The Pirates have released right-hander Ernesto Frieri, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports. Frieri had been designated for assignment and then outrighted to Triple-A by the Bucs in August.
The release puts an exclamation point on a nightmare season for Frieri, who posted a 7.34 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 3.43 K/BB rate over 41 2/3 innings with the Pirates and Angels. He hurt himself with the long ball by allowing 11 homers this season, though the advanced metrics suggest that Frieri’s 7.34 ERA involved some poor luck — ERA predictors such as xFIP (3.69) and SIERA (2.97) indicate that Frieri was victimized by a .330 BABIP and a very low 60.9% strand rate.
The Angels removed Frieri from his closer’s job and then traded him to the Bucs for Jason Grilli in a swap of struggling ninth-inning men. While Grilli has thrived in Los Angeles, Frieri couldn’t get on track in Pittsburgh and was demoted to the minors. The righty posted a 3.86 ERA with six strikeouts and four walks in seven innings at Triple-A Indianapolis.
Frieri was a dominant bullpen force with the Padres and Angels from 2009-12, posting a 2.32 ERA in 162 2/3 IP in that stretch and earning 23 saves after he came to Anaheim in May 2012. While his ERA jumped to 3.80 in 2013, his 37 saves and prior performance earned him a $3.8MM contract for 2014 in his first year of arbitration eligibility. (Frieri is still controllable through 2016.) His rough season all but guaranteed that he would be non-tendered by the Bucs this winter, though Frieri’s past success will very likely earn him a look from a few interested clubs.
Sad to hear, wish him the best of luck wherever he lands. Not surprising though. Angels got the better of that trade.
Diamondback fans rejoice.
Well if you give up a lot of home runs, your lob rate isn’t bad luck, but a product of the home runs…
I hope he turns it around. Everything suggests that he should be able to do so since there isn’t anything physically wrong. I feel bad that the change of scenery didn’t work out for him like it did for Grilli.
Somebody is going to get a cheap project pitcher who still has upside.
Frieri is a great guy, hope he can bounce back… However the high BABIP results from balls being hit in play over the outfield wall. Not even Trout could bring those back.
Home runs don’t count as “in play” for BABIP calculation. The formula is (Hits – Homers) / (AtBats – K’s – Homers + SacFlies)
Frieri almost singlehandedly (no pun intended) wrecked my Fantasy Baseball season, both with his performance until I dropped him, and mainly by taking out Goldschmidt for the season. Don’t be surprised if this guys signs a minor league with my team, the Tigers, as yet another failing bullpen reclamation project so he can continue to haunt me.
Frieri AND Jim Johnson on the same team would be breathtaking…
Stats say he should still have value. I think this was premature.
When Ernesto is on, he can be lights out. When he’s not though, he gets lit up. Hope he figures it out in the off season and gets back on track next year. Wish him well.
This is where trusting in advanced stats to the exclusion of visual data can lead you astray – Neal Huntington cited the “unlucky” HR/FB and BABIP numbers on acquiring Frieri, only to watch those numbers worsen on joining the Pirates.
Frieri throws a laser-straight 94 MPH fastball from over top, with no deception. Not all major league hitters can do much with a 94 MPH heater (see Jeter, Derek fangraphs.com/blogs/why-would-you-ever-throw-derek…), but those who could generally hit him hard. Reference those 11 HR allowed – only 2 “just enough” among them. The high BABIP and HR/FB are a consequence, not an anomaly.
Frieri circa 2012 had a lower arm angle, more deception and more movement on his fastball. The Pirates’ pitching guru Ray Searage tried to work with him on getting the 3/4 angle back but frankly ran out of time. He was too radioactive to put into games, and the rest of the Pirate bullpen was too shaky to burn a spot by burying him while he figured it out.
Agree 100% with this post. I’ve been watching Frieri for the past few years. It frankly is shocking to see how good his advanced stats are. Watching him, you don’t get the impression that he is in control … at all. Two years ago he was just flat out nasty. Last year he lost some swagger but was still generally effective. This year he has looked lost.
As bad as his ERA is this year, it could have been much worse. He pitched out of some tight jams early in the season. I do think he’s a great reclamation project and would love for the Angels to resign him as a project. He has tons of talent. It just needs to be harnessed better. Some time in AAA might do the trick.
Pretty lop-sided trade, although Pirates finding Holdzkom balances it out I suppose of potentially finding that late inning guy