The Cubs went into the trade deadline with needs for a lefty-masher and a lefty reliever. On Sunday they acquired the lefty-masher in Jose Martinez, and now it appears they could be landing the lefty reliever in Andrew Chafin. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post the Cubs are working on acquiring the reliever.
Chafin has appeared in 11 games in the 2019 season allowing six runs over six and two-thirds innings pitched, he has flashed good stuff with 10 strikeouts, but four walks and nine hits allowed have taken away from the good strikeout numbers. Chafin has been on the injured list since August 19 with a left finger sprain.
Although his numbers this year are rough, he had been a very good reliever for the Diamondbacks in years past with a 3.46 ERA in 225 appearances from 2017-19. Most notably he struck out 182 while walking 64 in 153.2 innings pitched.
He has traditionally been much better against lefties as they have hit just .230/.307/.310 in 541 plate appearances over his career. He is a nice addition to Kyle Ryan and the bullpen could be getting an even bigger boost when Brad Wieck comes back.
Chafin has significantly increased his four-seam fastball usage this season to very poor results as opposing batters have slugged .571 with an average exit velocity of 96 MPH. This came at the expense of his slider which had been his best pitch holding hitters to a .286 slugging percentage this year and .294 the year before.
The return of this deal is currently unknown, and frankly it's a slightly confusing deal for the Cubs. Chafin is currently injured with no timetable for his return. The Cubs needs guys that can contribute as soon as tomorrow, not someone that is currently hurt and has struggled when he is healthy. There is definitely upside to this move, especially if he can come back and be what he has been in the past, but it's just a strange move to make right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment