Phillies: Three free agent pitchers they can sign at a discount
Spring training is just about a month away, and the Phillies still have issues to address in their pitching staff. With the organization keen on staying below the luxury tax, they need to find some value pitching in the free agent market.
In December, the Phillies cast out their “trophy fish” rod, and were able to reel in one of the top 5 starting pitchers on the market in Zack Wheeler. Now, the Phillies projected salary sits at about $202 million, with the threshold for the luxury tax being at $208 million. The anticipation is that several minor leaguers will get their call this year (i.e. Spencer Howard, Francisco Morales, and Adonis Medina), yet there was an obvious void in production from the starters last year.
While the bullpen also struggled to maintain production, their problem was more staying healthy rather than performance.
To bolster the staff and maintain their current course of frugal spending, we look at three options for the Phillies to entertain.
Arodys Vizcaino (29, RP)
The Phillies bullpen struggled mightily at the end of games, primarily because several of their key guys (Seranthony Dominguez, Adam Morgan, Pat Neshek), and with David Robertson pitching seven games before being shelved for two years. In the 7th-8th-9th innings, the Phillies had the 10th-worst ERA (4.61), gave up the 3rd-most home runs (79), and had the 2nd-worst strikeout percentage (21.8%) in the league.
Arodys Vizcaino would fulfill all of these needs, and would likely not command the salary of a top-end reliever, given the fact he is coming off a shoulder injury that kept him out the majority of 2019.
The four prior season (2015-2018) saw Vizcaino sustain impressive statistics: 0.88 HR/9, 26.6% K%, and a 3.00 ERA, all while pitching at least 30 innings in the 7th-9th innings. The Phillies need another option in the backend of the bullpen, with both Dominguez and Morgan coming off injury, and limited options elsewhere in the bullpen. Vizcaino has experience both as a closer and as a late-game option, but struggles himself with an injury-prone label.
The velocity and violence with which he throws cause a lot of strain on his body, leading to elbow and shoulder injuries that sent him to the DL/IL or the operating room.
Yet, if his innings load was limited and he were able to stay healthy to balance out Dominguez and Morgan, he would provide a great lift to close out situations at the end of games.
Jhoulys Chacín (32, SP)
2018 was only two season ago, yet Jhoulys Chacín has fallen from the head of the Brewers staff to his worst season as a professional split between Milwaukee and Boston. Chacín has never been an overwhelming stuff guy, and won’t strike out a ton of hitters.
The part of Chacín’s game that would be of great benefit to the Phillies is his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark. Over his career, Chacín has a HR/9 of 1.0, so he only gives up one home run per every nine innings. The Phillies last year averaged a HR/9 of 1.7, with Aaron Nola and Jason Vargas having the only rate under 1.3. Chacín dealt with injury for about half of 2019, which saw his numbers take a turn in the wrong direction.
However, looking at the rest of his career, Chacín has a home run-to-fly ball% of 9.8%. The Phillies starters averaged 17.8% HR/FB%, which tied the Yankees for the 3rd-worst mark in the majors.
A veteran presence, and a previous ace, could add some confidence to the back-end of the rotation, elongate the rotation to 6 men, or even allow guys like Vinny Velasquez and Zach Eflin to work out of the bullpen if needed.
However, Chacín could also turn out to be like Jake Arrieta, who has underwhelmed in his role as the veteran backbone. Chacín would be a much cheaper version of Arrieta, and hopefully would keep the Phillies in more games by not giving up the long ball as frequently.
Francisco Liriano (36, RP)
For all of the struggles that the bullpen faced last year, the middle-inning guys actually held their own. The Phillies finished middle-to-top of the league in most categories, outside of home runs and batting average. Just like the rest of the Phillies’ staff, the middle relievers got hit a lot and hit hard. In his first year as a full-time reliever, Francisco Liriano had his best season since the start of his stint with the Pirates. Liriano was the go-to workhorse out of the bullpen, throwing 70 innings for the Pirates, maintaining a 3.49 ERA, a .232 batting average against, and only giving up one home run per nine innings.
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The Phillies used 34 different pitchers in 2019, tied for the 6th-most in the league, with only two players surpassing 50 innings-pitched. Adding another left-hander to the bullpen, with a right-handed dominated starting rotation, feels like a perfect match, especially given Liriano’s ability to eat up innings. His ability to get ground balls bodes well for stranding runners, which the Phillies had much success with last season.
The lingering question around Liriano is obviously his age, coming into his 36-year-old season. This would allow the Phillies to pick him up at a lower cost than a younger reliever, but with age runs the risk of breaking down and decline in production.
With a regulatory approach to his workload, and hopefully with other bullpen guys taking a stand for their position, Liriano can seamlessly fit into a niche he has started to carve for himself.