It's still early – probably too early to draw definite conclusions about teams' strengths and weaknesses – but let's take a look at some clubs that could look to improve in certain areas. This is purely speculative, and remember – these weaknesses could become strengths in a matter of weeks.
- Nationals right fielders are hitting .159/.276/.327 this year. No one player is to blame, as Willie Harris, Roger Bernadina, Cristian Guzman, Justin Maxwell, Mike Morse and Willy Taveras have all spent time in right this season. None of those players has hit more than three homers, but Jim Riggleman recently told Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post that he has confidence in Harris and Bernadina because of their defense.
- Possible solutions: Jose Guillen could become available, though the Royals say they don't expect to make moves soon. Free agents Jermaine Dye and Gary Sheffield would likely bring more power than the Nats' current mix.
- The Cubs have used six right-handers in relief this year and only one – Carlos Marmol – has an ERA below 6.00. Now ERA can be deceiving, but Marmol and Carlos Zambrano are the only Cubs relievers who have struck out more batters than they have walked (Marmol by a wide margin, as he has an astounding 18.4 K/9 rate).
- Possible solutions: As Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports, the Cubs could call on Triple A right-handers Jay Jackson and Casey Coleman. The Cubs could also look to the free agent market; is Juan Cruz worth a flier? Alternatively, GM Jim Hendry could call up the Mariners or D'Backs, two teams with all-right-handed bullpens.
- The Mariners appear fine without a left-handed reliever, but the D'Backs, who don't have a left-handed pitcher on their active roster, have allowed a .294/.356/.496 line against lefty batters this year. The D'Backs have a bullpen ERA of 7.09, so righties are hitting them, too.
- Possible solutions: The D'Backs could pursue a trade for a left-hander, but GM Josh Byrnes told Nick Piecoro that he would prefer to be patient. There isn't much available on the free agent market, other than Eddie Guardado. The D'Backs could call on Jordan Norberto, who was in the majors earlier in the year, or Zach Kroenke, also at Triple A. Baseball America placed the two pitchers 29th and 30th respectively when ranking top D'Backs prospects before the season.
i would be shocked to see jose guillen back in washington.
and sheff and dye are such horrible defensive liabilities, i don’t see them going to washington, either. i suspect the nats will either make a trade for someone a little younger than any of those guys or suffer with what they’ve got. they’ll add mike morse to the mix soon. he’s a liability defensively, too, but not as much as dye/sheff. but with willingham on the other corner, it’s tough to stomach two terrible defenders in the OF unelss they really are great hitters. neither dye nor sheff is any more.
No lefties on the D’backs…wow. Someone needs to slap Josh Byrnes in the back of the head.
I’d like to see Jackson stay in AAA but Coleman is a nice alternative to Berg. His stuff may not be much better but at least he throws strikes and has an idea about what he wants to do up there. In Jackson and Coleman, I think it’s interesting that they’re targeting guys who throw strikes rather than guys like Parker, Gaub and Stevens, who have good stuff and relief experience, but put too many people on base. On a related note, I still believe Esmalin Caridad will fill one of the holes in the bullpen. His control last night looked much more like the pitcher we’re used to seeing.
Zambrano’s ERA may be above 6.00, but his ERA in relief is below 4.00. He hasn’t been dominant out of the bullpen, but he hasn’t been nearly as bad as Gray, Berg, and Samardzija.
Good point. Z’s really only had one bad outing out of the pen so far. I think it’s funny how everyone said it was such as mistake to take him out of the rotation, but yet conveniently use an ERA compiled primarily as a starter to attempt to highlight his ineffectiveness in the pen. It’s definitely misleading to say the Cubs have only one reliever under a 6.00 ERA. I would have expected better.
Yeah, Guillen was not loved while in DC. Dye turned down $3.5-$4M deal from washington to play here already so that’s not an option. Its not like the Nats didn’t try to sign Dye (despite his obvious defensive concerns). Had Mike Morse not gotten hurt he might be out there, and had Chris Duncan remembered how to hit like he did 4 years ago we wouldn’t be having this conversation either. But it is a problem.