The Yankees are all the way down to only one lefty of their bullpen. On Wednesday, the Bombers traded reliever Lucas Luetge to the Atlanta Braves in change for prospects Indigo Diaz (a right-handed pitcher) — the Braves’ No. 23 prospect, in response to MLB pipeline — and infielder Caleb Durbin.
Luetge was DFA’d by the Yankees on Dec. 21 to make room for Tommy Kahnle on the 40-man roster. The veteran southpaw hurled 129.2 innings over two seasons with the Bombers recording an ERA of two.74 in 2021 and a couple of.67 in 2022. Luetge didn’t seem within the postseason as he was left off of the ALCS roster towards the Astros.
The commerce of the 35-year-old comes as Major League Baseball is trending away from the traditional lefty-on-lefty specialists out of the bullpen.
Wandy Peralta is the lone southpaw in Aaron Boone’s steady and the Yankees aren’t panicking.
“I think we’ve got a couple of righties that also can get lefties out at a high rate,” mentioned pitching coach Matt Blake after Carlos Rodon’s introductory press convention final week. “Kahnle is obviously a nice addition in that way with the big changeup that can get lefties out. Ron Marinaccio can get lefties out.”
Kahnle was extremely efficient towards left-handed batters — and generally as he recorded a 2.84 ERA — in 2022 for the Dodgers as lefties slashed .154/.241/.385 in 29 plate appearances.
Marinaccio is extra of the identical. The 27-year-old was nearly unhittable towards lefties throughout his breakout rookie marketing campaign. The Toms River, N.J., native surrendered a .146/.247/.232 slashline to lefties and an total 2.05 ERA in 44 innings for the Bombers.
For reference, lefties slashed .269/.359/.333 towards Luetge in 2022.
What do Marinaccio and Kahnle have in frequent? A changeup.
Kahnle’s changeup accounted for 76.4% of his pitches final season and Marinaccio threw it 37.9% of the time, in response to Baseball Savant. The changeup is such an efficient pitch towards lefties as a result of it operates similarly to a slider towards righties, darting down and away from the barrel of the hitter.
The new age of analytics in baseball has modified many issues within the recreation equivalent to launch angle, shifts (which are actually banned), the notion of strikeouts within the field and now the concept a pitcher is simpler towards a lefty as a result of he throws together with his left hand.
It’s not simply the Yankees, bear in mind who received the World Series final season.
The Houston Astros lifted the commissioner’s trophy in November with out a left-handed reliever throwing a single pitch within the postseason. Just a reminder that they needed to get by star left-handed hitters equivalent to Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber within the Fall Classic.
Ironically, alongside Houston’s path to the World Series was Yordan Alvarez taking Robbie Ray into the second deck to stroll off the Mariners in Game 1 of the ALDS — a scenario Ray was put into due to which hand he threw with.
The query the Yanks and ‘Stros have answered for their bullpen construction will surely make its way around the league: Why limit yourself to a specialist in the bullpen who you’d have to instantly take out as soon as a righty comes up when you’ll be able to have somebody who will get each out?’
Especially with the three-batter minimal rule that was carried out within the 2020 season to hurry up the tempo of play. It additionally might have not directly altered the pondering of groups and the quantity job alternatives for pitchers like Luetge.
It’s a dialog that doesn’t bode nicely for southpaws out of the bullpen.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com