Yes, I’m writing about the Astros acquiring a minor league reliever with control issues on the morning after Halloween. Because, why not?
Acquired for what appears to be only cash considerations, Houston made its first trade of the Randy Flores era. Considering how he was only hired on Friday evening, and the trade occurred roughly a day later, I do wonder how much involvement Flores had, but perhaps he did have some and decided to hit the ground running.
In any case, the 27-year-old Evan Reifert is an interesting arm with, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, a well-regarded slider but noticeable control issues. I mean, a 36.6% Whiff% (92nd percentile) along with a 15.7% SwStr% (86th percentile) among AAA pitchers is generally a good thing, but a 59.6% Strike% (29th percentile) certainly isn’t. That kind of profile is common in baseball.
But these are kind of buy-low moves that I like for the Astros. While the Rays and Nationals employ progressive front offices, they didn’t see Reifert’s control improve last season, but the right-hander does offer tantalizing upside for a club looking to beef up its bullpen depth chart. With Brent Strom back with the Astros, along with the addition of Spencer Medick as the new director of pitching, it’ll be interesting to see if they can unlock something further within Reifert, even if it’s a low-probability outcome.
Feature photo courtesy of Pixel Pete
