he's been traded for, from the Padres to the Braves for Craig Kimbrel and from the Braves to the Reds for Adam Duvall. Now, there's a name that's a trigger for some Giants fans! That trade may make some Giants fans think we've come full circle with it. Hm....maybe we can now finally forget about Adam Duvall and his trade?
Wisler started his career as a SP racking up innings for the Braves, but with very mixed results and ultimately unacceptably high ERA's. He reinvented himself as a reliever and boy did he ever! He's gone from a fairly standard 4-pitch mix SP to a 2-pitch reliever, except with a severe reverse split on the usage of his FB and Slider. Here are those percentages over the course of his career(taken from Fangraphs):
2015: FB 61.8%(93.3), SL 23.4%, CB 5.3%, CH 9.5%.
2016: FB 59.2%(92.8), SL 29.2%, CB 5.7 %, CH 5.8%.
2017 FB 56.0%(92.5), SL 37.3%, CB 4.6%, CH 1.8%.
2018: FB 49.7%(92.3), SL 46.9%, CB 3.0%, CH 0.5%.
2019: FB 29.2%(92.8), SL 70.5%, CB 0.3%.
2002: FB 16.6%(91.9), SL 83.4%.
His ERA's over that span: 4.71, 5.00, 8.36, 4.28, 5.61, 1.07.
FIP's: 4.93, 4.85, 5.20, 4.69, 4.23, 3.35.
Now, his slider is a swing and miss pitch as his K/9 rates testify: 5.94, 6.61, 6.12, 7.20, 11.05, 12.43.
It is also a pitch that is a bit hard to command as his walk rate ballooned up to 4.97 in 2020. Add in a LOB of 99.3% and a HR/FB that dropped from 18..2% to 5.7% and you can see why the Twins may have thought that ERA was not sustainable. On the other hand, a 1 yr/$1.15 M contract won't generally buy you a 1.07 ERA so it's not like that's what the Giants paid for here.
One thing that may have drawn FZ's attention is 25.1 IP in 18 Appearances with 4 "Openings" included. 11 of his 18 appearances lasted more than 1 inning.
A couple of Comps: 1. Remember Luke Gregerson and his steady diet of sliders when he was with the Padres? His slider usage with the Padres ranged from 49.6%(2009) to 68.6%(2012). It dropped way off with future teams. 2. Sergio Romo has averaged a 54.1% Slider rate over the course of his career with 3 seasons greater than 60%.
So, heavy slider use is sustainable but I am not aware of any precedent for over 70% let alone 83.4%.
Matt Wisler's pitch mix and level of success will be an interesting storyline for 2021.
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The Giants also re-signed Chadwick Tromp C presumably to a minor league contract after non-tendering him as a non-arbitration eligible player earlier in the Hot Stove season.
We now have the pitching coach of Twins, which means we have enough insider's information to make an educated decision on this.
ReplyDeleteI like the high up side, with little risk.
Wisler looks like a nice addition to their current bullpen from the right side consisting of Rogers,Gott, S Anderson, maybe R Moronta, R Garcia. Question is Wisler good enough to be a late inning reliever, or a dependable middle reliever? LG
ReplyDeleteDodgers lose 8!
ReplyDeleteGiants lose Jalen Miller.
Does that mean their system is 8 x ours?
Our talent is younger and have more ticks on their clocks.
DeleteThe Giants seemingly preferred to sign Chad Tromp to a major-league contract as a free agent rather than tender him such a contract as a pre-arb player. If so, why? Is a tendered contract guaranteed in full to a pre-arb, whereas an FA can be cut in Spring Training and his salary paid only in part? If a player has options to be sent down to the minors, what’s the difference to him—aside from a difference to his morale— to receive an MLB rather than a MiLB contract? Simply that there’s a much higher MLB minimum salary? Thanks in advance for answers.
ReplyDeleteMost likely it comes down to cost certainty. They probably were not able to agree to terms before the tender deadline and the Giants did not want to deal with the uncertainty of the arbitration process.
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