Funny how precarious relief pitching can be in Major League Baseball. Several years ago, Craig Nettles had one of the best lines in the history of baseball when the Yankees acquired Goose Gossage the winter after Sparky Lyle won the Cy Young award as a relief pitcher. Nettles said, "He went from Cy Young to syonara." The latest to ride that roller coaster is George Sherrill. The Dodgers put the left-hander on waivers meaning that any club who claims him can have him. It wasn't long ago that Sherrill was an All Star.
And it is easy to understand why the Dodgers did that. Sherrill has given up 16 runs in 19.1 innings of work this year. In those innings, he's given up 28 hits. Plus, Sherrill's strikeouts per nine are way down and his walks are way up. His 2.237 WHIP certainly isn't pretty.
But Sherrill's had success in his career and perhaps some of those hits are based on luck. His .371 BABIP this year certainly appears to be unlucky and despite only giving up two homers this season, his batting average against on fly balls is an absurd .458. One would never call the Dodgers a great fielding outfielder team.
Here's an idea: The Yankees should give him a try. He's still effective against left-handed batters with a .211 batting average and a .695 OPS against. Marte hasn't done the job for the Yankees and they could use a lefty out of the bullpen. He is fairly cheap and if their very good pitching coach can spot a flaw or two, perhaps the walks can be put under control and he can regain the form which made him an All Star. It's worth a shot, right?
1 comment:
The Red Sox might want to kick the tires on him as well. Okajima has been awful.
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