The Oakland Athletics’ bullpen looks remarkably different today than it has the past several seasons. Two of the most notable absences among players not on the disabled list are Dan Otero and Ryan Cook. The magical 2012 and 2013 regular seasons may not have been so magical without them, and optimistic A’s fans hope that they find their stride in Triple-A Nashville. But what if 2015 exposed these two in ways from which they just cannot recover?
Otero was arguably one of the most underrated relief pitchers in 2014. His 2.28 ERA and 1.096 WHIP through 86.2 innings were All-Star caliber numbers. Television broadcasters Glen Kuiper and Ray Fosse pounce on the opportunity to talk about Otero’s ground-ball pitching style. They do not exaggerate just how much he relies on this, either. In 2014, an astoundingly high 80 percent of batters facing Otero put the ball in play. For comparison, Fernando Abad and Evan Scribner’s in play percentages last year were 65 and 66 percent, respectively.
Despite those incredible numbers, ground ball pitching is only this effective when the ball finds its way into a defender’s glove. In 2014, Otero’s 2.28 ERA ballooned one whole point to a 3.28 FIP, which suggests that the A’s defense did him a lot of favors last year. His 1.38 ERA and 2.12 FIP in 2013 tell the same story.
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The lackluster 2015 A’s defense exposed that Otero’s stuff might not actually be as strong as it appeared in previous years. His current 6.29 ERA might be a slightly unfair measure of his ability, since his FIP does settle down to a (still high but better) 4.67. However, he gave up enough runs in enough key situations that the front office felt it was best to send him to Triple-A to get back on his game.
And so far, he hasn’t.
He has made four relief appearances in Nashville this year, totaling 7.2 innings. Although he has only given up two runs in that time, he has also surrendered 11 hits and two walks, striking out only one. This equates to a sky-high 1.700 WHIP in the minor leagues. There is no way the A’s bring him back until they see drastic improvement.
May 2, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Ryan Cook (48) pitches against the Texas Rangers during the game at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Rangers defeated the Athletics 8-7. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
So what happened to Cook?
It was only three years ago that he was Oakland’s sole representative in the All-Star game. The closer-turned-setup-man used to be Bob Melvin’s trump card late in close games.
The key to his decline has been strikeouts. His strike percentage has been incredibly consistent, maintaining a constant 64 percent over the last three seasons. However, his strikeout-to-walk ratio has steadily declined from 2.96 in 2012 to 2.27 in 2014 (he has only pitched in four games in 2015, so he gets a break on this season’s numbers). When so many of those at-bats that used to be strikeouts suddenly become walks, a pitcher suddenly starts to look mortal.
His strikeout problem also indicates that he is having trouble executing his out-pitch, and batters are capitalizing on this. From 2013 to 2014, his walk percentage increased from 8.5 percent to 10.9 percent, and his extra base hit percentage increased from 4.4 percent to 6.4 percent. This may not seem like too much of a jump, but it is significant enough to make a difference. His out-pitch is either out of the zone for ball four, or is flat enough that batters are taking it for extra bases more frequently. The extra walks are extra runners on first base, and the extra base hits are bringing in more runners on first that would not have been there in 2012.
The reason for his decline could be in his delivery.
Cook’s delivery includes a hitch in his throwing wrist during the windup, and that could be enough to cause inconsistent location and movement on his fastball. This problem is noticeable enough that Susan Slusser reported that delivery issues were the main cause of Cook’s poor performance in spring training, a performance so bad that the A’s decided he should start the regular season in Nashville.
In Nashville, Cook owns a 2.61 season ERA. However, this swells up to 4.50 over his last ten games. He has also given up hits or walks in seven of his last ten relief appearances in Nashville. The A’s are going to be looking for him to demonstrate improvement as the season goes on before they consider recalling the former All-Star to the Majors. Whether he has worked out his mechanics or not, Cook is not Major League ready at the moment.
With the A’s starters performing so well, Melvin has had the luxury of only needing to manage a few innings of bullpen use per game. Excluding the recent bullpen disaster against the Los Angeles Angels, relievers Drew Pomeranz and Edward Mujica have demonstrated that they can cover an inning of solid pitching. Tyler Clippard is fresh off a pair of multi-inning saves, and should be gaining Melvin’s trust as the everyday closer for the foreseeable future.
This is additional bad news for the pair of struggling relievers. They have not yet demonstrated that they are better alternatives to the current A’s bullpen for situational pitching. Right now they are resting at about where Dan Straily was before being dealt to the Cubs: available minor league pitchers that could sweeten a trade deal.