How Jake Diekman improves a shaky Athletics bullpen
In theory, a bullpen featuring Blake Treinen, Lou Trivino and Liam Hendriks (the current iteration) is one of the best in baseball.
Add Jake Diekman — which the Oakland A’s did Saturday morning in a trade with the Kansas City Royals — and that bullpen transforms into a behemoth.
Right now, this untouchable bullpen is just a barely tangible concept. Off his injury Treinen is still struggling with his command and Trivino is just finding his footing as the stable late-inning force he was not long ago.
The A’s bullpens’ vulnerabilities have been exposed of late — particularly when Hendriks was used for a five out save amid a three-appearance sequence in Minnesota that culminated in his first blown save.
A more forceful playoff push would require another arm capable of missing bats, a quality the A’s found in Diekman.
“Watching left-handers around the league and talking to some of our guys too, it’s certainly not a comfortable at bat, so makes us a lot better,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s a guy we’ve been targeting for a bit and finally got done and glad to have him.”
The A’s went after Diekman in free agency this offseason, but the left-hander went to the Royals on a one-year, $2.7 million contract with a mutual option for 2020.
The 32-year-old left-hander has a 4.75 ERA in 41.2 innings this season, but his 63 strikeouts and 95 mph average fastball velocity — which ranks seventh among all left-handed relievers, per Statcast — are the numbers to tuck away. Plus, he has a 95 mph sinker, 90 mph changeup and 85 mph slider. He is the powerful left-handed arm this bullpen needs.
“I think it compliments the guys in our pen right now,” general manager David Forst said. “Obviously Lou and Blake from the right side, Liam closes, and up to 100 (mph). When you talk about seventh, eighth inning and giving Bob some options to mix and match, I think when you can bring in velocity from both sides it gives him some really good choices.”
The A’s have struggled mightily against left-handers this year, allowing a .734 OPS. Against left-handers, Diekman has a .213 opponents average, .211 against right-handers. Even with a high ERA, the A’s will gamble on that fastball, the missed bat potential; up until now Wei-Chung Wang and Ryan Buchter were the only left-handed options out of the bullpen with unsustainable results.
In theory, Diekman’s arrival completes a dominant back-end bullpen. If Treinen and Trivino return to form — if a recovering A.J. Puk proves he can pitch on one day’s rest and out of the bullpen upon a potential call-up — this bullpen could very well be a force to be reckoned with as the postseason joust intensifies. (Puk pitched one shutout inning with a strikeout with Las Vegas on Friday night.)
Of course, Forst hasn’t put the phone down yet. The trade deadline is four days away, and Forst “can’t guarantee anything by Wednesday, but we’ll continue to try.”
The A’s gave up minor league right-handed pitcher Ismael Aquino and minor league outfielder Dairon Blanco to the Royals for Diekman. Aquino had a 4.58 ERA in 10 games with the A’s Gold club in the Arizona Rookie League. Blanco was hitting .276 with seven home runs and 44 RBI with Double-A Midland.