Pittsburgh Pirates: 3 Potential Left-Handed Relief Targets

Zach Duke

Three years ago I wrote about how the Pirates need their old friend, and some things don’t change.  Duke was traded that year to the St. Louis Cardinals, and after having Tommy John in the 2016 offseason, he came back in July 2018.  Duke has had a steady and long career, really turning around coming out of the bullpen.

The former Pirates starter still gets groundballs at a high rate, 58.6 percent this year, and for his career, he’s never been below 40 percent and has been above 50 percent every year since 2013.  While his 3.75 ERA is high, Duke does possess a 2.77 FIP, pitching to worse results than what he should have.

The Twins are out of the race and the 35-year-old reliever isn’t owed much the rest of the season.  This year lefties have a .254 wOBA and righties a .338 wOBA, and over the last three years the numbers are .263 and righties a .303 wOBA.

Duke has been effective out of the bullpen and can still get both sides out, and at the worst, he’s an upgrade over Brault against both righties and lefties.  Zach Duke would be a marginal upgrade for a low cost to a team who isn’t competing for the division but for the wild card.  Slight upgrades are what this team should be looking for given their ceiling, and Duke is just that.  It would be a move to reword the current group without sending away any players important to the future.