Astros Trade Hypothetical: Three relievers to target in a trade this summer

The Astros, like all contenders, can use another reliever or two for the upcoming postseason push.

Look, the Astros have one of the best bullpens in baseball. Numbers don’t lie.

• 2.94 ERA
• 2.82 FIP
• 3.2 fWAR
• 28.8% K Rate
• 6.5% BB Rate

That said, the Astros’ bullpen has been relatively untrustworthy in high leverage situations. FanGraphs has a Clutch rating, where you can find a thorough explanation here. By the Clutch rating, the Astros’ bullpen at -2.02 is the worst in baseball.

The next closest team by Clutch?

The Tigers at -1.25.

Now, Clutch is only one metric. I would recommend that you check out other numbers and situations to draw your own conclusions. For the sake of brevity, I won’t delve too much deeper into this aspect of the Astros’ bullpen.

And, no, blown saves are not a quality way to measure a reliever’s performance. Like the pitcher win, it is basically devoid of any true analytic substance. If you want to complain about the Astros’ blown saves, check out the leaderboard here. There is some truth to the statement that each fanbase considers their team’s bullpen to be worse than everybody else’s.

I’ve also come to find over the years that the eye test is a good compliment for numbers. And the Astros do seem to struggle in high leverage situations, or anytime Ken Giles steps into a non-save situation. Baseball can be weird.

By analyzing the numbers and by the eye test, it is reasonable to conclude that another reliever or two would be beneficial for the Astros. Especially if Joe Smith‘s right elbow turns out to be a more fragile than your great-grandmother’s antique collection. And let’s face it that each team probably wants another reliever or two anyway.

So, in theory, the Astros should look into available relievers. And there are three that I would check in upon before anyone else.

Reliever Number One: Brad Hand

The Astros already have a left-handed reliever on the major league roster, Tony Sipp, who is in the middle of a decent campaign. But Houston’s decision makers do not use Sipp much when the game is on the line. Fellow lefty Reymin Guduan has recently taken Smith’s place on the active roster, but he is relatively untested at the major league level.

For a contender like the Astros, it is difficult to navigate through the postseason without a proven left-handed reliever who can be used in more high leverage situations. I am still quite thankful that left-handed Francisco Liriano was able to get the left-handed Cody Bellinger to ground out in the fifth inning of Game 7 during the World Series. And I am still not sure how the Astros navigated the postseason waters with only the right-handed Chris Devenski as their go-to answer for left-handed hitters in most games.

Enter a familiar name from last year’s rumor mill, Brad Hand.

The Padres’ left-handed closer has been a popular fixture on the rumor cycle. And for the right reasons. For one, he has consistently been one of the best relievers in baseball with a combined 2.06 ERA and 2.96 FIP over the past two seasons. He is also under a team-friendly contract of three-years for $18 million for the rebuilding Padres. Oh, there is also a team option for a fourth year. In other words, great value.

Another draw to Hand is his ability to get both right- and left-handed batters out.

2018 right- vs. left-handed hitter splits

Right-handed: 22 IP, 97 TBF, .205/.320/.313, .290 wOBA

Left-handed: 12.1 IP, 42 TBF, .053/.146/.162, .148 wOBA

In short, Hand is really, really good. His 37.4% strikeout rate is currently the tenth-highest among all qualified relievers. While his walk rate of 10.4% isn’t among the best, his high strikeout rate covers for it. Hand’s numbers also look more impressive once you look at how batters are swinging against him compared to 2017.

Change in swing rates, 2017 vs. 2018

Pitches swung outside the zone (O-Swing %): -2.0%

Pitches swung inside the zone (Z-Swing %): -8.2%

Total pitches swung, inside and outside the zone (Swing %): -4.0%

Change in contact rate, 2017 vs. 2018

Outside the zone contact rate (O-Contact%): +8.2%

Inside the zone contact rate (Z-Contact%): -6.3%

Total contact rate, inside and outside the zone (Contact%): -1.0%

Batters have changed their approach with Hand in 2018. In fact, hitters have been much less apt at swinging at all. However, they are making more contact with pitches that land outside the zone and less contact with pitches thrown inside the zone. But Hand has improved his first-strike rate by 2.1% this season and he has also increased his groundball rate by 2.2%. If anything, the quality of Hand’s pitches inside the zone has generally improved. Hand’s velocity, for example, has improved across the board early this season compared to last year. These changes would also explain why his strikeout rate is currently 4.0% higher than the 2017 rate.

