With the clock ticking towards the trade deadline the Cubs have made another addition to their pitching staff as they have traded for right-handed reliever Brandon Kintzler according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network (on Twitter). In return, the Cubs send 23-year old RHP Jhon Romero to the Nationals according to Cubs beat writer Carrie Muskat (on Twitter).
Kintzler, 33, has had a solid season for the Nationals with a 3.59 ERA 42.2 innings pitched. Primarily a ground ball pitcher, Kintzler relies on a sinker to get outs throwing it 75% of the time which could allow him to thrive with the Cubs defense behind him.
Romero was having a solid season for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans with a 3.27 ERA and a 57-17 K-BB ratio. It's a reasonable return for the Nationals as relievers like Romero are ultimately a dime a dozen especially in this level of the minor leagues.
Kintzler has suffered from much harder contact against him as his line drive rate (28.1%) is much higher than his career norm (23.7%), and is partially to blame for a sharp 8 percent decrease in his ground ball rate. A cause for this may be both his sinker and slider dropping a tick from his excellent 2017 and with bullpens becoming more reliant on velocity that was something he couldn't afford to lose.
It's worth noting that Kintzler has a mutual option for 2019 that starts off as a 2019 team option for 10 million, but if that's declined than it turns into a 5 million player option that is likely to be executed.
This marks the third and most likely final acquisition by the Cubs to a pitching staff that was in need of some serious reinforcements after a shaky first half. Cole Hamels was added to boost their shaky rotation, Jesse Chavez and now Kinzler will boost an already solid Cubs bullpen.
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