Eric O’Flaherty Will Bounce-Back To Become Oakland Athletics’ Top Setup Man
As everyone knows, the Oakland Athletics bullpen has been a major disappointment this year. With guys in the pen either hurt, out of their usual roles or just plain ineffective, it is not a surprise that this group has struggled. A guy with a proven track record coming out of the A’s pen is Eric O’Flaherty. He is an important set up man the A’s need to bounce back in order to have that usual shut down bullpen to which everyone is accustomed.
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O’Flaherty signed a two-year, $7 million deal with the Athletics on January 22, 2014. The A’s signed him coming off Tommy John surgery that he had undergone in 2013. Before Tommy John, he was one of the most effective setup men in the game for the Atlanta Braves. During his five year tenure with the Braves, he compiled an ERA of 1.99 in 249 innings pitched while being a workhorse and appearing in 295 games. In 2011, he had an eye popping ERA of 0.98 through 73.2 innings with an impressive 1.08 WHIP. These numbers alone show that he has the track record to be this proficient again. Unfortunately, he has not been the same since going under the knife — especially during his time with the A’s.
When the A’s signed him, GM Billy Beane envisioned a lefty go-getter that could give the A’s an inning a night by getting both righties and lefties out effectively. Since coming back from Tommy John and making his Athletics debut last July, he has had moments of being sharp but inconsistent. His velocity is down, he has had a hard time finding the strike zone and that once nasty sinker is being left up in the zone thus becoming very hittable. When he is not leaving the sinker up in the zone, he is having a difficult time throwing his other pitches for strikes.
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In his career, he has always been a guy who has had pinpoint control while mixing his fastball with a sinker and slider. He has had flashes of being the reliable pitcher he was in Atlanta during the course of this year with the A’s. So far in a small sample size, he has been extremely tough on lefties who are hitting under .100 against him. Once he gets a feel for his pitches again and gets back in a rhythm, the A’s will get the O’Flaherty they envisioned when they first signed him.
O’Flaherty is to talented to become an ineffective relief pitcher. He is a guy who can hold leads with the game on the line and get the very important Holds when the A’s win. He is an important key to the success of the A’s bullpen when fully healthy, which will lead to winning more one run games. Once he bounces back, Bob Melvin will have an extra arm he can trust in late inning games with O’Flaherty.
The key to his bounce back is getting that low 90’s sinker down in the zone and throwing it with two strikes. Look for Melvin to get O’Flaherty in the mix more in late innings games against both righties and lefties and becoming the top setup man in the bullpen going forward the rest of the season.