Hand is also on a team-friendly contract for the foreseeable future. But the price of doing business with the Padres will be remarkably high. And, no, AJ Reed will not be enough to trade for Hand. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Padres held out for someone in Kyle Tucker‘s class as the main centerpiece. But if general Jeff Luhnow can talk them down to a slightly lower price, then the Astros may be wise to consummate a trade.

Now, I feel the bad “Hand” puns coming fast.

Reliever Number Three: Zach Britton

Besides Hand, the Astros have been most commonly linked to Britton, the closer of the Orioles. When healthy, of course. Rumor has it that there was a trade nearly in place last summer for Britton to be shipped to Houston. Looking back, Baltimore should’ve cashed in on Britton’s value before the 2017 season, but hindsight is 20/20.

The biggest knock on Britton over the past calendar year or so has been his health. As you may be aware, Britton dealt with a sore left arm early in the 2017 season followed by sore left knee in August. Then there was an Achilles injury shortly before Christmas this past winter. In fact, he was just activated from the DL on Monday and made his 2018 debut on Tuesday.

A healthy Britton though would be a valuable asset to any team’s bullpen. While he will probably not approach the level of excellence he demonstrated in 2016 — 0.54 ERA in 67 innings — Britton would give the Astros another left-handed reliever who can pitch in high leverage situations.

That said, Britton will need to show that his 2017 results were due to injuries and not a decline in skill.

2017 statistics

37.1 IP, 18.0% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate, 2.89 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 3.48 xFIP, 0.6 fWAR

While Britton’s 2.89 ERA in 37.1 innings was quite good, the precarious drop in strikeout rate and rise in walk rate is a concern. Not to mention the .336 BABIP.

Britton’s pitches appeared to be more hittable. For example, opposing batters increased the inside contact rate by 6.0% against Britton in 2017 compared to his historic 2016 season. His outside contact rate jumped by an incredible 14.5%. In terms of overall contact rate, the increase was 11.6%. And fewer batters were chasing Britton’s pitches outside the zone while swinging more in the zone by noticeable margins.

In all, Britton wasn’t fooling a lot of batters in 2017.

The fact that he had such a low ERA and FIP speaks to Britton’s talent. If Britton did pitch a full season at this rate though, I would not expect his overall numbers to look quite as good based on his peripherals. Oh, by the way, his sinker’s velocity was down by roughly one mile per hour. Not much of a difference, but it could be enough to allow batters to hit his mistakes.

Between now and the deadline, Britton’s performance will be under a microscope. Based on his first appearance, his fastball velocity was even lower than 2017. For example, his averaged 94.6 MPH on his sinker and 81.2 MPH on his curveball. For his career, those pitches averaged velocity is 95.4 MPH and 82.6 MPH. In his first appearance, Britton also walked three and struck out one. Surprisingly, he did not give up a hit or a run in the one inning appearance to five batters.

Like Herrera, Britton is a free-agent following the 2018 season. Unlike Herrera, who has shown notable durability in his early career, Britton will likely need to pursue a short-term deal to rebuild his value due to injuries. Of course, it is only mid-June with plenty of baseball left. Britton could rebuild his value in a hurry if he pitches close to his past level.

Next: Astros: Welcome to the musical chairs edition of Astros closers

But teams will not meet the high price that Britton could’ve fetched Baltimore even one year ago. This time around the interested parties have more leverage than the Orioles. But since it is the Orioles, I am not sure if they will actually trade Britton. Regardless, the Astros should keep an eye on him.

**Statistics and information courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs**