The Nationals have outrighted right-hander Ross Ohlendorf, the club announced. Ohlendorf has elected free agency.
Today’s move was precipitated by Ohlendorf’s activation from the 60-day DL, where he had resided all year. An early-year back strain ultimately sidelined Ohlendorf for much of the year (including time missed after a re-aggravation), though he did throw 15 minor league rehab innings.
Ohlendorf was a pleasant surprise last year for the Nationals, throwing 60 1/3 frames of 3.28 ERA ball after signing a minor league deal. That included seven starts and nine relief appearances, over which he struck out 6.7 and walked 2.1 per nine.
After that solid effort, Ohlendorf was retained on a $1.25MM arbitration deal (including $3MM in incentives). If he can show that he can maintain the velocity increase that fueled his success last year, it stands to reason that Ohlendorf will receive plenty of interest from teams looking for someone to compete in camp on a minor league deal.
He was a very good backup pitcher for 5-6 inning stretches. Would get crushed 3rd time through the lineup, but that’s still pretty good for a 6th starter. Good luck to him.
Getting crushed the third time through the lineup is an incredibly common denominator in all pitchers really, and one that you would think more SABR minded managers would start to act on.
I think that Ross will get a nice opportunity to start once again. However, since he is a smart guy, I’m curious to see what will happen with his career after baseball. Upper management? GM? Who knows.
I’d love for him to be the Phillies’ alternative to Kyle Kendrick as a #5 right hander, with Ohlendorf being more high risk/high reward (and less exasperating).
Honestly, I doubt Ohlendorf could make it as a full-time MLB starter. I’m not sure why you think he’d be less exasperating, though, since he’s been nothing but injured and inconsistent for most of his career.
We’ve already got one fringe MLB starter in Williams, going with 2 means you’re shooting for the #1 overall draft pick next year.
I agree, i think that handing him the reigns to the number 5 job signals a continued swing towards the tank. Wouldn’t mind him as depth, though most clubs would probably say the same.
I think he’s a long reliever/spot starter on a mid-or-lower-level team. Now, that’s the Phillies right now, definitely, but they already have Pettibone, Williams and Buchanan as that kind of pitcher. It doesn’t make sense to stockpile quad-A pitchers just because they’re available.
Especially not when you’ve got some probable-quad-As making league minimum, and another SP who’ll probably get a September call-up (Nola), plus one that you hope can do the same (Biddle).
I agree with that, though pettibone is a bit of a question mark due to recent health, and the other two you listed are already penciled in for the rotation. Leaving quad-A depth of pettibone at this point, and i feel he is a question mark also?
I’m comfortable with Pettibone as a AAA call-up guy. His injury is certainly problematic, but he was never going to realistically post an ERA under 4.30 over a full season anyway, so I doubt it would have caused that bad a regression. Adam Morgan’s another guy in the same boat.
If they absolutely need someone else internally, they could run with Ethan Martin as well.
Ohlendorf would make sense for the Phillies if you could get him on a MiLB deal with an invite to ST and a June opt-out date. However, he’ll get a better offer than that from somewhere else, so he’ll go there.
Yeah comfortable with Pettibone if he can stay fit. Morgan will be an interesting candidate, as he showed some flashes of upside prior to this shoulder injury which has seen him sit out for quite a while now. I agree re Ohlendorf, he should get a better deal elsewhere.
To me, almost anyone is less exasperating than Kyle Kendrick. For most of his several years as a Phillie, I absolutely could not stand watching him pitch.
The Phillies aren’t competing this year anyway, so I don’t think it’s the worst approach to try to fill in with inexpensive guys with higher ceilings. As I see it, not contending is not contending–it doesn’t matter if they’re in 4th place or 5th. Might as well take some chances.
Right, but why do you feel that way? The most exasperating thing about KK to me was that he’d have games where he’d be phenomenal – often against the Braves, which was an added bonus – and then follow them up with games where he’d get lit up in either the first or 6th inning. However, he almost always got you through 6, and the run support he received indicates that other teams’ #4s/5s aren’t much better most of the time.
I get that familiarity breeds contempt and all, but Kendrick really hasn’t been bad for a back-of-the-rotation guy. He’s not going to win the Cy Young award any time soon, but if we could get him back on a 2-year, $8MM deal? That’s reasonable, and worth it for the innings he eats.
I hate his mechanics. Also, his face bothers me. You make good points about his effectiveness. I just can’t stand the guy. It’s not rational.
For what it’s worth, were it not for him, Halladay never would have developed his devastating change-up, since apparently Dubee taught them both using the same method.
Perhaps Ross Ohlendorf can sign with Seattle and become the second tall righthanded Princeton University product in two years to be named American League Comeback Player of the Year (joining Chris Young).
Seattle with their lack of starting pitching depth and the Saefco factor makes a lot of sense for both parties. I could easily see that.
As a Nats pitcher, Ohlendorf was certainly better than Young. The guy is a decent, smart pitcher. I think a Seattle signing makes a lot of sense.