The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed on a deal with free agent left-handed starting pitcher, José Quintana. This is the Pirates first big off-season signing of the year and should get fans excited. Quintana had a rough 2021 season and could use a fresh start here in Pittsburgh to rekindle some old magic.
Can José Quintana find his former self with the Pittsburgh Pirates?
Sunday evening FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray broke news that the Pittsburgh Pirates had agreed on a deal with left-handed starting pitcher José Quintana, pending a physical.
This is a 1-year deal with the salary around $2 million. Quintana will be 33 years of age by the start of the 2022 season and coming off a poor season, is looking for a fresh start this upcoming season with Pittsburgh.
On August 30th, the San Francisco Giants claimed Quintana off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels. He finished with an 0-3 record in 63 innings pitched. He had an underwhelming ERA of 6.43 with just 85 total strikeouts.
However, Quintana does have a career ERA of 3.84 with an 83-80 record in 283 games. He has a career WAR of 28.7 but in the past two seasons, only combined for a .5 WAR. The question is can he find his former self with Pittsburgh and become the quality starting pitcher he once was?
I believe he can. One of his biggest issues this year was his walks per nine. He was averaging 5 walks per 9 innings in 2021, which was well above the norm for him. If the Pirates can work with him to keep his walks down and continue a high strikeout rate, then Quintana could find his way back to being a reliable starter in this league.
Quintana had a very good ground ball rate last year, which the Pirates can work with. He was getting batters to hit ground balls 46.6% of the time. This was his second best percentage in his career. If he can work on limiting homeruns, walks, and keep the batter from hitting underneath the ball, we could very see another Tyler Anderson like pick up.