Atlanta Braves are Finding Out What Pittsburgh Sensed About Eric O’Flaherty
Braves’ chief lefty reliever has been struggling all season with no end in sight
After acquiring him from Pittsburgh near the end of Spring Training, Eric O’Flaherty only saw one inning of game action in a Brave uniform before the season started. In that outing, he faced 4 batters and two of them got hits. While he managed to escape that jam, it seems to have signaled a bigger issue, which might have been apparent even at the time of acquisition.
While with the Pirates, EOF had a Spring ERA of 2.89. Yet the Pirates were debating whether to keep him at all. Why? Well, despite that robust-sounding ERA, he had allowed 15 hits and a 1.82 WHIP – which isn’t exactly the kind of stuff you like to see from a veteran who is tabbed to be your lefty stopper.
Now into the regular season, all of this has been magnified now that O’Flaherty is facing the most consistently top-tiered competition. EOF has been used 8 times in the first 14 games, facing 13 batters, yet only completing 2 innings (6 outs) in the process.
Here’s the breakdowns, first by outing:
- 4/4 (WAS): 1 out for 3 batters faced, 1 hit, -0.363 Win Probability Added (WPA), losing pitcher of record.
- 4/8 (STL): 0 outs, 1 batter faced, 1 hit (homer), -0.260 WPA, losing pitcher of record.
- 4/10 (STL): 1 out, 1 batter faced, unscathed. +0.011 WPA
- 4/11 (WAS): 2 outs, 3 batters faced, 1 walk, 1 run (earned), +0.021 WPA
- 4/12 (WAS): 0 outs, 1 batter faced, 1 hit, -0.352 WPA
- 4/15 (MIA): 1 out, 1 batter faced, unscathed. +0.011 WPA
- 4/17 (MIA): 1 out, 2 batters faced, 1 walk, -0.084 WPA
- 4/20 (LAD): 0 outs, 1 batter faced, 1 hit (homer), -0.258 WPA
Now by batter (Lefty/Righty, with result):
- Bryce Harper, LHH, groundout
- Ryan Zimmerman, RHH, reached on E4 ground ball
- Daniel Murphy, LHH, double to deep LF (scoring unearned run)
- Aledmys Diaz, RHH, home run
- Brandon Moss, LHH, fly out to RF
- Bryce Harper, LHH, strikeout looking
- Ryan Zimmerman, RHH, walked
- Daniel Murphy, LHH, fly out to deep CF
- Bryce Harper, LHH, double to LF corner, scoring 2 runs.
- Justin Bour, LHH, groundout.
- Ichiro Suzuki, LHH, wild pitch, walked
- Dee Gordon, LHH, groundout, scoring inherited runner
- Adrian Gonzalez, LHH, home run, scoring inherited runner
So by this, batters facing O’Flaherty are hitting .364 against him. He’s thrown 39 pitches, only 21 for strikes. The 12 total bases in 11 ABs amounts to a 1.090 slugging rate and an OPS of 1.552.
Moreover, the Left-handed hitters that are supposed to be his specialty are not being fooled. They are 3 for 9 with a homer, 2 doubles, and nearly another home run as Daniel Murphy just missed getting one out during his 2nd look at O’Flaherty. Granted, they are tough hitters, but this is the role that he signed up for.
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