Pittsburgh Pirates: Recently DFA’d Pitcher Could Help the Bullpen

Friday evening the San Diego Padres designated Luis Perdomo for assignment. He is a pitcher the Pittsburgh Pirates should pursue for a bullpen boost.

Friday was the deadline for MLB teams to add prospects to their 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. The Pittsburgh Pirates added two players to their 40-man roster, and designated a pair of veterans for assignment.

Relief pitcher Luis Perdomo became a roster casuality on Friday. As they added three players to their 40-man, the San Diego Padres designated Perdomo for assignment. Now that he is on the market, he is a pitcher the Pittsburgh Priates should consdier pursuing for the 2021 bullpen.

At one time, Perdomo was a highly thought of starting pitching prospect in the San Diego farm system. While he has made 61 MLB starts, he has settled in as a reliever. In his five-year MLB career, Perdomo has made 72 relief appearances.

Overall in his career Perdomo owns a 5.19 ERA, 4.44 FIP, 8.2% walk rate, 16.9% strikeout rate, and he’s allowed home runs at a stellar 1.07 HR/9 clip. In 2020, Perdomo mad 10 appearances for the Padres including a start. He pitched 17.1 innings, posting a 5.71 ERA and a 5.33 FIP. However, his 3.69 DRA painted a prettier picture of how Perdomo actually pitched.

Perdomo posted a career-best 21.6% strikeout rate in 2020. However, his 13.5% walk rate was a new career-worst. So, it goes without saying that control is what plagued Perdomo in 2020. For his career, however, control has not been this big of an issue, as he entered the 2020 season with a lifetime 8.0% walk rate. So, control has not always been a major issue for Perdomo.

Prior to his struggles in 2020, Perdomo had posted a 4.40 FIP in 427 MLB innings. His 4.31 DRA in 2019 also painted a prettier picture than his ERA. It is not out of the realm of possibility to expect Perdomo to be able to pitch well out of the bullpen if given an extended look.

Perdomo throws a split finger and a slider. Perdomo’s split finger generated a 33.3% whiff rate, and his slider got hitters to swing-and-miss at a 39.2% rate. He has also done a good job in his career limiting quality contact. He’s allowed a 5.2% barrel rate in his career, which is better than league average. His lifetime 89.4 MPH exit velocity is just a tick above league average.

While Perdomo may never be a dominant reliever, he has quality stuff and can be a good reliever in a MLB bullpen. Due to this, now that the Padres have DFA’d him, Perdomo could be worth pursuing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Especially with the amount of open spots they have in their bullpen.