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Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Low Risk, High Reward Free Agent Options

ByNoah Wright|
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 3: David Robertson #30 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 2018 New York, New York. The Yankees defeated the Athletics 7-2. Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 3: David Robertson #30 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 2018 New York, New York. The Yankees defeated the Athletics 7-2. Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
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New York Yankees’ David Robertson pitches to the Boston Red Sox in the sixth inning of Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, in New York.Nyy Vs Bos Game 4
New York Yankees’ David Robertson pitches to the Boston Red Sox in the sixth inning of Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, in New York.Nyy Vs Bos Game 4

Relief Pitcher David Robertson

David Robertson is another reliever that will be looking for a bounceback in 2021. The long-time Yankee late inning reliever missed most of 2019 and all of 2020 after needing Tommy John surgery. However, in the handful of years prior to 2019, Robertson was one of MLB’s top relievers. With 13.9 career fWAR, he’s been MLB’s fourth most valuable reliever since his 2008 rookie campaign.

In 2018, Robertson’s last full season, the right hander served as one of the Yanks’ set-up men. In 69.2 innings, D-Rob had a 3.23 ERA, 2.97 FIP and 1.03 WHIP. He struck out more than 30% of all the batters he faced for the seventh time in his career, posting a 32.2% mark, while only walking 9.2% of batters. Plus he allowed home runs at a 0.9 HR/9 rate, which was a very strong mark for 2018 as a pitcher who threw nearly half of his innings at a hitter friendly Yankee Stadium.

Robertson also had a strong 2.88 SIERA, 3.09 xFIP and 3.03 DRA. He’s also a spinrate darling, ranking in the top 98th percentile of fastball spin rate at 2566 RPM on his cutter and top 88th percentile in curveball spin rate at 2772 RPM.

The right-hander has never been a big velocity guy. His cutter, at it’s fastest, averaged 93.5 MPH in 2011. In most years, however, it averages out in the 91-92 MPH range. He’s set to put on a showcase for teams interested in his services on the 11th so if he can prove that he’s regained some of his velocity, he could be a nice buy low target who could be a very interesting deadline piece.

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