AriBall is the collaborative effort of Ari Kaplan -- California Institute of Technology’s Alumni of the Decade and an MLB consultant for two decades -- and Fred Claire, former General Manager of the LA Dodgers and distinguished member of the Club’s front office for 30 years. Feel free to quote and reference AriBall.

There are still 14 Free Agent relief pitchers on the market. Last newsletter analyzed the remaining starters.

There are large differences in the remaining pitchers. For example, Calero’s “expected ERA” is 2.04 and Isringhausen’s is 3.39 while MacDougal’s is 15.53 and Bradford 7.39.

Beimel throws first-pitch strikes 74% of the time while Percival 38%.

Click here to view the report on first-pitch strikes.

Coming in with inherited runners, Beimel does 27% better than average (in 15 "meaningful" games) while Ron Mahay does 88% worse than average (15 games).

Beimel has a 40% better command of his fastball than Mahay.

Who throws the most of each pitch type? MacDougal throws FB 84% of his pitches and Park only 37%. Isringhausen throws cutters 20%. Bradford throws curves 22%. Calero throws sliders 46%. Beimel throws changeups 21%. Villone throws sinkers 18% of the time.

Click here to view the full table of pitch types for ALL remaining free agent relievers.

Below are AriBall's Scoutable reports on Beimel, Calero, and Chan Ho Park:

Joe Beimel:

Pitches: Throws fastball 85-89mph (52% of all pitches), sinker 78-84 (7%), changeup 78-84 (21%), curveball 70-73 (10%), slider 70-78 (8%). CB is most effective. FB is least effective. 1742 total pitches (57% in the strike zone). Threw 107 of 173 first pitches for strikes (62%). Threw 45 of 61 first pitches for strikes (74%).

Strengths: Plus command of FB. Changeup has a big fading action. Rarely allows line-drives.

Weaknesses: Changeup velocity is not deceptively slower than FB - only 5 mph. Entered 12 games with runners on base and allowed 25% more to score than the average reliever in the same situations.

Habits: Nibbles on 1-2 counts, throwing balls out of the zone 66% of the time (53% is avg). Throws changeups early in the count to righties. Infrequently throws inside twice in a row 20% of the time (29% is avg) and instead throws outside twice in a row often. Locates changeups 3" down from the stretch. Throws first-pitch strikes often (73%). Flyball pitcher. Throws FB low to RHH. His FB is one of the slowest in MLB at 86.6. Throws curveballs inside/low to righties, and outside/low to lefties. His CB is one of the slowest in MLB at 72.

Kiko Calero:

Pitches: Throws fastball 87-90mph (41% of all pitches), slider 78-81 (47%), curveball 78-81 (6%), changeup 82-84 (5%). 998 total pitches (52% in the strike zone). Threw 127 of 230 first pitches for strikes (55%).

Strengths: Deceptive CB causes 26% of swings to miss. Plus command of SL. One of the best ERA of 1.95. Strikes out batters often - 1.15 K/IP (0.77 is avg).

Weaknesses: Changeup release point has below avg deception relative to FB RP. Changeup velocity is not deceptively slower than FB - only 5 mph.

Habits: Throws fastball outside to righties and high to lefties, and is on the slower side at 88.3. His slider is one of the slowest in the Majors at 79.6. Slurvy slider with good spin on (85% above MLB avg.) Nibbles on 1-2 counts, throwing balls out of the zone 73% of the time (53% is avg). Throws sliders 65% of the time the first two pitches (15% is avg). Infrequently throws inside after outside (only 3% of the time). Best count to steal off of is 1-2 when he throws balls in the dirt. Locates sliders 4" down from the stretch versus windup. Likes to make pickoff attempts.

Chan Ho Park:

Pitches: Throws fastball 89-94mph (37% of all pitches), sinker 88-92 (12%), slider 82-88 (25%), curveball 76-81 (13%), changeup 80-86 (12%). Slider is most effective, curveball is least effective. 1394 total pitches (58% in the strike zone). Threw 198 of 328 first pitches for strikes (60%).

Strengths:Plus command of FB and curveball.

Habits:Throws fewer first-pitch FB than most pitchers at 43%. Does not double-up on sinker - only 12% of the time (41% is avg). Worst count to steal off of is 0-2 - he tends to throw pitches high. Throws sliders 34% more frequently from the stretch (29% vs 21% of all pitches) and his slider release point comes towards 3B 1.7" from the stretch.

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