A look at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ September reinforcements

May 14, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Bobby LaFromboise (39) pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies during the eighth inning at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates have called up some reinforcements.

Yes, for all of the hoopla and back-and-forth regarding Tyler Glasnow, the Pirates quietly added five players who each carry the ability to be a cog – albeit none would be considered a terribly important one – in some games down the 2015 stretch.

Now that we can reel ourselves back in from the Glasnow hype, it’s time to take a hard look at what those who did make the leap up can do for this team. The players coming up comprise an interesting mix of familiar faces as well as someone finally getting a real chance to show what he can do. While names such as Pedro Florimon, Rob Scahill, and Travis Ishikawa are still to come, today we will focus on those that were officially announced yesterday as the “first wave” of the cavalry.  We are going to review how each player can help the Pittsburgh Pirates, and how they can hurt them.  Let’s get started.

Bobby LaFromboise

Bobby Lafromboise. That’s fun to say. LaFromboise is a 29-year old left handed pitcher who had a couple of cups of coffee with the big league club. Appearing in eight total games between 2014 and 2015, the southpaw is a classic three-pitch bullpen arm. Employing a changeup and slider to go along with his four-seam fastball, LaFromboise almost exclusively relies on deception. With a fastball that averages under 90mph, he isn’t going to blow anyone away.

How he can help – Even considering an incredibly small sample size, LaFromboise has shown good control in not allowing a free pass in his five innings with the Pirates. During that same timeframe, he has only allowed one run on a solo home run back in 2014. Bobby’s WHIP (walks+hits/innings pitched) has been under 0.85 for each of his stints with the big-league club. Despite not having good velocity, he did carry at 18.9% swinging-strike rate in 2014.

Stats aside, another left-handed option in the bullpen is never a bad thing.

How he can hurt – If we expand his 2015 numbers to include his performance at Indianapolis, the picture for LaFromboise changes completely. Pitching 54.1 innings across 54 games, LaFromboise’s BB/9 (walks per nine innings) balloons to 3.5. LaFromboise was also somewhat home-run prone for a middle reliever with a 0.8 HR/9 rating. Keeping it in the ballpark and pitching to contact will be key for LaFromboise if he is going to provide a meaningful contribution going forward.

Next let’s welcome back a local hero to many.

Next: Grab your lunchbox

Sep 28, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Travis Snider (23) warms up on deck at the beginning of a game with the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Travis Snider

I could sit here and easily type out a hundred words on what Travis Snider meant to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2014.

Of I could just show one video.

How he can help – Snider provides an incredible emotional boost. Respected and loved among his teammates, Snider’s return could provide a mental refresh during the final month of a long season. As it is hard to quantify that fully, we must look at the numbers. There was not much to like about Lunchbox’s time as a Baltimore Oriole. Posting a .659 OPS and relegated to part-time duty, Snider never seemed to get on track in Camden, but it wasn’t due to a lack of success against LHP. Snider still hit well versus lefties with a .256 average.

How he can hurt – Bringing Snider back was the very definition of a low-risk move, but he can still hurt the team if put into high-leverage situations. Snider carries a strikeout rate of 26.9% this year as opposed to his “breakout” year of 2014 that saw an 18.6% rating. The walk-rate is still there at 9.7%. The numbers that may trump all others are his pinch-hit stats. For 2015, Snider is 1-for-9 as a pinch hitter with five strikeouts. While he does figure to see an occasional start in right field to spell Gregory Polanco, we will see Snider mostly pinch-hitting, making that strikeout rate very alarming.

Next, let’s catch up with one of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ offseason bullpen acquisitions

Next: The OTHER bullpen guy

May 23, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Radhames Liz (58) pitches against the New York Mets during the ninth inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Radhames Liz

After the dust settled on the 2014-2015 offseason, it was clear that Pirates general manager Neal Huntington thought that shoring up his bullpen was his biggest priority. With the lone “big splash” coming in the form of acquiring Antonio Bastardo, Huntington filled out the ‘pen with twin unheralded signings. Arquimedes Caminero and Liz gave pitching coach, nay, wizard Ray Searage some new toys to play with. While Caminero has wavered some storms to become a semi-reliable late-inning option, Liz was sent down to make room for Charlie Morton despite a good-if-not-great performance early in the year. Now, after working with Indians manager Dean Treanor and his staff, Liz is ready to contribute to the club in September.

How he can help – Liz has excellent strikeout ability as a middle-relief guy, with a 9.3 SO/9 rating. As a reformed major league starter, Liz carries a variety of weapons under his belt, but in typical Serage-esque fashion, has whittled those down to those that work best. Liz relies on the four-seam fastball but can also trot out a capable two-seamer and a change up when need be. Having four pitches he can throw reliably allows Clint Hurdle great flexibility in playing matchups out of the middle relief options.

How he can hurt – Liz’s achilles’ heel is the home run. In 12 appearances at the big-league level, Liz allowd three home runs, or 1.4 per nine innings. That number is an absolute deal breaker for a middle reliever relied upon to get people out. Additionally, though he does have a nice selection of pitches, none of them fare particularly well with low weighted pitch values across the board. The worst of these is the changeup with has a -1.2 rating according to FanGraphs. (for comparison, 0.0 is considered “average”)

Next, we turn our attention to a young catcher who may help the team in a very-lacking area.

Next: The Elias Sports Bureau

Mar 12, 2015; Bradenton, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Elias Diaz (66) catches a ball during a spring training baseball game at McKechnie Field. The Boston Red Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Elias Diaz

Elias Diaz had a very eye-opening spring training that led many to believe that he may be closer to ready than we all thought. Showing good defense and a capable bat, Diaz had no shot at making the roster for Opening Day once it became clear that Francisco Cervelli was the real deal. On the strength of that spring training and a consistently good bat, Diaz has certainly earned the nod over the “other” catcher at Indianapolis in Tony Sanchez.

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How he can help – I can’t say it more succinctly than this: Diaz is a very good defensive catcher. Catching would-be base-stealers at a 30% clip, Diaz represents a significant boost over Cervelli (22%) and Chris Stewart (21%). Of course, these numbers must be taken with a grain of salt due to the slow-to-the-plate approach of several Pirates starters. Still, that is quite an improvement. Perhaps more than anything, Diaz can provide a break to Cervelli late in games when Stewart is to catch the next day. Offensively, Diaz is capable with a .271 AVG/.711 OPS to go along with 16 doubles.

How he can hurt – Is he capable though? That OPS has steadily declined over the past two years, both of which saw an OPS of .780 or better. Although his strikeout and walk rates are both good (14.1% and 8.8% respectively), he does not drive the ball, as a 1.34 GO/AO ratio (groundouts to air-outs) indicates. This may be of little concern to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who figure to use Diaz mostly as a late-inning defensive replacement along with the occasional start.

We conclude this look at the September reinforcements with a player who happens to play at the most crowded position at all.

Next: DJ Jaffy Jaff