Email a copy of 'Pirates Release Ernesto Frieri' to a friend
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By Mark Polishuk | at
Email a copy of 'Pirates Release Ernesto Frieri' to a friend
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Yamsi12
Sad to hear, wish him the best of luck wherever he lands. Not surprising though. Angels got the better of that trade.
Dynasty22
Diamondback fans rejoice.
Jeffy25
Well if you give up a lot of home runs, your lob rate isn’t bad luck, but a product of the home runs…
Quikmix
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.
Rob66
Somebody is going to get a cheap project pitcher who still has upside.
abes_seed
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.
Karkat
Home runs don’t count as “in play” for BABIP calculation. The formula is (Hits – Homers) / (AtBats – K’s – Homers + SacFlies)
Hoosierdaddy92
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.
msg333
Frieri AND Jim Johnson on the same team would be breathtaking…
Hurdled Again
Stats say he should still have value. I think this was premature.
8791Slegna
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.
S Brooks
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.
bjsguess
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.
M.Kit
Pretty lop-sided trade, although Pirates finding Holdzkom balances it out I suppose of potentially finding that late inning guy